Britney Spears has said the years spent under her conservatorship have made her “scared” of people and the entertainment business.
In an Instagram post, the Grammy-winning star said “awful things” had been done to her personally during the time the conservatorship had been in place, which had “really hurt” her.
The controversial legal arrangement – which allowed her father, Jamie Spears, and other parties to control various of her life and finances for nearly 14 years – was lifted earlier this year, just weeks before Britney celebrated her 40th birthday.
Britney said her decision not to release any new music in the last five years was “a way of saying ‘f*** you’” to those who took advantage of her.
“I wanted to be nice but what they did to my heart was unforgivable,” the Stronger singer wrote. “I asked for 13 years to perform new songs and remixes of my old songs… and every time I was told ‘No…’. It was a set up to make me fail.
“So much wasted time and I guess it seems odd to most now why I don’t even do my music any more.
“People have no idea the awful things that were done to me personally… and what I’ve been through I am scared of people and the business. They really hurt me.
“Not doing my music any more is a way of saying ‘f*** you’ in a sense when it actually benefits my family by ignoring my real work.”
After remaining mostly silent on the conservatorship for 13 years, Britney denounced her legal situation for the first time at a public hearing earlier this year.
The Grammy-winning performer branded the arrangement “abusive” and made a string of allegations, including that she had been prescribed lithium against her will and was being forced to be on birth control despite wanting to have a baby with her fiancé Sam Asghari.
In court papers filed last month, Jamie said he supported ending the conservatorship but defended its creation, saying it had been “necessary to protect Britney in every sense of the word” at a time when her “life was in shambles”. He has also repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the conservatorship.
Britney’s latest Instagram post comes as lawyers acting for her Jamie Spears have called for her to continue paying his legal fees, claiming that he had “stepped up” to protect her from “opportunistic and wholly self-interested parties.”