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Britney Spears' first full year of freedom after the ending of a controversial 13-year conservatorship was jam-packed with many highs and lows.
Spears rang in 2022 just weeks after turning 40 and six months after a Los Angeles court ordered the end of the conservatorship. Since 2008, lawyers and her father, Jamie Spears, had controlled everything in the singer's life, from her medical decisions to her career and finances.
Spears has not taken her freedom for granted, celebrating seemingly mundane moments such as going to an ATM, drinking coffee or visiting a beauty spa. She used her newfound liberty to call out her family on Instagram and even married her long-time boyfriend, Sam Asghari.
Baring All
The "Toxic" singer raised eyebrows and sparked concerns about her well-being after posting a nude photo to Instagram, with some flower emojis modestly covering her.
"Free woman energy has never felt better," she captioned the photo and disabled comments.
Many of her fans applauded her for embracing her freedom, and we got to see plenty of her body during 2022, as she came to love posting photos of her bare form.
Britney vs. Jamie Lynn
The singer entered into a public spat with her younger sister after Jamie Lynn Spears released her book Things I Should Have Said and made an appearance on Good Morning America to talk about her famous sibling.
Spears referred to Jamie Lynn as "scum" and accused her of cashing in on her story for money and clout.
"Please stop with these crazy lies for the Hollywood books!!! Now and only NOW I do know only a scum person would make up such things about someone," Spears wrote on Instagram.
Britney vs. Jamie
Despite being freed from the conservatorship and her father's control, Spears was still locked in a legal battle with him.
Jamie had petitioned the court for legal fees he paid while the conservatorship was "winding up." In court, he accused his daughter of being "irresponsible with her money" and said, "Let's remember why this conservatorship existed."
But a judge ruled that Spears did not have to cover Jamie's legal costs anymore and granted her full control of her finances.
Britney's Baby Heartbreak
Just days after announcing they were expecting a baby, Spears and then-fiancé Asghari shared the news that she had suffered a miscarriage.
"It is with our deepest sadness we have to announce that we lost our miracle baby early in the pregnancy," said the statement, signed by Spears and Asghari. "This is a devastating time for any parent."
They added, "Perhaps we should have waited to announce until we were further along. However, we were overly excited to share the good news."
Wedding Bells
Spears and Asghari tied the knot on June 9 at her home in Thousand Oaks, California. The guest list included such A-list stars as Madonna, Donatella Versace, Paris Hilton, Drew Barrymore and Selena Gomez.
"It's just surreal, man. It's been a minute. It was way overdue for us, and we imagined this thing being a fairy tale for us, and it was," Asghari said on Good Morning America.
The Ex-Files
Spears also got into a public spat with ex-husband Kevin Federline after he told the Daily Mail their sons, Sean Preston, 16, and Jayden James, 15, had chosen not to see their mother.
She hit back at his claims, and Federline then released videos of Spears arguing with her sons.
The singer replied in a lengthy post, saying her sons would go straight to their rooms whenever they came to visit her.
"I know that teenagers are just hard to deal with ... but COME ON," Spears wrote on Instagram after the videos were leaked. "There's being rude then there's being HATEFUL."
Back on Top
Spears' first new song in six years, a collaboration with Elton John called "Hold Me Closer," went straight to the top of the global iTunes charts.
It was also her first musical release since her conservatorship ended in June 2021.
Britney vs. Jayden
She addressed her son Jayden James Federline with an audio statement after he spoke publicly about their relationship.
Spears took to Instagram to tell the teen that she needed "unconditional love and support" from him instead of comments about her mental state.
This came after an interview Jayden did with his dad on Britain's ITV News, where he said that repairing his relationship with his mom was going to take "a lot of time."
Speaking Out
The pop star posted several voice notes to Instagram where she apologized to her sons and once again lashed out at her dad.
'Woman, Life, Freedom'
Spears became a target of Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) after she tweeted support for protesters in the country.
Demonstrations have taken place throughout Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested by morality police in September for an alleged breach of the rules for wearing a hijab, or headscarf.
Spears had tweeted, "Me & my husband stand with the people of Iran fighting for freedom."
In response, the IRNA retweeted and commented on her mental health.
"American singer @BritneySpears was placed under her father's conservatorship in 2008 due to her mental health problems," the news agency tweeted. "That gave Britney's father control over her finances and even her personal life aspects such as pregnancy, remarriage and visits to her teenage sons."
Conservatorship Details
Spears continued to share harrowing accounts of her life under the 13-year conservatorship, including alleging that her dad was trying to kill her.
She also said she was not allowed to withdraw money from an ATM and had held cash for the first time in almost 14 years.
Spears described how she was watched naked while showering, was forced onto medications such as lithium and even had to have an IUD to prevent pregnancy.
Is Britney OK?
The end of Spears' year comes amid growing conspiracy theories about her well-being and whereabouts.
Fans have been convinced she's having a mental health crisis, could be dead or was replaced with a clone. Some even believe that those closest to her have edited her into social media posts as a cover for what's happening.
Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton said a friend in the entertainment industry whom he knows in "real life, that I trust," told him what was really going on with Spears.
"First of all, for many reasons, I'm not going to repeat what my friend told me...but my friend did share that things are bad," Perez said in an Instagram video earlier this month.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more