Britney Spears is reflecting on a time when all eyes were on her in the center of the ring just like a circus.
In her new memoir The Woman in Me, the pop star details what really happened during her much-photographed outings with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, whom she was spotted hanging out with amid her 2006 divorce from Kevin Federline.
"It was never as wild as the press made it out to be," Britney wrote, according to The New York Times Oct. 19, which obtained a copy of the book, adding that she wasn't into drugs and "never had a drinking problem."
Her tell-all, which hits shelves Oct. 24, revealed her "drug of choice" was the ADHD medication Adderall.
It "made me high, yes," Britney, 41, shared, "but what I found far more appealing was that it gave me a few hours of feeling less depressed."
The "Toxic" singer went on to share her state of mind during the mid-aughts as the scrutiny around her intensified and she made headlines shaving her head and later attacking a paparazzo's car.
"With my head shaved, everyone was scared of me, even my mom," she confessed in the memoir. "Flailing those weeks without my children, I lost it, over and over again. I didn't even really know how to take care of myself."
Britney noted that she was "out of my mind with grief" due to the death of her aunt and a custody fight with Kevin over their two young sons, Sean, now 18, and Jayden, now 17.
"I am willing to admit that in the throes of severe postpartum depression," she continued, "abandonment by my husband, the torture of being separated from my two babies, the death of my adored aunt Sandra, and the constant drumbeat of pressure from paparazzi, I'd begin to think in some ways like a child."
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The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
In this powerful memoir, Britney tells her own story on her own terms.
And although the infamous car snap of Britney, Paris and Lindsay happened 17 years ago, Paris still remembers the moment—and even recently took the time to reflect on how far the trio has come.
"Fifteen years later, and so much has happened in the past two weeks," she said on her This Is Paris podcast in 2021. "I got married, Britney got her freedom back and engaged. Lindsay just got engaged. I love seeing how different our lives are now, and how much we've grown up."
And The Simple Life alum, who earlier this year released her own memoir, recently shared that she is "so proud" of Britney for speaking her truth.
"I know how hard it can be doing a memoir because you have to really dive in and think about so many moments in your life that I'm sure you don't even want to think about," Paris told People earlier this month. "But it is truly such a healing experience, and writing my book [Paris: The Memoir] has changed my life in so many ways. So I'm really hoping that she feels the same way with this. I am just proud of what a strong woman she is."
In anticipation of The Woman in Me's release, keep reading to look back at Britney throughout the years.