Britney Spears has shared details of the horrific abuse her family members allegedly faced at the hands of her ‘vicious’ grandfather – who it is claimed sexually assaulted one of his daughters for five years.
In her bombshell memoir, The Woman In Me, the pop superstar, 41, not only opened up about her own life struggles, but also claimed her paternal grandfather June Spears Sr. started to abuse his daughter – Britney’s aunt – when she was just 11.
The Toxic singer said the men on her father Jamie Spears’ side of the family ‘tended to be bad news’ when it came to their treatment of women.
‘One of my father’s half sisters has said that June sexually abused her starting when she was eleven, until she ran away at sixteen,’ the singer wrote in the newly-released book.
Britney Spears, 41, has shares details of the horrific abuse that her family members allegedly faced at the hand of her ‘vicious’ grandfather, June Spears Sr.
She went on to explain how June, who had worked as an officer for the Baton Rouge Police Department, fathered ten children with three wives.
She explained: ‘As far as I can tell, no one has one good word to say about the first fifty years of his life.
‘Even in my family, it was said the Spears men tended to be bad news, especially in terms of how they treated women’.
Indeed, June was also accused of having two of his three wives admitted to a ‘horrible’ mental asylum in Mandeville.
Britney recalled how her paternal grandmother Jean was put on lithium – a drug the singer was later medicated with during her conservatorship – following the death of her three-day old son. She shot herself eight years later at his grave.
Fortunately for Britney, her experience with her grandfather was not so fraught as she claimed June ‘softened as he got older’.
‘I didn’t experience the vicious man who had abused my father and his siblings but rather a grandfather who seemed patient and sweet,’ she said.
An investigation by New York Magazine in 2022, saw Leigh Ann Spears Wrather – Britney’s aunt and her father Jamie’s half-sister – publicly voice her claim that she had been sexually and physically abused by the former police officer.
She claimed they would go to church, where June was the Deacon, before he would make her perform a sex act on him on the way home.
Britney claimed that her grandfather was an abusive husband and father, who was accused of sexual assault by one of her aunts (L-R: father Jamie, brother Bryan, grandfather June, sister Jamie-Lynn, Britney and mother Lynne)
June had worked as an officer for the Baton Rouge Police Department, and eventually fathered ten children with three wives
‘I hope he’s burning in hell,’ she told the publication at the time.
In her memoir, Britney suggested that the tyranny with which June treated his family was inherited by his son Jamie.
His first wife, Emma Jean Spears – commonly referred to as Jean – was Britney’s paternal grandmother
He was famously accused of tyrannizing Britney for 13 years during her controversial ‘conservatorship’, effectively imprisoning her in one of the most severe and unusual legal guardianships.
He took control of her life and finances in 2008 after some highly publicized mental health struggles which included her shaving her head.
It began as a temporary arrangement, but was made permanent by the end of the year.
In the years that followed, Britney was deemed well enough to work in what the former estate conservator called a ‘hybrid business model’ in court papers, but not well enough to control her personal life.
Fortunately for Britney, her experience with her grandfather was not so fraught as she explained in the book: ‘June softened as he got older’
The Baby One More Time songstress – who officially dropped the eagerly anticipated memoir on Tuesday – gushed about its success on Instagram
The frustrated singer told the court in 2021 that she had been forced to use birth control and take medication against her will while under her father’s stewardship.
In her memoir, Britney recalled how Jamie tauntingly declared ‘I’m Britney Spears now’ after he was appointed as her conservator.
The Grammy-winner has also shared heartbreaking details about the way her every action was monitored at the time, arguing that nothing she had done prior warranted her being ‘treated like [she] was a bank robber’.
Britney has not accused her father of being sexually abusive.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Jamie would not be reading Britney’s memoir.
However, plenty of fans have reveled in the chance to get the hitmaker’s story in her own words, with Britney taking to Instagram on release day to celebrate the book’s immediate success.
The Toxic singer shared a statement on Instagram where she explained that she had made no intention to ‘offend anyone’ with the stories she has shared
The Circus singer gushed to her 42.3 million fans and followers: ‘It’s happening!!! My book is the highest selling celebrity memoir in history and it’s only day 1 !!!
‘Thank you to the fans who have been so supportive !!! Love you all !! #TheWomanInMe @gallerybooks @simonandschuster.’
She uploaded a photo of the book cover and included a short reel that had the words, ‘My story. On my terms. At last,’ appear on the screen.
The audiobook version was also released, which notably was narrated by Oscar-nominated actress, Michelle Williams.
The 43-year-old was praised online for her impression of Britney’s mocking impression of her ex Justin Timberlake trying ‘too hard’ to fit in with Black musicians.