We all know and love the iconic Britney Spears. She’s given us more bangers, style inspiration, and girl power energy than we could have ever asked for, and even though it’s been over a decade (or two!) since the height of her career, her spirit will live on forever. Seriously, I think I rediscover the …Baby One More Time album at least once a month, and it gets me dancing each and every time.
If you’ve been keeping up with Britney via social media, you know she loves to dance, dress up, and reminisce about her younger days. She even got vaccinated recently, and shared her happiness in being able to do so! Go Britney! It seems as if she’s living a simple and happy life. However, the news tells a very different story—Britney has been dealing with stressful legal affairs for the past 13 years.
Since 2008, Britney has been under a legal conservatorship, with her father Jamie Spears serving as the conservator. This means that Britney does not have control over the money she makes or the deals she is signed onto for her career. Conservatorships are typically intended for the elderly or those who might be too handicapped to care for themselves. Britney’s conservatorship was put into place following her very public breakdown in 2008—yes, the one that gave us those iconic bald Britney photos we all grew up with—as her father did not view her as fit to manage her own finances. While Britney did briefly suffer from mental health conditions that prevented her from making rational decisions, the conservatorship established a long term solution for a seemingly short term problem.
So, why is this news such a big deal? One reason is that the conservatorship is no longer an appropriate way to deal with the pop star’s career—and may not have ever been. Britney is almost 40 years old, and has expressed her dissatisfaction with the conservatorship and with her father specifically. When the conservatorship was established, Britney asked that Jamie would not be the conservator. This wish of Britney’s was obviously not honored, and is still an issue today.
The inappropriate nature of Britney’s conservatorship has broader implications as well. Many have been taking a deeper look into her career and history with mental illness in order to make sense of this dynamic Britney seems to be stuck in. After watching the New York Times’ documentary, Framing Britney Spears (available on Hulu), I developed a ton of sympathy for Britney. She has been over-sexualized and harrassed by the media and paparazzi since she entered the spotlight as a young teenager. She was even targeted as an “unfit mother” at one point, thanks to an unfortunate photograph of her with her infant son taken at a vulnerable moment. Constant harassment and exploitation of her personal life caused her to spiral into having these public moments of “insanity” (understandably so!).
These insights invite viewers to question the priorities of the media as well as its effects on those being documented. Those hilarious photographs of Britney post-head-shave as she takes an umbrella to a paparazzi’s vehicle are really just captured moments of vulnerability—moments where Britney was emotionally triggered by those invading her personal space.
Britney’s conservatorship developed out of an alleged concern for her mental state of being. While this seems warranted, we still need to consider the causes of Britney’s emotional instability—this helps us empathize with her and ultimately advocate for her freedom from the conservatorship. Britney’s case will remain significant as it has forced so many to reconsider the entire purpose and boundaries of conservatorships. The legal trials are ongoing, and there will be one this month, as Britney is petitioning to have her father replaced as the conservator.
Learn more about Britney’s affairs in Variety’s interview regarding them with a legal expert