What’s happening with Britney? - Girlsplained.
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If you’ve been on social media over the last few months, then you’ve probably come across the movement #FreeBritney. But what is it all about? Turns out, the pop princess, Britney Spears, is more of a prisoner than royalty.
She has been in the conservatorship of state and person since 2008 and I’ll tell you all about it in just one bit.
Most of this information is based on The New York Times documentary “Framing Britney Spears.”
What does it mean to be in a conservatorship?
A conservatorship is a legal process that allows a person to assume legal and financial responsibility for someone else. “People under conservatorship, known as conservatees, are often elderly. But they can also be younger people beset by emotional disturbances, mental disorders or physical impairments,” explained The Wall Street Journal.
Conservators can either be of a person, of the estate, or both. The first one is the person who has the right to manage the conservatee’s personal affairs, they are responsible to provide all the help they need on a personal matter (meals, clothing, transportation, etc.). The conservator of the estate is the person who manages the finances and assets of the conservatee.
Jamie Spears, Britney’s father, became her conservator in 2008 and after 13 years, she’s finally spoken up saying that he’s abusive and she wants to get out of it.
But, how did this happen?
Britney is one of America’s most famous pop singers of the 21st century. She was born in Mississippi. Being born in the Bible Belt and used to sing in the church choir during her childhood, and gave the virginal yet sexy image the tabloids and tv shows later used to exploit her.
Her career started when she was a kid. By the age of three, she was already attending dance lessons and gymnastics.
She auditioned to be part of The Mickey Mouse Club when she was eight but didn’t get in. After some TV appearances on “Star Search,” she auditioned again for The Mickey Mouse Club and got in when she was 11. There she met Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake.
Two years later, the show was canceled and she had to go back to living the life of a normal 13-year-old girl. But she was bored and her parents were bankrupt. So her mom called Larry Rudolph and he became her manager. They recorded a demo for her and sent it over to four different labels. One said they’d sign her.
That was the beginning of the Britney we all knew. The girl rapidly became one of the most famous people in the world.
Tabloids gave everything to have a story about her. In the documentary by The New York Times, “Framing Britney Spears,” they disclosed tabloids could pay up to one million dollars for a picture of her. Naturally, she didn’t have a private life. Wherever she went, hundreds of paparazzi were following her around.
Her fame was growing exponentially. As Steve Carell would say in Crazy, Stupid, Love, Britney was the perfect combination of sexy and cute. She was virginal due to her age and religious background but also was exploited like a sexual item.
Once she made her relationship with Justin Timberlake public, the media started to question her sexual life. As a 19-year old, she was constantly asked if she was still a virgin. Why was that the most important thing about her? She was famous for her voice and talent, not her hymen.
When they broke up, everyone pointed a finger at her. She was blamed for the break-up, while he was constantly asked if he had boned her.
Later, in 2004, she started dating and three months later, married Kevin Federline, an American DJ, rapper, and actor. They had two kids together and divorced just after Britney gave birth to their second child.
Tabloids started to share pictures of her driving with her kid on her lap or going out with friends instead of staying in with her kids. They started asking if maybe Britney was an unfit mother.
All of that led her and Kevin to fight for sole custody. He won, and she got visitation permits.
It’s sad to see in retrospect how tabloids practically managed her life and the image everyone had of her. No one ever cared if she was actually going through a mental health issue, they just assumed something was wrong with her and they monetized her behavior.
The conservatorship begins.
In a fight over custody, she was taken to a mental hospital for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation. In January 2008 she was forbidden to see her children. By the end of the month, she was taken to a 5150 hold which was a medical health hold.
That’s when her father, Jamie Spears, decides to file for temporary conservatorship. If you think it’s weird that I hadn’t mentioned her father until now it’s also weird to everyone else. He wasn’t really involved in her life, but suddenly he was interested in gaining control of her person (health, wellbeing, life choices) and state (money).
Undue influence is one of the reasons someone can be put in a conservatorship. Britney’s parents were concerned that she could give away her money under influence. Jamie requested a temporary conservatorship, and while she was still held by the mental institution, he was appointed as conservator of the person, and co-conservator of state with Andrew Wallet (a lawyer).
Later that year, Britney knew the official conservatorship was going to be inevitable, and she imagined she was going to be able to see her kids again. She asked her lawyer that she didn’t want her father as the conservator.
Once the lawyer presented himself to the judge, she said she had a medical report stating that Britney was not ok to make decisions or judgments. So the lawyer she chose couldn’t defend her. The court appointed her with another lawyer instead, Samuel Ingham.
Jamie Spears was approved by the court to be her permanent conservator in October 2008. Conservators can make decisions over Britney’s medication, change the way she looks, book TV and shows for her, as well as being in charge of her money.
According to California’s law, the conservatee can file a petition to stop being in a conservatorship anymore, but it’s not as easy as it sounds.
For years, her father booked TV shows, concerts, tours, album recordings, and a Las Vegas residency for her. She worked all those years and paid the salaries of all the people who worked for her.
With the rise of Instagram, Britney finally could show the parts of her life she wanted everyone to see. Her story was no longer one-sided by the tabloids. Britney’s Instagram was so fun that two girls created a podcast called Britney’s Gram, where they talked about Britney’s posts.
In 2018, Andrew Wallet, her co-conservator, asked the court for a raise since she was working more, and he thought the conservatorship should look more like a hybrid business model. If the conservatorship is to take care of someone’s well-being because they can’t do it for themselves. Then, it shouldn’t be seen as a business, there shouldn’t be a need to take care of someone who’s so fit to work and make money.
By the end of 2018, she was supposed to announce a Vegas residency. She had a live event planned where she was going to say it, but when the date came, she just walked in front of the crowd and got in her car without saying a word.
In January 2019, she called the residency off because her father was going through health issues and she wanted to be with her father. She disappeared from the Internet after that.
During the same period, Andrew Wallet quit.
And after a few months, of fans being worried about her and asking where she was, Britney posts a picture of a quote on Instagram but uses a smiley face in the caption instead of an emoji. Britney always uses emojis.
The same day the picture was posted, it was announced that Britney had voluntarily checked into a mental health facility a week ago.
The girls from the previously mentioned podcast thought it was weird, and they received an anonymous call from a paralegal who worked in Britney’s conservatorship case and said that Britney had been in the mental health hospital since mid-January and that it was not voluntary.
They posted a picture with the hashtag #FreeBritney, and it caught on.
People started to get seriously worried about Britney’s well-being. Fans marched and protested asking to free Britney.
Jaime Spears told the press the conspiracy was a joke, that they didn’t know anything and it was up to the California government to decide what was best for her daughter.
In 2019, tabloids started sharing that Britney and her dad were not on good terms. Kevin Federline issues a restraining order against Jaime Spears because he had a physical altercation with one of his kids (Jaime’s grandsons).
In September 2019, Jaime stepped down as Britney’s conservator of the person due to health issues but remained in control of her state, and Jodi Montgomery, an experienced conservator, was appointed as temporary conservator of the person.
Since the end of 2019, Britney has been requesting for her father to stop being her conservator.
In 2020, she explicitly said she wanted her father to stop being in charge of her money and was requesting a bank to oversee her finances. She also said she supported the #FreeBritney movement, which led everyone to believe she was in fact trapped in this conservatorship.
On November 10th, 2020 there was a hearing to remove her father as co-conservator, some public was allowed to be present. In the hearing, Britney’s lawyer opposed the claim that she and her father had a good relationship. He said it was not true, that Britney was afraid of him and that she was refusing to work until he was no longer part of her management. Lynn (her mother) was fighting to get her conservatorship of state.
Britney’s case is not being handled fairly, because she’s paying all the parties. She pays her dad (conservator), his lawyer, and her lawyer. If they’re all benefiting from her money, why would they have the best interest at heart to help her stop the conservatorship?
The judge didn’t suspend Jaime that day. But Britney’s requested conservator of state (the bank) was appointed as co-conservator of her 60-million dollar estate.
A week ago she finally spoke publicly and said she no longer wanted anyone as her conservator. She shared she had a DUI and she was not allowed to take it off, even though she wanted to try and have another baby with her boyfriend, and said she was in an abusive conservatorship.
Her request was refused again on July 1st, and her father still remains as co-conservator.
Obviously, there’s a lot we don’t know about her mental health and whether or not she needs to be part of a conservatorship. What’s concerning is that she’s a capable woman. She is a present mother, works non-stop, and pays the bills of everyone around her. If she can work and be accountable for her own life, what’s the catch? What’s behind all of this?
Also, I cannot go without mentioning that Bill Cosby, a comedian who raped over sixty women, was released from jail, while Britney is not even being appointed with a different conservator. I just think it’s a punch in the throat to set a rapist free in the same week a hard-working woman is being controlled by abusers.
It honestly terrifies me to see what will happen next. I think this is pushing Britney to the edge all over again, and I don’t think this time she’ll be satisfied with shaving her head. She has very few acts of freedom left, and I wished we could either truly understand what’s really keeping her in conservatorship, or making enough noise so they let her free.
I cannot imagine what it could feel like to have someone manage your life, to feel imprisoned in your own home and working to pay for your abusers. No one knows exactly what’s going on behind those walls, but if it turns out that she didn’t need a conservatorship, I hope this at least serves as precedent to change the laws and systems to take care of the person in this position.
I, for one, cannot wait to see her free. #FreeBritney.
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