Britney Spears marked turning 43 this week by declaring on Instagram: “It’s my birthday, I’m not turning 42; I’m turning 5 this year, and I have to go to kindergarten tomorrow.”
The pop icon celebrated by frolicking on the beaches of Mexico, where she feels “grounded and relaxed” by the water, according to friends.
But her bizarre Instagram post — including getting her actual age wrong — was just the latest in a series of eccentric messages that have left fans and insiders once again fearing for the star.
Spears sparked befuddlement after claiming she was turning 5 and moving to Mexico
Spears was seen arriving in Mexico this week, but sources said she hasn’t permanently relocated
Spears flew to Cabo on a private jet with close friends to celebrate her birthday, only to complain online, “It really kind of hurts my feelings that the paparazzi make my face look like I’m wearing, like, a white Jason mask, and it doesn’t even look like me
“They’ve always been incredibly cruel to me, the paparazzi and pictures and the way they’ve illustrated me to be in some of it. I know I’m not perfect at all, by any means, but some of it is extremely mean and cruel, and that’s why I’ve moved to Mexico.”
A close friend of Spears told Page Six, “Britney didn’t actually move to Mexico … she was just having fun and being silly.”
People around the pop star have come to expect the eccentricities and unpredictability.
“I think we’ve all learned that, when it comes to Britney’s decisions, it’s very fluid for her,” Mark Vincent Kaplan, lawyer for Kevin Federline, Spears’ second husband, said.
“I don’t think you can put too much weight into it until you can see, after the fact, what’s occurred.”
Indeed, Spears still continues to inist that she is moving to Mexico, posting another clip of her dancing on Thursday with the message, “I’m so blessed !!! I’m house hunting and this place is insanely beautiful !!! Thank you Jesus for a place so far away from America !!!”
Monday also marked the day that Spears was declared legally single following her divorce from her third husband, actor and fitness trainer Sam Asghari.
In October, she made it clear she was moving on as she shared a video of herself dancing while wearing her wedding dress. “The day I married myself,” she captioned the post. “Bringing it back because it might seem embarrassing or stupid, but I think it’s the most brilliant thing I’ve ever done!!!”
One thing we might not see her doing anytime soon is making new music.
One senior music industry insider told Page Six they would be surprised if Spears was working on new material anytime soon.
Spears had a mini comeback in 2022 — after she was released from a strict 13-year conservatorship — when she joined forces with Elton John for their platinum hit, “Hold Me Closer.”
She followed that up with “Mind Your Business,” a collaboration with Will.I.Am that debuted at No. 1 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart in 2023.
But, the insider said,, “Britney is now far more of a cultural icon of the 2000s than a singer — and I fear that the industry has changed so completely it will be hard to make a true comeback.”
And it’s not just the changing industry that presents a hurdle. The insider fears that Spears is struggling.
“Everyone worries about her, people love her. A lot went on behind the scenes that the people with good intentions, who were trying to release her from her conservatorship, weren’t aware of — and I think it’s obvious she needs some serious professional help.”
Another high-profile Hollywood producer added of Spears’ odd behavior: “It makes me sad. Everyone is rooting for her.”
The singer has kept a small and loyal group of people around her since her break-up with Asghari, including her manager, Cade Hudson, and her older brother Bryan Spears, who moved into her Thousand, Oaks, Calif., home after Asghari left.
Asghari filed for divorce in August 2023, citing “irreconcilable differences” just 14 months after he and Spears tied the knot at the house.
ccording to a friend, he is now dating a “normal girl,” Brooke Irvine, and they have been spotted canoodling around LA.
Asghari will appear in the hit NBC show “Traitors” in January.
“He’ll likely come into The Traitors castle with his fellow contestants deeply curious about him — they’ll have little knowledge about how he operates as a person, which is definitely a plus for his gameplay. Also, not having a bad reputation with his incredibly famous ex might help if he gets placed as a Faithful,” according to NBC promo materials.
“Sam has always made it clear that he will care for Britney,” the friend told us.
Meanwhile, Spears recently reunited with her son Jayden after years of estrangement. The 18-year-old returned to California after living in Hawaii with his brother Sean, 19, and Federline, who gained custody of the boys in 2008.
“Britney is really focusing on rebuilding her bond with her sons … ” said the friend.
And though Spears is done with child-support payments to Federline now that her sons are adults, she may not be done financing the teens’ lifestyles just yet, as Page Six reported.
“I would say that, under the terms of judgment, there will still be some responsibilities to contribute on certain expenses,” Kaplan said.
As the holidays approach, Spears’ friend also said that the singer has been working on her relationship with her mom, Lynne Spears, after years of estrangement.
Britney, her sons and brother and her mom are all in a good place,” said her friend.
However, sources say she will not be reconciling with her father, Jamie Spears — whom she blames for putting her into the harsh conservatorship — nor her younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears.
But even if she isn’t making music, Spears has more on her plate than just filming puzzling social media videos
In August, Universal secured the rights to the singer’s best-selling memoir “The Woman in Me,” with producer Marc Platt and “Wicked” director Jon Chu attached.
Industry sources said there is no script yet.
“I cannot talk much about the Britney story other than I have been a Britney fan for many years …” Chu told The Hollywood Reporter last month.
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