Whilst many are familiar with the widely circulated slogan ‘Free Britney’, only a few understand the complexity of the situation it has arisen from. The fan-led movement is primarily concerned with exposing the unjust nature of the legal conservatorship that Britney Spears has remained under since its initiation in 2008. Following the release of the New York Times documentary, ‘Framing Britney Spears’, which tracks the pop sensation’s rise to stardom and her turbulent relationship with the media, her current legal situation has garnered a renewed boost of critical attention.
Crumbling under the intense scrutiny of the media whilst trying to balance family and marital life alongside her career, Spears was placed under conservatorship after a series of public breakdowns in 2007. Notably, Spears does not fit the mould of what one would expect a conservatee to be; she has managed to perform on several tours and boosted her career since quickly returning to the public eye – all signalling her competence and capability of self-governance. A conservatorship is a legal concept whereby a judge-appointed individual or organisation is granted permission to care for an adult who is deemed unfit to care for themselves or manage their own finances. In Spears’ case, her father Jamie has been her sole conservator for a prolonged period of time and continues to be a co-conservator alongside the corporate fiduciary, Bessemer Trust, meaning he maintains control over her finances, career, and personal life. This has left Spears’ fan base speculative of her father’s true intentions.
The production of the now highly sensationalised, ‘Framing Britney Spears’, can be attributed to Spears’ vast fanbase who have become the driving force behind the Free Britney campaign. The grassroots movement was initiated by a small fan-led protest outside West Hollywood City Hall on April 22, 2019 and support for the campaign has escalated exponentially since. What was once dismissed as merely a conspiracy theory by many (including Spears’ father) has now got the world on the edge of its seat. A range of celebrities, including both Miley Cyrus and Paris Hilton, have promoted and vocalised their support for the movement.
The documentary followed the rapid evolution of the Free Britney movement as it grew from minor protests into something far more formidable. After the podcast ‘Britney’s Gram’, which sought to dissect Spears’ enigmatic and somewhat cryptic Instagram posts, garnered widespread attention, hosts Tess Barker and Barbara Gray unwittingly found themselves being the figure-heads of the Free Britney campaign. In ‘Framing Britney Spears’, Barker and Gray delved into the role they have played in advocating for Spears since. The pair released a special episode in 2019 featuring a concerning voicemail they received from someone who claimed to be a former paralegal for a lawyer working on Spears’ case. The global reaction to this episode was astronomical, causing the infamous hashtag #FreeBritney to go viral. Reduced to being a puppet in her own play, Barker and Gray have since taken agency over Spears’ narrative. Their use of social media to gain support for Spears’, however, is incredibly ironic; once again, Spears’ life’s trials are in the hands of the media, the hand that once subjugated is now that which liberates her.
‘Framing Britney Spears’ gave an eye-opening insight into Spears’ whirlwind rise to fame in an era that was rife with misogyny, exposing the double standard perpetrated by the media – predominantly toxic tabloids, at the time. It highlights the insidious nature of noughties celebrity culture where overtly sexualising famous young women was the norm. The documentary alludes to Spears’ and Justin Timberlake’s relationship, in particular focusing on their highly publicised breakup in 2002, after which the media’s obsessive sexualisation of Spears intensified, and many media outlets rushed to tarnish her innocent ‘school girl’ image. Horrifyingly, during multiple press conferences and interviews, her virginity was questioned and became a prominent point of discussion, most notably in an interview with Diane Sawyer who reduced Spears to tears by repeatedly interrogating her regarding the reason for their split. Her scrutiny and hyper-sexualisation highlighted the stark double standard between the ways in which young women and men were, and continue to be treated by the media. Spears’ male counterpart, Justin Timberlake, was portrayed as the victim in this situation and no one cared to question his sexual conduct, whereas she was mercilessly degraded and slut-shamed. Timberlake exploited this misogynistic culture to boost his solo career, using what is now arguably his biggest success ‘Cry me a River’, a song about infidelity, to insinuate that Spears was unfaithful in their relationship. The attention that this music video garnered is ultimately what skyrocketed his career and generated the fame he has today, at the expense of publicly humiliating Spears and irreversibly damaging her reputation. Due to the backlash prompted by the documentary, Timberlake has publicly apologised for profiting off of their relationship and the media frenzy it sought.
Most importantly, perhaps, was the insight that ‘Framing Britney Spears’ gave into Spears’ relationship with her parents from the onset of her career. Her father, who has controlled Spears’ career and personal affairs for more than a decade now, was a largely absent figure in her life prior to 2008. Their apparently fraught and distant relationship raises many questions as to why and how he has maintained the role of Spears’ conservator. This chronological timeline of events has provided viewers with a deep insight into Spears’ experience with fame and has garnered a renewed interest in her ongoing legal battle. The documentary’s production is a promising development and certainly a victory on behalf of her fans without whom her situation could never have been highlighted.
During the summer of 2020, court filings revealed that Spears requested that her father no longer remain the sole conservator of her estate. Her mother Lynne has expressed an interest in having a larger influence in her daughter’s life, having filed legal documentation asking to receive special notice on any developments pertaining to Spears’ finances shortly after Spears’ request. As the legal battle to regain Spears’ civil liberties and autonomy over her affairs continues, it will be interesting to see how the situation develops. Will the documentary change the trajectory of Britney’s life? Will she be rescued by the same hands that led her astray? Stay tuned to find out.
