Britney Spears tells audience she has 102-degree fever during concert in 2018
LOS ANGELES - A 2018 video of Britney Spears has surfaced on social media of the pop star saying she had a 102-degree fever during a show in New Jersey.
Footage captured by Zachary Gordon, who said he took it during Spears’s 2018 Piece of Me tour, shows Spears onstage.
"I’m about to pass out, I’m sick," Britney Spears says in the video. "I have actually a 102-degree fever right now."
The footage echoes complaints Spears made about her performance obligations under the court-appointed conservatorship of her father, Jamie Spears.
"Dear @britneyspears….I feel like we owe you an apology. We bought into the whole hype of BRITNEY the performer, without much consideration for how Britney Jean Spears, the person, was coping through each day. Looking back now, I remember you saying this in front of me," Gordon wrote.
"And I just thought ‘Wow, she’s such a trooper and cares so much to put on a show for her fans.’ Now I can see with clear eyes that this was a dig at the people controlling you, making you go onstage, performing under high powered lights, all while you had a high-grade fever," Gordon continued.
RELATED: ‘I am traumatized’: Britney Spears asks to end ‘abusive’ conservatorship
The video came to light after Spears gave rare and candid remarks to the judge overseeing the ongoing battle in the conservatorship run by her father, which has controlled the 39-year-old pop star’s money and affairs since 2008.
"I’m not lying, I just want my life back," Spears told Los Angeles Superior Court judge Brenda Penny in virtual court Wednesday. "I want to end the conservatorship without being evaluated."
Free Britney: Spears conservatorship hearing update I NewsNOW from FOX
Entertainer Britney Spears has asked a judge to end a 13-year conservatorship, which has controlled the 39-year-old pop star’s money and affairs since 2008. "I’m not lying, I just want my life back," Spears told the Los Angeles Superior Court judge, Brenda Penny in a virtual court. "I want to end the conservatorship without being evaluated."
Spears called the conservatorship "abusive" and said she wanted to petition to end the arrangement.
"After I’ve told the whole world I’m OK, it’s a lie. I’m not happy, I can’t sleep, I’m depressed, I cry every day," Spears said.
The singer blamed her ignorance for not understanding how to end the conservatorship herself.
"I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive. There are thousands of abusive conservatorships," Spears said. "I shouldn’t be in a conservatorship if I can work for myself and pay other people."
FULL INTERVIEW: Kevin Federline's family attorney speaks on Britney Spears conservatorship
Kevin Federline, Spears’ ex-husband, has remained largely quiet on the conservatorship, but Mark Vincent Kaplan, Kevin Federline’s family attorney, told FOX Television Stations that the arrangement offers protections for Britney.
Spears compared her experience to sex trafficking, saying she has been made to work against her will. She also said the conservatorship has kept her from getting married and having another baby, which she would like to do in the future.
The case has drawn interest from fans all over the world, many of whom have helped spawn the so-called #FreeBritney movement in protest of the unusual legal arrangement. Those in the movement feel Spears is being controlled unfairly against her will and have gathered outside the courthouse in large numbers during hearings related to the case.
Storyful contributed to this story.