Britney Spears charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs

Britney Spears was charged in California on Thursday with driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, authorities said.

The 44-year-old pop star was charged with a single misdemeanor count of driving under the combined influence of alcohol and at least one drug, the Ventura county district attorney’s office said.

An email sent to a Spears representative seeking comment was not immediately answered.

The criminal complaint does not specify what kind of alcohol or drugs, or what amount, Spears is accused of having used.

Spears, who has since entered substance abuse treatment, was arrested on 4 March after she was pulled over for driving her black BMW fast and erratically on US 101 near her home, the California highway patrol said. She appeared to be impaired and took a series of field sobriety tests, after which she was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of a combination of alcohol and drugs and taken to a Ventura county jail, the CHP said.

She was released on bail the following day. Police completed their investigation and presented it to prosecutors on 23 March.

A representative at the time called Spears’ actions “completely inexcusable” and said it would ideally be “the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life”.

Spears voluntarily checked into a substance abuse treatment facility just over a month after the arrest, her representative said.

Spears’ arraignment is set for Monday. Because it is a misdemeanor charge, she will not be required to appear in court, prosecutors said.

The one-time teen pop phenomenon and Mickey Mouse Club alum became a defining superstar of the 1990s and 2000s with hits such as Toxic, Gimme More and I’m a Slave 4 U. Most of her albums have been certified platinum, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, with two diamond titles: 1999’s … Baby One More Time and 2000’s Oops! … I Did It Again.

Spears became a focus of tabloids in the early 2000s, and a source of public scrutiny, as she battled mental illness and paparazzi documented the details of her private life.

In 2008, Spears was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship, run primarily by her father and his lawyers, that would control her personal and financial decisions for well over a decade. It was dissolved in 2021.

Since then, she has married and divorced, and released a bestselling, tell-all memoir, The Woman in Me.

She has essentially been retired as an artist in recent years, releasing only a few collaborative singles since her last full album in 2016.