Britney Spears’ former assistant, Alli Sims, is breaking her silence for the very first time about the years she spent with the music superstar.
Sims lived with Spears for over a year. She saw everything and in an Access Hollywood exclusive, revealed that, even at its worst, things with the pop star weren’t as bad as they were portrayed.
“I feel like the media made it appear a lot more insane than it really was,” Sims told Access.
Sims revealed that while she was at Spears’ side, they were constantly followed by the paparazzi.
“It was a minimum of 50 people following us,” she said. “It made everything look so much more hectic. It was crazy.”
Sims was Spears’ assistant for one year until reports said she was let go.
When asked if she was fired from the job, Sims said, “No.”
“I still lived with her after I wasn’t working with her and we’re still best friends,” Sims said.
When asked about the reports that Spears’ dad, Jamie Spears, said she couldn’t come around anymore, Sims said that was true.
“Yeah, he definitely said that,” she said. “You know, they’re very controlling and that’s fine and I just stepped back. I’m not going to fight nine lawyers and parents.”
In fact, it was a team of lawyers that handled a divorce, child custody and questions about Spears’ mental health. And with Jamie Spears in charge, they brought order to Britney’s life.
“They pretty much cut out everyone, honestly,” Sims said.
And despite reports that Spears is bipolar or suffers from post-partum depression, Sims said she didn’t see evidence of such conditions.
“I just feel like, you know, she had kids fast,” Sims said. “There was a divorce going on and that’s a lot for a young person to handle.”
In January 2008, Spears barricaded herself and son Jayden at her then home, refusing to give him back to ex-husband, Kevin Federline. Sims said the reason Spears refused is quite simple.
“She was just like, ‘I wasn’t ready for them … you know, to go home,’” Sims recounted. “It was a mom just being protective and a mom that didn’t want her kids to leave … I mean, it’s weird when you have kids three days a week and you’re used to having them all day everyday.”
During one stretch of Sims’ tenure with Spears, the star was hospitalized twice in one month. The second time she was taken by ambulance to the UCLA Medical Center’s Psychiatric Ward.
When asked how Spears was in the hospital, Sims said, “Fine, fine. Honestly, fine.”
As a result of the hospitalizations, Spears temporarily lost visitation rights to both her boys in January 2008.
“I think that was a really harsh step,” Sims said. “It looked a lot worse than it was … I actually got subpoenaed for the custody case and I was in there for eight hours and it was brutal. But, I mean, I just sat in there and told the truth. There was nothing bad to say.”
Sims hasn’t spoken to Spears in over a year. She’s spent the time doing what she says Spears encouraged her to do — pursue her music.
Sims’ first single, “Driving Blind,” is about missing someone. In this case, Spears.
“I want her to know when she hears (it), that it is about her and I miss her friendship,” Sims said.