Britney Spears has slammed her father Jamie Spears, claiming he weight-shamed her, and says he was abusive during drinking binges he would embark on when she was a child.
The Grammy-winning singer, 41, in her new memoir The Woman In Me, takes aim on multiple fronts against Jamie, 71, who is most prominently known for his controversial overseeing of her conservatorship from 2008-2021.
According to excerpts of the book reviewed by The Sun, the Toxic artist makes claims regarding her father’s mercurial behavior when he would drink too much; his repeated comments taking aim at her weight; and a temperament she described as ‘mean, apathetic and cold’ that he had when she was growing up.
Britney said that after she hit pop superstardom, her father repeatedly scrutinized her appearance.
He ‘repeatedly told me I looked fat and that I was going to have to do something about it,’ she said.
The latest: Britney Spears, 41, in her new memoir, slams her father Jamie Spears, 71, for weight-shaming her throughout her life, and claims he was abusive during drinking binges he would embark on when she was a child
On the topic of drinking, Britney said that when she was a child, she remembered her father would ‘drink until he couldn’t think,’ and that she was scared to drive in the car with him not knowing how much he had consumed.
‘Dad drank until he couldn’t think,’ Britney said in the book, according to The Sun. ‘He disappeared from home for several days at a time. And when he was drunk, he got really mean.’
The Oops!… I Did It Again vocalist said in the book that Jamie’s battle with alcohol had a significant impact on his ability to provide for his family on financial and emotional levels.
‘The stress of not having any money was compounded by the chaos caused by Dad’s extreme mood swings,’ Britney said. ‘I was especially afraid to get in the car with him because he used to talk to himself while driving. I didn’t even understand what he said. He seemed to be in his own world.’
Britney said that in hindsight, she believes Jamie’s drinking and parenting problems were the result of an abusive upbringing he suffered at the hands of his father June Spears.
‘At the time I had no idea why he was so hard on us, and why nothing we ever did seemed good enough in his eyes,’ Britney said in the memoir. ‘To me, the saddest thing was that I had always just wanted a father who loved me just the way I was – someone who said, “I love you, period. You can do anything. I would love you forever unconditionally.”‘
Britney said that she often isolate and would sing to herself amid the confusing times of her upbringing.
‘Feeling like you’re never good enough is a soul-crushing state of being for a child,’ she wrote in the book. ‘He’d drummed that message into me as a girl, and even after I’d accomplished so much, he was continuing to do that to me.’
Britney said that after she hit pop superstardom, her father repeatedly scrutinized her appearance. Pictured in 2012
Jamie Spears and wife Lynn were pictured attending court proceedings in LA in 2012
Britney, who appeared on The Mickey Mouse Club as a young teen, said she ‘became a robot’ as she emotionally coped with the issues.
‘But not just a robot – a sort of child-robot,’ she said. ‘I had been so infantilized that I was losing pieces of what made me feel like myself.’
Britney made headlines in regards to her father a year ago, when she took to Instagram saying, ‘I really felt like my dad was trying to kill me and I hope he burns in f***ing hell.’
Earlier this month, an insider told Page Six that Jamie has been ‘hospitalized for weeks’ with ‘a bad infection that has required surgery,’ and was hoping to make amends with Britney.
Jamie has been ‘in a special infectious disease facility’ amid his health battle, while another source told the outlet that Jamie has been ‘severely ill.’
He had spent time in a hospital earlier this year after dealing with complications from a knee replacement operation he underwent 16 years ago, TMZ reported August 23.
Jamie ‘lost more than 25 pounds’ during his previous hospitalization, an insider told the outlet, which added that Britney had been ‘saying she wants to repair the relationship with her dad’ amid his spate of health woes.
Jamie was amenable to a reunion with Britney and ‘never harbored ill will toward her,’ the outlet reported at the time.
Britney had been getting updated on Jamie’s health by her brother Bryan Spears, 46. Jamie is also father to daughter Jamie Lynn Spears, 32, with wife Lynne Spears, 68.
Jamie has kept a relatively low profile after he was suspended as the head of the conservatorship in September 2021, a move made permanent two months later.
Britney is in the divorce process with estranged husband Sam Asghari.
Last month, she sparked fears among fans when she sported a bandage on her arm and possible cuts on her person in an Instagram clip which came a day after she was seen in a clip dancing with two butcher knives in hand September 25.
Britney has been anticipating the release of her memoir, The Woman In Me, which will be available on October 24.