Inside Britney Spears’ ‘toxic’ 2009 tour Down Under which devastated the pop star after the Australian government blasted her for lip syncing and fans stormed out of concerts

Britney Spears has exposed the horrors of her conservatorship and career in her new memoir, The Woman in Me.

The pop princess, 41, claims she was forced to perform against her will and even trashed her 2003 pre-conservatory Onyx Hotel Tour by calling it “stupid” and “too sexual.”

Conspicuously missing from the book, however, is any in-depth coverage of the Australian leg of her 2009 Circus tour, which was billed as the star’s big comeback after her 2007 breakdown.

The Australian foray was mired in controversy and attracted negative media attention Down Under, eventually leading to the government becoming involved.

Before the tour had even started, New South Wales’ Fair Trading Minister accused Virginia Judge Spears of lip-syncing and said she was considering adding disclaimers to tickets and promotional materials warning fans that the vocals had been pre-recorded.

“It’s Britney’s prerogative to lip-sync, and it’s my job to make sure consumers know up front what they’re paying for,” Judge said in a statement.

“If you spend up to $200, I think you deserve better than a movie.”

Rubbing more salt into the wound, Judge snapped, “Personally, I’d rather see a live set from a local artist.”

When the tour kicked off in Perth, things went from bad to worse after a journalist from The Advertiser claimed fans were ‘walking out’ of the concert.

In a scathing article, the journalist claimed fans stormed out of the show after the Toxic singer mimed and failed to interact with the audience.

The story spread like wildfire, leaving Britney “extremely upset” and forcing both her manager and the tour’s Australian promoter to issue statements to quell the backlash.

‘It’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard. I’m so angry,” Australian tour promoter Paul Dainty said at the time.

“We can get upset when something is wrong and people can rate shows poorly – that’s something you have to live with – but to say people stormed out of the show was an absolute fabrication,” he continued.

‘Britney is aware of this and is very upset about it. She’s human. With such a large international entourage here with Britney, I feel ashamed to be part of the Australian media when I see that kind of completely inaccurate reporting.”

He added: ‘It has been on the internet for nine months, the conclusion is that we were trying to hide this. It’s been the opposite. This show is about an incredible spectacle, and it is.”

Britney’s manager Adam Leber also said: ‘It’s a shame a journalist in Perth didn’t enjoy the show last night. Fortunately, so did the other 18,272 fans present.”

When the furor didn’t subside, Spears himself eventually issued a brief statement.

‘I hear there is a lot of controversy in the media about my show. Some reporters have said they love it, others haven’t. “I came to Australia for my fans,” she said.

Despite the negative reception, the Australian leg of the Circus tour sold 97.7% of tickets and grossed over $20 million.

However, it was the last time Spears would ever perform Down Under, with the star leaving Australia outside of her touring schedule despite playing shows in Asia and Europe several times over the next decade.

The star skipped the circus drama in her new memoir, The Woman in Me, but she did discuss some of her other tours and residencies in the tome.

Spears embarked on The Onyx Hotel Tour in March 2004 in support of her 2003 album In the Zone, which spanned 54 shows.

The singer recalled in The Woman In Me that the tour was too sexual “to begin with”, adding that it was “rough”.

Two years earlier, Spears had broken up with Justin Timberlake, with the singer revealing in the book that her sexually charged tour was a benchmark for revenge.

“My response on stage was to go there a little bit. But it was absolutely terrible. I hated it at the time,” Spears says in the book.

She went on to call the tour “stupid” and confessed that she would pray every night that she would break a bone so she could pull the plug on the whole thing.

Spears also lambasted her Vegas residencies, claiming she was forced to do so and had no creative control when it came to her choreography.

“I would learn quickly because once I made it clear that I wasn’t going to continue doing Vegas, my family made me disappear,” she wrote in the memoir.

It comes after Britney joyfully celebrated the book becoming the ‘best-selling celebrity memoir in history’.

The Baby One More Time singer, 41 — who officially dropped the anticipated memoir on Tuesday — gushed to her 42.3 million fans and followers: “It’s happening!!!”

“My book is the best-selling celebrity memoir in history and it’s only day 1!!! Thank you to the fans who have been so supportive!!! I love you all!! #TheWomanInMe @gallerybooks @simonandschuster.’

She uploaded a photo of the book cover to Instagram and included a short film with the words: “My story.” On my terms. Finally’ appears on the screen.

An audiobook version was also released, notably narrated by Oscar-nominated actress Michelle Williams.