The China Mail - Britney Spears' husband says marriage over, files for divorce

Sam Asghari said the couple would "hold onto the love" they have, but that they were going their separate ways.

"After 6 years of love and commitment to each other my wife and I have decided to end our journey together," the Iranian-born model wrote on Instagram.

"We will hold onto the love and respect we have for each other and I wish her the best always," the 29-year-old added.

"Asking for privacy seems ridiculous so I will just ask for everyone including media to be kind and thoughtful."

Court documents lodged in Los Angeles show Asghari cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for ending the marriage.

The couple wed in 2022, about a year after a California judge dissolved a controversial 14-year conservatorship that had barred Spears from handling her own life and finances, a legal arrangement many fans considered exploitative.

Under the conservatorship -- which was largely managed by her father Jamie Spears -- the now-41-year-old singer said she was prevented from having a contraceptive IUD removed despite her desire for more children, claimed she was forced to work and said her phone was tapped.

"I just want my life back," Spears told the court in 2021.

The singer -- whose hits include "Oops!... I Did It Again," and "Toxic" -- reportedly has a prenuptial agreement in place that will protect her assets.

Asghari's divorce petition says the two have been separated since last month.

Spears rocketed to fame in her teens on hits like "...Baby One More Time," becoming one of the world's reigning pop stars at the turn of the millennium.

But she suffered a highly publicized 2007 breakdown, which included attacking a paparazzo's car at a gas station, and the conservatorship began just a year later.

Asghari and Spears met in 2016 when he appeared in a music video for her single "Slumber Party."

The couple announced a surprise pregnancy in 2022 but said it had ended in miscarriage only weeks later.

Spears has two teen sons, Sean and Jayden, with her ex-husband Kevin Federline. She was also briefly married -- for less than three days -- to childhood friend Jason Alexander.

After reports of her split with Asghari began to surface, Spears posted on Instagram Wednesday night that she was planning to buy a horse, but made no mention of her marital status.

Her memoir, "The Woman In Me," is due to be released in October.

Z.Huang--ThChM