On Oct. 24, Britney Spears released her long-awaited memoir, “The Woman in Me.” With many intimate details about her personal life before, during and after her rise to fame, the singer wasn’t afraid to bear her most revealing secrets to her fans and readers all over the world.
The memoir has already taken over the mainstream, with critics raving about Spears’ openness and vulnerability to share her story after years of being tied down to a conservatorship. Let’s unpack the key takeaways from “The Woman in Me:”
Spears wanted to live a “normal life” after departing from “The Mickey Mouse Club”
The singer appeared briefly on “The Mickey Mouse Club” in 1993 but admitted in her memoir that she wanted to live a “normal life” after that year’s season was over. Wanting to return to her hometown of Kentwood, LA, Spears sadly said she would not go home after a lawyer her mother had met encouraged the singer to record a demo.
This caused Spears to earn a record deal at 15, with the lawyer, Larry Rudolph, becoming her manager. The singer also went into detail about her time on the show, saying that it was “unbelievably fun” but was also “exceptionally hard work.” Spears was expected to practice choreography and routines “30 times a day.”
Spears also said, “Being in the show was boot camp for the entertainment industry: extensive dance rehearsals, singing lessons, acting classes, time in the recording studio, and school in between.”
The singer got an abortion during her relationship with Justin Timberlake
The biggest shocker from “The Woman in Me” was Spears revealing that she got an abortion during her relationship with fellow singer Justin Timberlake in the early 2000s. Spears said she didn’t look at her pregnancy as “a tragedy,” and was ultimately conflicted about whether or not to get an abortion.
However, Timberlake’s say on the matter impacted her decision, as the singer said he thought they were too young to have a child together. After going back and forth, Spears said she agreed to “not have the baby.”
She began taking Prozac due to public scrutiny
In the early days of her career, Spears recalled dealing with a vast amount of public scrutiny while on tour with NSYNC, as well because of her relationship with Timberlake. She wrote that she “couldn’t help but notice” the talk show hosts asking Timberlake different questions than the ones she was asked on live television.
She said, “Everyone kept making strange comments about my breasts, wanting to know whether or not I’d had plastic surgery.”
Spears also mentioned the pressure of being famous grew because of her constant exposure on MTV, causing the singer to fall into a depression. Thus, she began taking Prozac to combat her frustration and sadness.
Spears said her “breaking point” came after her breakup with Timberlake
While Spears said her connection to Timberlake was “magnetic,” the singer revealed their breakup in 2003 was devastating, leading her to fantasize about leaving her singing career behind. She also said Timberlake broke up with her over text.
Following their breakup, Timberlake released the music video for “Cry Me a River,” where she said, “A woman who looks like me cheats on him and he wanders around sad in the rain.” Spears wrote that the media portrayed her as a “harlot who’d broken the heart of America’s golden boy.”
“I was comatose in Louisiana, and he was happily running around Hollywood,” Spears also mentioned.
Spears also sat down for an interview with Diane Sawyer during this time, which she said was her (“breaking point” amid her split with Timberlake. The singer said she felt forced by her father and management team to talk to Sawyer and felt exploited during the interview because of the questions the journalist asked.
