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U.S. pop star Britney Spears has voluntarily checked herself into a rehabilitation facility, multiple American media outlets reported Sunday, weeks after her arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence near Los Angeles.
Spears, 44, was arrested in early March and booked into custody by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department on suspicion of DUI.
California Highway Patrol reported that authorities were alerted to the singer after she was seen driving her BMW "erratically at a high rate of speed" on a motorway.
She showed signs of impairment and submitted to a series of field sobriety tests after being pulled over.
A representative for Spears described the incident at the time as "completely inexcusable," adding that the singer would "take the right steps and comply with the law."
On Sunday, multiple U.S. news outlets reported that Spears had entered a treatment facility. It was not immediately clear when she checked in.
She is scheduled to appear in a California court on May 4 to face the DUI charge, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Following the arrest, Spears' representative told the BBC that her loved ones would "come up with an overdue-needed plan to set her up for success for well-being," and that her sons would be spending time with her during the period.
Spears rose to international fame in the late 1990s with hits such as "...Baby One More Time," "Toxic," and "Womanizer," becoming one of the most commercially successful pop artists of her generation. She has largely stepped back from music in recent years.
In her 2023 memoir "The Woman in Me," Spears stated she never used hard drugs and denied having a drinking problem, though she acknowledged taking Adderall, a medication prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Following a public breakdown in 2007, Spears was placed under a conservatorship controlled by her father, Jamie Spears, who oversaw her finances and personal life for 13 years.
Her father has said the arrangement was necessary because her life was "in shambles" and she was experiencing physical, emotional, mental, and financial distress.
The conservatorship was dissolved by a Los Angeles court in November 2021, following a sustained public campaign to end it.
After regaining legal independence, Spears published her memoir detailing the years spent under the arrangement.
The DUI arrest marks her most significant legal matter since the conservatorship ended. Her representative has not issued further public comment on her current condition or the timeline of her treatment.
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