Month: May 2026

Britney Spears was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs on US 101 in California

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Britney Spears was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The pop star was arrested in March after being pulled over for reckless driving on US 101 in California.

The pop star was arrested in March after being pulled over for reckless driving on US 101 in California.

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 one 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 Spears’ representatives seeking comment was not immediately returned.

The criminal complaint did not specify what type of alcohol or drug, or what quantity, Spears is alleged to have used.

Spears, who has since been undergoing substance abuse treatment, was arrested on March 4 after being pulled over for driving her black BMW recklessly and at high speed on US 101 near her home, the California Highway Patrol said. She appeared intoxicated and underwent 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 the Ventura County Jail, the CHP said.

She was released on bail the following day. The police concluded their investigation and turned the case over to the district attorney on March 23.

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

Spears voluntarily entered a drug abuse treatment facility more than a month after her arrest, her representative said.

Spears’ hearing is scheduled for Monday. Since this is a misdemeanor charge, she is not required to appear in court, the prosecutor said.

The teen pop sensation and former Mickey Mouse Club star became a leading superstar of the 1990s and 2000s with hit songs like “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 albums certified diamond: …Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops! …I Did It Again (2000).

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

In 2008, Spears was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship, largely run by her father and his lawyers, who would control her personal and financial decisions for more than a decade. The conservatorship was dissolved in 2021.

Since then, she has married and divorced, and released a best-selling autobiographical memoir titled The Woman in Me.

She has essentially retired from performing in recent years, releasing only a few collaborative singles since her last full-length album in 2016.

Britney Spears Sells Catalog of Hits for $500 Million

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Britney Spears (44), the 1990s teen pop superstar, caused a stir after reports surfaced that she had sold the rights to her entire music catalog for a staggering sum.

According to BBC.com, the deal is set to close on December 30, 2025. It’s no small matter—Spears is expected to pocket up to 200 million U.S. dollars from the buyer, the publisher Primary Wave.

Recently, as also reported by BBC.com, renowned artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, and Shakira have also sold their catalogs to different parties.

Springsteen sold his song catalog to Sony in 2021 for 500 million US dollars. Meanwhile, Bieber reportedly signed a deal worth 200 million US dollars with Hipgnosis Songs Capital in 2023.

The company Primary Wave was founded two decades ago by music executive Lawrence Mestel after purchasing a 50 percent stake in Kurt Cobain’s Nirvana catalog. They are also very active in reworking the copyrights they acquired.

They seek ways to revitalize the music they’ve invested in, such as by hosting numerous “flip camps” where songwriters can sample and interpolate old songs to create new hits.

Additionally, Primary Wave produced a biographical film (biopic) about the life of the late global pop diva, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, in 2022.

Previously, her autobiography, titled The Woman In Me, also flew off the shelves like hotcakes. The memoir sold as many as 1.1 million copies in its first week of release alone back in 2023.

In the book, Spears details how every aspect of her life was controlled by others. Major Hollywood studio Universal Pictures has also announced its interest in adapting it into a film after successfully securing the rights to do so.

Britney is adored by her fans for her hit songs such as “Baby One More Time,” “Oops!… I Did It Again,” “Toxic,” and “Gimme More.” In early January 2024, Spears made a shocking statement regarding her music career.

Just so we’re all clear, most of that news is garbage!!!

At the time, she vowed she would never return to the industry that had made her a megastar. Through her official social media account, Spears also denied reports that she was currently seeking songwriters for her 10th studio album.

“Just so we’re all clear, most of that news is garbage!!! They keep saying I’m turning to random people to make a new album… I will never return to the music industry!!!” she wrote in an emotional tone.

Even so, she takes pride in the fact that she’s still creating music by writing at least 20 songs for others over the past two years. Spears really enjoys her role as a ghostwriter like that.

Spears has long been known as one of the world’s best-selling female pop artists, with over 150 million records sold worldwide. Her catalog includes nine studio albums since her debut in 1999.

Neither Spears’ representatives nor a spokesperson for Primary Wave immediately responded to requests for comment. As such, it remains unclear exactly what rights Primary Wave has acquired.

Sony Music is known to own and control the rights to Spears’ recording catalog. The singer is also understood not to be the songwriter for most of her hit songs. This means that the majority of her most valuable rights stem from the recordings themselves.

Under U.S. law, a song has two distinct types of copyrights that generate royalties for different parties. Music publishing royalties are tied to the song’s composition and lyrics, while recording royalties stem from the recording itself.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Primary Wave is one of the most well-known companies in the field of catalog acquisitions. They have purchased catalogs from major artists, such as the estates of the late Prince and Whitney Houston.