Britney Spears says she’ll “never return to the music industry”

Britney Spears has declared that she’ll “never return to the music industry” in a new post on social media.

• READ MORE: ‘Controlling Britney Spears’ review: toxic conservatorship back under the microscope

Today (January 3), the ‘…Baby One More Time’ singer took to Instagram with a strongly worded post addressing rumours about her future musical endeavours.

In a caption attached to a screengrab of the 1631 painting ‘Salome Bearing the Head of St. John the Baptist’ by Italian baroque artist Guido Reni, Britney Spears wrote: “Just so we’re clear most of the news is trash !!!”

“They keep saying I’m turning to random people to do a new album,” she added. “I will never return to the music industry!!! When I write, I write for fun or I write for other people!!!” She then honed in on fans who have read her recent memoir, claiming that she has been ghostwriting for other artists for the last two years.

“For those of you who have read my book, there’s loads that you don’t know about me,” she wrote. “I’ve written over 20 songs for other people the past two years !!! I’m a ghostwriter and I honestly enjoy it that way !!!”

Finally, she confronted claims that her memoir had been released without her permission. “People are also saying MY BOOK WAS RELEASED WITHOUT MY APPROVAL ILLEGALLY and that’s far from the truth,” she concluded. “Have you read the news these days ??? I’m so LOVED and blessed !!!”

The Instagram post arrives after a source recently reported that Charli XCX has been enlisted as a writer for Spears’ prospective comeback album, a claim which Spears’ comments appear to address.

“[Charli XCX] went into the studio earlier in the year to make some songs using Britney’s guidance of what she is after,” the source stated. “She came up with a really strong track that is expected to make it onto the album, which Britney’s team hope will be out in 2024.”

Spears’ conservatorship under her father, Jamie, ended in late 2021, a milestone which was preceded by the fan-initiated #FreeBritney movement, and a series of exposé documentaries on Spears’ conservatorship including The New York Times’ Framing Britney Spears and Controlling Britney Spears, and Netflix’s Britney vs. Spears.

In 2022, Spears made her musical comeback with her Elton John collaboration, ‘Hold Me Closer’. In 2023, she also released ‘Mind Your Business’ alongside will.i.am, and released her memoir, The Woman In Me, which detailed her childhood experiences, career, relationships and 13-year conservatorship.

The Woman In Me sold over one million copies in the United States within one week of its release. In late October, Spears also revealed in a since-deleted Instagram post that a second volume of the memoir was being written, and was due for release in 2024.