A long-lost clip of Britney Spears discussing her conservatorship has resurfaced, eight years after it was originally filmed.
The interview, which was taped for Britain’s The Jonathan Ross Show in 2016, had been cut from the final episode at the time due to restrictions from Spears’ team, who did not want her discussing the controversial legal arrangement.
Spears, who was promoting her album Glory during the interview, briefly touched on how the conservatorship impacted her ability to be creative. The footage, which had never been aired before, was shown on Saturday as part of an ITV special reflecting on memorable moments from the talk show.
In the interview, Jonathan Ross asked Spears if she felt more in control of her music with Glory than in the past, to which she hesitated before saying, “Since the conservatorship … I felt like a lot of the things were planned for me to do and, you know, being told what to do. And I was just like, for this [album], I want to make it my baby, and I want to do it myself, and I was very strategic about the way I did it, and, um, yeah, that’s why it means so much to me.”
When Ross asked if she was “happy” and in a “good place,” the 34-year-old singer responded with a smile, “Yes, sir.”
Fans had been eager to see this part of the interview ever since a studio audience member mentioned on social media that Spears had made rare comments about her conservatorship during filming.
Spears herself later reflected on the interview in her 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me, writing, “I even mentioned the conservatorship on a talk show in 2016, but somehow, that part of the interview didn’t make it to the air. Huh. How interesting.”
Spears did not speak publicly about her conservatorship again until 2021, when she described it as “abusive” in a court hearing, revealing how her father, Jamie Spears, had controlled her personal and financial affairs for 13 years.
Following her testimony, a judge suspended Jamie Spears as her conservator, and the guardianship was eventually terminated.
ITV has not yet commented on why the footage was aired after all these years.
