Britney Spears’ Sons Sean and Jayden ‘Were Key in Persuading’ Her to Seek Help After DUI Arrest

Three weeks after Britney Spears was arrested for DUI, she gave fans a glimpse into how well she was doing. In one Instagram post she shared on March 27, she and son Jayden appear in playful photos and videos with Britney doing funny dances behind him. “Thank you guys for all your support,” the pop princess wrote to her 42.3 million followers in the caption. “Spending time with family and friends is such a blessing!!!” In another set, posted March 29, the twosome join her other son, Sean, on a yacht, and the two boys can be seen putting their arms around their mother — in short shorts and a midriff-baring top — as they smile for the camera.

Despite those happy posts, on April 12, Britney’s rep announced the “Toxic” singer had voluntarily checked herself into rehab, Star reported. To many, the move seemed like a desperate attempt to sway the result of her May 4 court date following her arrest. On March 4, the 44-year-old was pulled over for speeding and reckless driving, and spent three hours in Ventura County Jail before being released. (There was reportedly an “unknown substance” in her car.) At the time of her arrest, the rep said Britney would be taking “the right steps,” adding, “Hopefully this can be the first step in a long overdue change that needs to occur in [her] life.” After years of spiraling out of control, the rehab stint is just the latest attempt to get her back on track. “Even before the DUI incident, Britney was clearly making terrible, self-destructive choices,” a source tells Star. “People close to her are looking at this as her last chance to straighten herself out and clean up her life. Things can’t go on as they are.”

Risky Behavior

The source tells Star Sean, 20, and Jayden, 19, were instrumental in getting their mom to seek treatment. (Their dad is her ex-husband Kevin Federline.) Britney reconnected with her estranged boys in late 2024, especially Jayden, who began spending more of his time at her $7.4 million Thousand Oaks, Calif., mansion. “Nothing anyone said seemed to register with Britney until Jayden and Sean Preston stepped in,” the source explains. “They were key in persuading their mom to get some help. Getting arrested forced things to a head,” the source adds, “but it also gave the boys the opportunity to force Britney to admit things had gone too far.”

Concern for the star has been growing steadily since her 13-year conservatorship ended in 2021. Her 14-month marriage to Sam Asghari provided some needed stability but was short-lived. She often posted shocking videos to her social media showing her dancing provocatively (in 2023, concerned fans called the police after she danced with knives; in early March, the California Post revealed the police had been called to her home 14 times, according to Page Six — four for wellness checks — since 2024). In late 2025, she was spotted swerving on the road following an outing in L.A. The March arrest, after a series of sobriety tests by the California Highway Patrol, was for “driving under the influence of a combination of drugs and alcohol.” (As of press time, drug test results were pending.)

Many fear drugs and alcohol are at the root of her erratic behavior. In her 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me, Britney admitted the ADHD medication Adderall had been her drug of choice in the mid-2000s, writing, per The Daily Beast, “It gave me a few hours of feeling less depressed.” Says the source: “Britney was self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, trying to escape reality.” His lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan said on March 5, per TMZ, that Kevin “is happy that she is getting help.”

Feeling Triggered

It’s shocking Britney even agreed to go to rehab. She had a horrific experience when her father, Jamie Spears, forced her to go in 2014. “I didn’t get to see my kids for a month,” she wrote in her memoir, per Vanity Fair, noting that she was scared to be alone because “a lot of people [there] were serious drug addicts” and stayed close to her security guard.

But it may be her only hope when it comes to her upcoming court case. “Britney’s legal team told her point blank that she had no alternative but to seek help if she wants to impress the judge,” the source says. Rehab also may be her last chance to fully repair her relationships with Sean and Jayden. “Britney is willing to do things for the boys she wouldn’t for anyone else,” says the source. “They’re proud of her and in her corner.”