When Britney Spears’ conservatorship came to an end in 2021, the world rejoiced that the Toxic singer, finally, was free. Two-and-a-half years later, with the last court battle with her father Jamie finally resolved just weeks ago, the conservatorship has been fully revoked. But Britney’s life isn’t exactly the happy, calm one fans hoped she would soon be leading when they began the #FreeBritney movement. And with chaotic happenings being reported in her on-off relationship with former housekeeper Paul Soliz, who her team believe is ‘bad news’, just as her divorce from Sam Asghari is finalised, alarm bells are ringing once more.

Fears for Britney, 42, reached new heights last week, as she was pictured barefoot outside Los Angeles hotel Chateau Marmont. Emergency responders had arrived at the hotel, where Britney was staying with Paul, in the early hours of Thursday 2 May morning following a call about an injured woman. According to gossip site TMZ’s sources, the pair had got into a fight, and Britney was pictured exiting the hotel late at night in her underwear, with a pillow clutched to her body and no shoes on her feet.

She was seen by emergency services, with a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department confirming that they had arrived at the hotel at 12.42am and left 35 minutes later, and did not take anyone to hospital. The images poignantly bring to mind Britney’s highly publicised breakdown in 2007 that led to her conservatorship. As the 2021 documentary Framing Britney Spears revealed, Britney’s life was falling apart while the paparazzi took photos and the world made dark jokes at her expense.

It’s the latest – and most extreme – incident to face Britney, but her posts on Instagram have been stoking fears among her supporters for quite a while. A source tells Grazia that Britney’s friends and loved ones have a ‘huge amount of concern for her welfare’, worrying that she’s surrounded herself with ‘yes people’ and ‘questionable influences’.

Following the hotel incident, Britney took to Instagram to insist that there had been nothing sinister behind the photos which were taken at the Chateua, and that she was ‘getting stronger everyday’. Branding the reports as ‘fake’ news, the singer claimed that she had actually twisted her ankle after ‘trying to do a leap in the living room’ at the hotel. Britney insisted that she ‘fell, embarrassed myself; that’s it’, sharing several videos of her swollen foot in a second post on her feed.

Of the emergency services’ arrival, Britney claimed that the paramedics had ‘showed up at my door illegally’ and ‘caused a huge scene, which was so unnecessary when all I needed was ice’. ‘They never came in my room but I felt completely harassed,’ she wrote, while also speculating that her estranged mum Lynne had had something to do with it.

‘I know my mom was involved,’ she wrote. ‘I haven’t talked to her in 6 months and she called right after it happened before the news [was] out !!! I was set up just like she did way back when !!! I wish I had grandparents !!! I can’t stand her !!! I honestly don’t care, I will say it.’

Britney’s relationship with her parents has always been strained – after all, it was father Jamie who placed her under her conservatorship back in 2008. In the time since it ended, with a judge ruling that Britney should be given back her personal and financial independence, the family’s relationship has remained rocky and she’s not thought to have regular contact with any of them, least of all her father whom she doesn’t speak to at all.

Following the conservatorship’s end Britney hit out at her parents and sister Jamie Lynn multiple times on social media. In her memoir The Woman in Me, she claimed that dad Jamie used to call her ‘fat’ and wouldn’t let her go to the doctor to get her IUD removed, and called her sister a ‘little bitch’ following her appearance on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!.

On social media, Lynne claimed she had been blocked by her daughter; however, this spring, mother and daughter reunited for the first time in three years and appeared to be on the path to reconciliation. ‘It’s been such a long time … with family there’s always things that need to be worked out … but time heals all wounds !!!’ Britney wrote on Instagram at the time.

With her latest comments, however, it appears such summits have stalled – and people are worried Britney is isolating herself again. The arrival of Paul back on the scene has sparked further concern that things have gotten out of hand. Paul previously worked for Britney at her California mansion, but was reportedly fired after it came to light that he had been charged with multiple crimes and convicted of felony possession of a firearm just two years ago.
Grazia’s source says that Britney’s friends don’t like Paul, especially as Britney is said to have got close with him during such a vulnerable time, amid her split from third husband Sam, who she separated from nine months ago after 14 months of marriage. The couple settled their divorce on Wednesday, just hours before the alleged altercation with Paul at the Chateau Marmont.

This whole time, all anyone has wanted is for Britney to be happy. When the singer would post her unusual videos dancing or quotes to Instagram, some fans raised concern about her behaviour. However, there was a general consensus that this might just be what freedom looked like for her. But with these latest photos, it’s not so clear. The end of the conservatorship means it’s not as simple as staging an intervention or seeking professional help for the singer, our source says. ‘The very real fear is that this isn’t going to end well.’