Britney Spears opened up about feeling “like a robot” during her 13-year conservatorship in candid Instagram captions posted Thursday alongside lingerie modeling clips.
The “Toxic” singer, 44, shared a pair of Instagram Reels showing herself in an embellished black bra and matching underwear with high heels and a black choker, filming in a full-length mirror. The posts arrived as she continues to process life after her conservatorship ended in November 2021.
Spears recalled a friend questioning her outfit choice in the first caption. “And she’s right,” Spears continued. “It’s so not something I would wear for a bra at all whatsoever, although as a performer, I did every night for ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.'”
The Grammy winner admitted she’s “actually changed big time,” noting that she “used to be able to perform in front of so many people” but is “proud of [herself] for shutting it all down,” because “for too many years it was forced.”
Spears described suffering from shaking and asthma attacks when forced into large meet-and-greets, seemingly claiming her father Jamie Spears had her “meeting 70 people” despite her distress with groups over 10.
“I lost the sensitivity of my soul,” Spears wrote. “And it literally hurt. I felt like a robot.”
She added that she was “secretly very sensitive and painfully shy,” and concluded, “Honestly, I felt like a robot, a machine. And thank the lord it’s over.”
In the second caption, the “My Prerogative” hitmaker admitted, “I feel like, still to this day, people don’t realize the real damage that was done to my heart and soul in the conservatorship.”
Though shy, she “got to be someone different on stage,” but after having sons Jayden, 19, and Sean Preston, 20, she “felt so silly and embarrassed.”
Spears touched on her dating life following her 2024 divorce from Sam Asghari, confessing that “I’ve been single for so long, and I haven’t really shown my body except one time in my green bathing suit.”
She also reminisced about feeling “like the youngest and shortest person in the room” as a young performer in Los Angeles, and meeting Shakira for the singer’s 2001 “Whenever, Wherever” video.
“We were honestly twins 👯♀️ It was insane,” she wrote, noting she “finally [felt] normal” upon discovering the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer was “exactly” her size.
In the viral moment that preceded her freedom, Spears broke her silence with two days of testimony calling the conservatorship “abusive” and demanding her father be jailed. “I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized,” she said at the time. “You know, fake it till you make it. But now I’m telling you the truth. It’s my wish and my dream for all of this to end.”
Since her release, Spears has published her memoir “The Woman in Me” and resolved an alleged DUI arrest by pleading guilty to a lesser “wet reckless” charge. She frequently pairs fashion modeling clips with lengthy personal captions on social media.
Spears’ representatives did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment Thursday evening.
Spears is expected to continue her pattern of candid social media posts as she navigates life after the legal arrangement that controlled her affairs for over a decade.