Britney Spears arrested for DUI

Britney Spears has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI).

The Toxic hitmaker was detained by the California Highway Patrol on Wednesday evening in Ventura City.

According to an arrest record obtained by multiple outlets, Spears was placed in handcuffs at around 9:30pm local time and taken into custody in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The record states that the 44-year-old singer has since been released and is expected to appear in court on 4 May.

Neither Spears nor her representatives have commented publicly on the arrest. However, her Instagram account has since been deactivated.

The news comes weeks after it was announced that the Oops!... I Did It Again singer had sold the rights to her entire music catalogue to privately held music publisher Primary Wave.

A report by TMZ stated that the deal was finalised on 30 December. It is unclear how much Spears received for the sale, but a source told the outlet it was on par with Justin Bieber's reported $200 million (£147 million) deal to sell his back catalogue to Hipgnosis Songs Capital in 2023.

The singer, who was released from a controversial 13-year conservatorship in 2021, also recently declared that she will "never" perform in the U.S. again for "extremely sensitive reasons".

In the Instagram post shared in January, Spears added, "But I hope to be sitting on a stool with a red rose in my hair, in a bun, performing with my son in the UK and Australia very soon."

The Grammy Award winner has not released a studio album since 2016's Glory.