Britney Spears’ mother Lynne responds to singer’s now-deleted audio message claiming abuse

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Britney Spears’ mother Lynne has responded to a now-deleted audio clip in which the singer accused her family of abusing and abandoning her.

On Sunday night (28 August), the pop star released a 22-minute audio clip on YouTube that included fresh allegations about the conservatorship that controlled her life for 13 years.

In the video, Spears said she was “more angry” at Lynne than her father and then-conservator Jaime Spears because “[Lynne] wouldn’t speak up” for her.

“I heard when reporters would call her at the time, and ask questions of what was going on, she would go innocently hide in the house and she wouldn’t speak up,” Spears said, adding, “There was always like, ‘I don’t know what to say. I just don’t want to say the wrong thing. We’re praying for her.’

“I feel like she could’ve gotten me a lawyer in literally two seconds… Every time I made contact with a firm, my phone was tapped and they would take my phone away from me,” the Grammy winner alleged, as reported by Billboard.

Lynne appeared to respond to the audio message in an Instagram post late Sunday night.

Alongside a photograph of her and Spears, she wrote: “Britney, your whole life I have tried my best to support your dreams and wishes! And also, I have tried my best to help you out of hardships! I have never and will never turn my back on you!”

Lynne, 67, added: “Your rejections to the countless times I have flown out and calls make me feel hopeless! I have tried everything. I love you so much, but this talk is for you and me only, eye-to-eye, in private.”

In the explosive audio message, Spears also claimed the conservatorship “was all premeditated”, adding “it was pure abuse”.

“I know now it was all premeditated,” she said, adding. “A woman introduced the idea [of a conservatorship] to my dad, and my mom actually helped him follow through and made it all happen. It was all basically set up.

“There was no drugs in my system, no alcohol, nothing. It was pure abuse. And I haven’t even really shared half of it,” she continued.

Spears also explained why she has turned down “tons of opportunities” to “share the hardships” and speak her mind about the conservatorship, which was finally terminated by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in November last year.

“I really don’t think any of that is relevant, getting paid to tell your story. I feel like it’s kind of silly,” she told her fans, before admitting she’s also been reluctant to talk about the conservatorship “because I’ve always been scared of the judgement and definitely the embarrassment of the whole thing”.

Earlier this year, Spears claimed that her mother arranged for her to be involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility weeks in 2019.

In an Instagram post, which Spears subsequently deleted, she also claimed that her mother had hidden pictures of her, and that she was forced to attend Alcoholics Annonymous meetings despite “hating” alcohol.