Britney Spears has revealed why she shaved her head in 2007.
In a preview of her upcoming tell-all memoir, The Woman in Me, Britney revealed what led her to shave her head 16 years ago.
Britney famously shaved off her locks in 2007, the same year that she and Kevin Federline, the father of her two sons, went through a highly publicised divorce.
"I'd been eyeballed so much growing up. I'd been looked up and down, had people telling me what they thought of my body, since I was a teenager," the 41-year-old wrote in the excerpt obtained by People. "Shaving my head and acting out were my ways of pushing back."
In 2008, Britney was put in a court-ordered conservatorship, giving her father, Jamie Spears, full control over her professional and personal life.
"Under the conservatorship I was made to understand that those days were now over," she continued. "I had to grow my hair out and get back into shape. I had to go to bed early and take whatever medication they told me to take."
Britney shared that although she was still successful in her career, her "heart wasn't in it".
"I would do little bits of creative stuff here and there, but my heart wasn't in it anymore. As far as my passion for singing and dancing, it was almost a joke at that point," the performer explained. "Thirteen years went by with me feeling like a shadow of myself."
"I think back now on my father and his associates having control over my body and my money for that long and it makes me feel sick... Think of how many male artists gambled all their money away; how many had substance abuse or mental health issues," she continued. "No one tried to take away their control over their bodies and money. I didn't deserve what my family did to me."
Britney was freed from the conservatorship in November 2021 after she pleaded with a judge to end the arrangement.
The Woman in Me will be released on 24 October.