What we know about Britney Spears' arrest as new details emerge
More information has come to light regarding Britney Spears' arrest on Wednesday, March 4.
News broke yesterday that the 'Womanizer' hitmaker had been arrested for a DUI in California. She was later released from police custody and is next due in court in early May.
Speaking out after Spears' arrest, her representative said in a statement: "This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable.
"Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law and hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life."
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The message shared with E! News continued: "Hopefully she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time.
"Her boys are going to be spending time with her. Her loved ones are going to come up with an overdue needed plan to set her up for success for wellbeing."
Now, more details on the lead-up to Spears' arrest have been revealed by a California Highway Patrol (CHP) spokesperson.
Police said Spears 'showed signs of impairment and submitted to a series of field sobriety tests' after being pulled over.
The spokesperson said: "At approximately 8.48pm, a black BMW 430i was reported to the CHP’s Ventura Communications Centre for driving erratically at a high rate of speed on southbound US-101 near the Borchard Road exit in Newbury Park."
Spears is said to have been alone in the car at the time and was later arrested for 'driving under the influence of a combination of drugs and alcohol'.
The incident is still under investigation and chemical test results are pending, CHP said.
According to jail records, Spears' car was impounded after the ordeal, BBC News reports.
The singer's arrest comes after she hailed herself as 'lucky to be alive'.
The 44-year-old penned on Instagram last month: "I’m incredibly lucky to even be alive with how my family treated me once in my life and now I’m scared of them."
"We can forgive as people but u don’t ever forget," Spears added.
It comes as her friend Sean Phillip revealed he'd been in touch with the singer after her arrest.
He told Good Morning Britain hosts Ranvir Singh and Kate Garraway: "I texted her, 'Are you okay?', and she said, 'I'm okay'. That's all it was. I said, 'Do you mind if I speak about this?', and she said, 'Yes, go ahead'."
He added: "Just as everybody else was surprised with this incident happening, I was as well.
"But it's not her character - she's just a lovely, lovely, lovely person.
"I don't think it's a slippery slope. She is one of the most strong women I've ever met, like she just keeps on going.
"It makes me feel bad when she has to endure public mistakes."
At the time of writing, the pop sensation's Instagram page had been taken down.
Britney Spears: The last six months
Social media blackout and cryptic posts (October - November 2025)
In October, Spears posted a series of Instagram posts, one of which appeared to reflect on how her 2018 rehab stay had affected her. The post's picture, shared on 19 October, showed the singer riding a horse, while the caption compared her shoulder blades to 'wings' as she discussed the plot of 2014's Maleficent.
According to People, the 44-year-old mentioned enduring a 'traumatic experience' which she wrote about 'at the end' of her 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me, where 'for 4 months I no longer had my private door and illegally was forced to not use my feet or body to go anywhere'.
Spears then went on to say she felt 'like my wings were taken away and brain damage happened to me a long time ago 100 percent', meanwhile, another post on the same day described a conversation the 'Toxic' singer had with her grandfather before his death.
Before this, Spears had shared posts of herself dancing and drinking from a teacup, while another showed her with bandages around her wrists and legs, which she clarified was a result of 'falling down the stairs at my friend's house', adding: "It was horrible."
Her posts came amidst her ex Kevin Federaline's promotional tour for his book, You Thought You Knew, and in November, her account was deactivated.
Return to Instagram (November 2025)
The 'Circus' singer returned to the social media site on 7 November with a post which described her 'crazy' year, writing: "So much has happened this year, it’s crazy ... Get your ballerina [slippers], circle, and own your boundaries. It’s incredibly strict and somewhat of a form of prayer but with so many endless possibilities in life, it’s important to do you and keep it simple."
Music catalogue sale (December 2025)
In February, the BBC reported that Spears had sold her entire music catalogue to an independent music publisher, Primary Wave, for around $2 million (£146m), with the sale supposedly occurring on 30 December.
According to a source claim to The Hollywood Reporter, the sale included the rights to some of her biggest hits, including 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' and 'Oops... I Did It Again'.
The singer has not yet publicly commented on the reported sale.
'I will never perform in the US' (January 2026)
In a lengthy Instagram post, Spears announced that she would 'never perform in the U.S.', citing 'extremely sensitive reasons'. However, she didn't rule out the possibility of performing elsewhere in the world, adding: "I hope to be sitting on a stool with a red rose in my hair, in a bun, performing with my son… in the UK and AUSTRALIA very soon."
The last time Spears performed live was in Las Vegas in December 2017.
Stalker restraining order granted (Early March 2026)
TMZ reported on 5 March that the Crossroads star had been granted a permanent restraining order from a man who, according to court documents, had allegedly been harassing her online since 2013.
The outlet further reports the 51-year-old man had been spotted by Spear's security guard when allegedly arriving at her residence, leading her guard to call police, with a deputy officer supposedly taking him into custody.
In the documents, Spears said she didn't know who he was or have any relationship with him, and the court has ordered him to stay 100 yards from the singer at all times.
Topics: Britney Spears, California, Celebrity, News
Niamh Shackleton