Britney Spears arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of
alcohol and drugs
[March 06, 2026]
By ANDREW DALTON and MIKE CATALINI
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Britney Spears was arrested on suspicion of driving
under the influence of alcohol and drugs near her Southern California
home and released, authorities said. A statement from Spears'
representative calls the arrest “inexcusable.”
The California Highway Patrol said officers received a report shortly
before 9 p.m. Wednesday that someone in a black BMW 430i was driving
fast and erratically on U.S. 101 in Newbury Park, California in Ventura
County near the Los Angeles County line.
The 44-year-old pop star, the only person in the car, exited the freeway
and pulled over, a CHP statement said. She appeared to be impaired, took
a series of field sobriety tests, was arrested on suspicion of driving
under the influence of a combination of alcohol and drugs and was taken
to a Ventura County jail, the CHP said. Chemical test results are
pending and the case remains under investigation.
Spears was booked early Thursday morning and released at about 6 a.m.,
according to jail records.
“This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable,” a
statement from a Spears representative said. “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.
Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this
difficult time.”
The Ventura County District Attorney's Office will determine whether
charges will be filed. Spears has a May 4 court date scheduled.
The arrest was a few miles from Thousand Oaks, California where Spears
has a home. The CHP listed her as living in nearby Westlake Village.
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Britney Spears arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of "Once
Upon a Time in Hollywood," on July 22, 2019. (Photo by Jordan
Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
 Born in Mississippi and raised in
Louisiana, Spears was a teen pop phenomenon who became a defining
superstar of the ’90s and 2000s. She rose to fame from Disney
Channel’s “The Mickey Mouse Club” to MTV and beyond, with such
era-defining hits like “ … Baby One More Time,” “Oops! … I Did It
Again” and “Toxic.”
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 2000s “Oops! … I Did It Again.”
Her last full-length album, “Glory,” was released in 2016.
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.
Later, as cultural opinion evolved to recognize the misogynistic
media coverage of the time, Spears’ fight to control her life became
the focus of the #FreeBritney movement.
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. Two years later, she released a bestselling,
tell-all memoir, “The Woman in Me.”
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