A finally freed Britney Spears is looking forward, not backwards.
Days after her conservatorship was struck down, the 39-year-old pop star spoke out about what comes next and the simple pleasures she’s getting to experience for the first time.
“I’ve been in the conservatorship for 13 years. It’s a really a long time to be in a situation you don’t want to be in,” Spears said in an Instagram video Tuesday night.
“So I’m just grateful honestly for each day and being able to have the keys to my car and being able to be independent and feel like a woman, owning an ATM card, seeing cash for the first time, being able to buy candles. It’s the little things for us women but it makes a huge difference and I’m grateful for that.”
Spears’ conservatorship began crumbling with the launch of the “Framing Britney Spears” documentary in February, but her June testimony to the court, a tearful plea about the prison in which her family had allegedly trapped her, claiming it was for her own good, sent ripples through the carefully managed system around her.
In July, her new lawyer formally requested an end to the conservatorship and it was officially terminated on Nov. 12.
“I’m not here to be a victim,” Spears said Tuesday. “I lived with victims my whole life as a child, that’s why I got out of my house. And I worked for 20 years and worked my ass off. I’m here to be an advocate for people with real disabilities and real illnesses. I’m a very strong woman, so I can only imagine what the system has done to those people. So hopefully my story will make an impact and make some changes in the corrupt system.”
The “Baby One More Time” singer also spoke directly to her fans and the #FreeBritney movement that publicly fought for her freedom.
“My voice was muted and threatened for so long and I wasn’t able to speak up or say anything and because of you guys and the awareness of kind of knowing what was going on, and delivering that news to the public for so long, you gave awareness to all of them,” she said.
“Because of you I honestly think you guys saved my life, in a way. 100%.”
In the caption, Spears hinted at an interview with Oprah Winfrey, but representatives for the talk show host did not immediately return the Daily News’ request for comment.
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