Britney Spears’ friend and former assistant, Sean Phillip, is giving an update on the pop star following her recent DUI arrest.
“All I texted was, ‘Are you OK?’ and she said, ‘I’m OK.’ And I said, ‘Do you mind if I speak about this?’ and she said, ‘Go ahead,” Phillip said on the Friday, March 6, episode of Good Morning Britain, claiming that Spears authorized him to speak on her behalf.
“I’ve spoken to her. I speak to her almost every other day. I love her. She’s such a strong person. And so, just as everyone else was surprised with this instance happening, I was as well,” he continued. “But it’s not her character. She’s just a lovely, lovely, lovely person.”
Spears, 44, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence near her home in Ventura County, California, on Wednesday, March 4, Us Weekly confirmed on Thursday, March 5.
The “I’m a Slave 4 U” singer was taken into custody at 9:28 p.m. on Wednesday, according to Ventura County Sheriff’s Office records. Spears was taken to the hospital to test her blood alcohol content and subsequently booked Thursday at 3:02 a.m. and released at 6:07 a.m.
“I want the world to know that she’s such a great person. We all make mistakes,” Phillip said on Friday. “It makes me feel bad when she has to endure public mistakes.”
Following her arrest, Spears’ representative issued a statement to Us on Thursday, saying that Spears was cooperating with authorities.
“This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable,” Spears’ rep told Us. “Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law, and hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life. Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time. Her boys are going to be spending time with her. Her loved ones are going to come up with an overdue, needed plan to set her up for success for well-being.”
On Friday’s Good Morning Britain, Phillip was asked about her rep’s remarks about “overdue change” and what he’d like to see happen in her life.
“The change I would like to see is [for her to] get out of Los Angeles,” he said. “But I’ve been talking to her weekly, daily, and she is the same Britney I knew from 2003. There’s no disassociation that I have with her character or personality. But you have to think about these things … who else is she associating with and so on.”
Spears’ DUI arrest came nearly five years after her conservatorship under her father, Jamie Spears, ended in November 2021.
