Lady Gaga hails Britney Spears as an inspiration after conservatorship lifted

'She is wildly talented, she is incredibly inspirational and I am just so happy that we get to celebrate today, that she gets to embark on a new phase of her life,' Lady Gaga (left) says of Britney Spears (right). Photos: AFP and AP

Pop star and actress Lady Gaga on Saturday (Nov 13) celebrated singer Britney Spears' release from a conservatorship imposed more than a decade ago after a mental health breakdown, calling Spears an inspiration who was treated badly by the music industry.

Gaga, who has said she also struggles with mental health issues including trauma from a sexual assault by a music producer when she was only 19, spoke to Reuters about Spears while attending the red-carpet premiere of the film House Of Gucci in Milan on Saturday.

"She is wildly talented, she is incredibly inspirational and I am just so happy that we get to celebrate today, that she gets to embark on a new phase of her life," Gaga said of Spears. Spears won back her freedom on Friday after 13 years under a conservatorship that controlled how she spent her money, when she performed, who had access to her house and the medications she took.