(Los Angeles) American singer Britney Spears charged with driving under the influence
LOS ANGELES – American singer Britney Spears was charged on Thursday for driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced, nearly two months after the pop star’s arrest on a road near her California home.
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The complaint filed by the prosecution does not specify what type of drug the singer had in her system.
A hearing is scheduled for Monday in this case, in a Ventura County court, near Los Angeles.
But Britney Spears “is not required to be present” and could simply be represented by a lawyer, as it is a “minor offense,” the prosecution said in a statement.
At the age of 44, the performer of “Baby One More Time” and “Oops!…I Did It Again” was detained on the evening of March 4, before being briefly held in detention and released the following morning.
One of her representatives then described the incident as “an unfortunate and completely inexcusable episode.” In the following weeks, the singer voluntarily entered a detox program.
During the upcoming hearing on Monday, the prosecution intends to propose a guilty plea agreement to the singer, a standard procedure for non-accident cases involving low blood alcohol levels, where defendants commit to a detox program.
This type of agreement usually involves probation, attending a drunk driving course, and a fine, the prosecution added.
Britney Spears, who dominated the music scene in the 2000s, has had a tumultuous life, as detailed in her autobiography “The Woman in Me,” published in October 2023.
“I liked to drink, but I never lost control,” she wrote, also admitting to taking Adderall, a medication prescribed for attention disorders and belonging to the amphetamine family.
She reflects on her poor childhood overshadowed by an alcoholic father, her romantic struggles with Justin Timberlake, and the harassment by paparazzi.
After her downfall in 2007, the singer was placed under the conservatorship of her father Jamie Spears, who controlled her money and private life, while she performed in Las Vegas.
Pushed by her fans united under the slogan “Free Britney,” the pop star eventually rebelled, leading to the American court overturning this conservatorship in 2021.
