Husband of Britney Spears files for divorce, source says
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Britney Spears's husband Sam Asghari filed for divorce from the superstar 14 months after they were married, a person familiar with the filing said late Wednesday. The person, who is close to Asghari but not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed the filing happened on Wednesday, hours after outlets like TMZ and People reported that the couple separated.
An email sent to a Spears representative was not immediately returned. Court records in Los Angeles and Ventura counties did not show where the case had been filed.
Spears married Asghari at her home in Thousand Oaks, California, on June 9, 2022 in front of guests including Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore, Paris Hilton, and Madonna. The wedding was seen as a milestone in her newly reclaimed life after the dissolution just six months earlier of the court conservatorship that controlled her life for more than 13 years.
The pop superstar met and began dating Asghari, a model and actor, when he appeared in her video for the song “Slumber Party” in 2016. She cited her desire to marry him among the reasons to end the constraining conservatorship, which she said was preventing it.
They announced their engagement in September 2021 as it became clear she would be freed from the conservatorship—which ended that November. Spears said she and Asghari lost a baby early in her pregnancy in May 2022, about a month before they married.
Reports of the couple's struggles increased in recent months. Spears's memoir, “The Woman in Me," is scheduled to be released in October.
Their marriage is the first for the 29-year-old Asghari and the third for the 41-year-old singer. She was married for less than three days in 2004 to childhood friend Jason Alexander, who attempted to crash her wedding to Asghari and was later convicted of misdemeanor trespassing and battery. In 2004, she wed dancer Kevin Federline. Their three-year marriage would come at a time of intense media scrutiny and increasing mental health struggles for Spears. Federline is the father of her two teenage sons, and has custody of the boys.
Spears was placed in the conservatorship run by her father in 2008. She seemed to do well under the arrangement at first, continuing to release records, make videos, and perform live, including a major concert residency in Las Vegas. But as she appeared less in public, fans began to demand that the court #FreeBritney, in what would eventually become a major movement.
Since the conservatorship ended, Spears has put out music, including a collaboration with Elton John in 2022, but has not performed live in years, nor announced plans to do so.