American pop icon Britney Spears has landed a $15 million book deal with publisher Simon & Schuster, according to reports. The deal is one of the biggest of all time and follows a bidding war that ensued when Spears, 40, made it known she was willing to write a memoir.
Spears, at the turn of the century, was one of the biggest pop stars in the world. With record sales of over 150 million worldwide, she ranks as one of the most successful music artists of all time.
The rights to her story became of particular interest, however, following the end of her 13-year battle to halt a conservatorship that saw her father control her finances, career, and even personal health care.
The decade-plus conservatorship of her father became the subject of a documentary series titled “Framing Britney Spears” that brought the public spotlight to her struggle for independence.
The docu-series, and her subsequent legal victory, reinvigorated the public’s interest in the pop star and gave additional insight into the #FreeBritney movement.
In January, Spears made it known that she wanted to do a tell-all on her family, after her younger sister, actress Jamie Lynn Spears, released a memoir titled Things I Should Have Said that prompted Britney’s lawyer to issue an unsuccessful cease and desist letter.
The book prompted Spears to take to Instagram to air her grievances, writing: “Congrats best seller…..The nerve of you to sell a book now and talk s—t but your f—king lying…..I wish you would take a lie detector test so all these masses of people see you’re lying through your teeth about me !!!! I wish the almighty, Lord could come down and show this whole world that you’re lying and making money off of me !!!! You are scum, Jamie Lynn.”
In early January the pop music icon teased that a memoir could be coming by posting an image on Instagram of a typewriter with a caption reading, “Shall I start from THE BEGINNING???”
No date for release has been announced, but with a $15 million upfront price tag, the dirt on the Spears’ family has to be, to quote the title of one of her more notorious hit songs, ‘Toxic’.