Britney Spears' Chateau Marmont incident compared to her 2008 mental breakdown

Britney Spears has seemingly sparked "mental health crisis" concerns after pictures of her barefoot and nearly naked outside the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles became public in the early hours of Thursday, May 2. The incident is being compared to Britney's reportedly erratic behavior between 2007 and 2008, which saw her in a 13-year conservatorship under her father.

According to The Daily Mail, insider sources alleged that the pop icon was "completely dysfunctional," and her recent behavior seemingly added to that concern. The 42-year-old singer was pictured being tended to by paramedics after reportedly injuring her foot on Thursday morning.

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Britney Spears' Chateau Marmont incident explored

According to The Daily Mail, Britney Spears and her boyfriend, Paul Richard Soliz, checked into the Chateau Marmont on Wednesday night. The pair reportedly "partied and drank" till 11 pm and allegedly got into a "huge physical altercation in which Spears may have hurt her leg."

Several guests at the hotel were reportedly fearful that Britney was having a mental breakdown as she was allegedly "screaming and out of control" in the hallway, and so paramedics were called.

"Emergency services received a call at 12.42 am with reports of an adult female injured. At 1am an ambulance arrived on the premises. I can confirm no-one was transported. Services left the scene at 1.17 am. The police department were not called," LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey told The Daily Mail.

Britney Spears reportedly did not get into the ambulance and went with her security, leaving Soliz behind. Later in the day, the Circus singer took to Instagram to clarify the events, claiming that "the news is fake" and that she was "getting stronger every day."

She followed this up by posting videos of her bruised leg, claiming to have hurt herself while trying to do a leap in the living room of her hotel suite.

“I really twisted my ankle last night like an idiot — just to show proof. It’s so bad. F*king idiot here tries to do a leap in the living room of the Chateau and I fell — embarrassed myself — and that’s it.”

Britney Spears also said that the paramedics "caused a huge scene" since all she needed was some ice. In the caption of the Instagram post, she accused her mom, Lynne Spears, of setting her up.

"I know my mom was involved !!! I haven’t talked to her in 6 months and she called right after it happened before the news being out !!! I was set up just like she did way back when !!! I wish I had grandparents !!! I can’t stand her !!! I honestly don’t care I will say it," she said.

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Chateau Marmont incident sparks concerns for Britney Spears' mental health

As photos of a disheveled Britney Spears outside the Chateau Marmont hotel circulated on social media, many of her fans were concerned about the 42-year-old singer's mental health, with many drawing comparisons between this and her 2008 breakdown.

Fans speculated that the new images were reminiscent of when emergency services moved her to a hospital via ambulance after she barricaded herself and her son in a bathroom amid a custody battle with her ex-husband in 2008.

"It’s so sad to see photos like this it’s like 2007/8 again with the media on top of her during her struggles," one fan tweeted.

In October 2007, Britney Spears lost shared custody of her sons, Sean Preston, aged two, and Jayden James, aged one, due to her “habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol.” This came months after the singer engaged in continuous seemingly erratic incidents, including her highly publicized head-shaving stunt.

According to The New York Times, Britney Spears was engaged in a three-hour standoff in a locked bathroom that involved her two toddler sons, ex-husband, a court-appointed child monitor, police officers, and paramedics in January 2008.

When the police arrived at 8 pm at her home in the Summit, Britney had barricaded herself and her youngest son in the bathroom, refusing to hand him over to her ex-husband’s bodyguard after her visitation hours were over. A police supervisor reportedly said that she was “incoherent and arguing with officers in a way that made no sense.”

Just before 11 pm, Britney Spears was taken from her home by a stretcher into an ambulance, where she was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and placed in lockdown on a 72-hour involuntary psychiatric hold for treatment and evaluation. Paparazzi and helicopters swarmed the ambulance, and the incident dominated the tabloids at that time.

Soon after, on February 1, 2008, Britney Spears was placed in an involuntary conservatorship under her father and was only freed in 2021 after the #FreeBritney movement shed light on her struggles.