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Britney Spears recently caught the media’s attention once again as the celebrity’s unprecedented case of her 13-year conservatorship came to a close this September. With her name making headlines even 20 years after her first hit song came out, Spears has faced her fair share of public scrutiny. Her meteoric path to fame did not come without its bumps and the response of both the media and her fans has been complex. Now that more details of her personal life are coming to light and her conservatorship is coming to a close, it's time we reevaluated the media’s portrayal of Britney Spears, how the media contributed to her case, and how her case reflects the need for a change in the entertainment, media, and music industry.
Photo from Spears’ second album, "Oops!... I Did It Again" | Credit: On This Day in 2000… Britney Spears released Oops!…I Did It Again
For many of us, Britney Spears has served as a pop icon. Referred to as the “Princess of Pop”, she is a singer, songwriter, and dancer who is credited with reviving teen pop during the late 1990s and the early 2000s. I’m sure that many of us grew up listening to her classics like “Oops!...I Did It Again” and “…Baby One More Time”. With her first album selling over 30 million copies, the marketing of her pieces helped solidify her image and appeal as both the Christian girl-next-door and a self-confident sex symbol. However, although millions of people enjoy her music, her rise to fame was not always smooth-sailing. How did her image in the media change over the years and what has this led to?
One big reason was the significant mental health crises that she had following a series of stressors in 2007 and 2008 that put her in the spotlight and set her conservatorship in motion. A prominent influence on this situation was her divorce from Kevin Federline, with whom she shared two children. In an infamous moment of 2007, Spears was photographed by the paparazzi as she beat a paparazzi member’s car with an umbrella after shaving her head. She had also locked herself in a room with her son Jayden during a family custody battle and was later hospitalized for being under the influence of an unknown substance, which resulted in her losing custody of her children.
These were seen as public mental health crises and Spears was soon hospitalized under a “5150 hold” where she then underwent a mental health evaluation. It was around this time that Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, petitioned for a supposedly temporary emergency conservatorship. A legal conservatorship is when someone who cannot care for themselves or manage their own finances is appointed a responsible adult to care for them. This legal conservatorship led to Jamie Spears becoming the appointed conservator with control over Britney, the conservatee, placing Spears’ finances, $47 million dollar estate, and herself under her father’s control.
Britney Spears, Jamie Spears | CREDIT: GETTY; ALEX BERLINER/SHUTTERSTOCK
This appointment has caused Spears distress throughout these 13 years, with her coming forward and stating that her conservators have been extorting her in many ways. She disclosed that the abuse even included them monitoring her phone, planting devices to listen and check her calls with, forcing her to perform at shows even when she’s sick or doesn’t want to, and refusing to let her change her birth control, amongst several other factors. Though her father stepped down as her sole conservator in 2019 due to health reasons she was still overseen by Jodi Montgomery and lacked control over her life.
However, Britney’s voice has been building, with this recent decision sealing the case. Since 2019, her social media channels have been integral to the traction of her case and so has a recently released documentary on her life. There was much more to her story than what was typically considered “erratic behavior” and a simple breakdown. “Framing Britney Spears” is an Emmy-nominated documentary produced by the New York Times that shows how Britney was sexualized from a young age. She had begun her career as a cast member of “The All-New Mickey Mouse Club Show” when she was only 11-years-old. She then went on to start her music career at 16 and quickly rose to fame as a pop star. However, being a star was not always stellar and during interviews, she was often faced with more demeaning questions as opposed to her fellow male celebrities; being asked questions on her virginity or whether she had a boyfriend. Aside from what the documentary depicted, the shaming and sexualization that she faced coalesced as she was ridiculed for how she dressed during the start of her career and was told she was not being a good role model.
This documentary was just released in the midst of her case and it effectively helped further shift public opinion by providing more insight on Britney’s side of the story. This scrutiny that she faced now actually allowed viewers to enter into Britney’s shoes more and see how the media has affected her reputation. It made viewers empathize more with Britney and increased support for the end of her conservatorship.
Spears is also a prominent influencer and has used her social media as a platform for her newfound voice. She has used multiple platforms, such as Tiktok, Instagram, and Twitter, to share her comments on the case’s developments. The #FreeBritney movement has changed over the years but resurfaced after a “Britney’s Gram” podcast, where concerns were voiced by an anonymous lawyer working with the firm overseeing Spears’ conservatorship. This was then taken up by her fans over social media, who devised different theories about her life and ultimately concluded that she needed to get out of her conservatorship. Britney took to her Twitter and Instagram to thank supporters of the #FreeBritney movement for their help, stating that their efforts had helped close her conservatorship after the judge had ruled to end it.
A poster being held by a supporter of the #FreeBritney movement | (AFP: Robyn Beck)
So what does the end of this conservatorship mean moving forward? In an impassioned Instagram post, Spears’ made earlier this month, she addressed the detrimental impact that the paparazzi has had on her life and her fears for the future. Spears shared how she had waited for the conservatorship to end but that she was unsure of what to do next with her 35.5 million followers. She went on to say that she was afraid of making more mistakes, especially with the paparazzi constantly following her. She expressed discomfort and fear at the paparazzi’s approach and shared how disgusted she was with the system for what she had gone through, stating that she would be posting less and staying away from business. Hopefully, this newly acquired freedom will finally come with some peace and privacy for the star.
Overall, these developments show that media portrayal is flawed and not all-encompassing of someone’s circumstances, even for a celebrity who is often in the spotlight. In our era of Cancel Culture, Spears was an early victim who was ridiculed and poked fun at for years. Her journey shows that although Spears is influential in different industries and has reached immense success, she has undoubtedly faced her fair share of obstacles. The intricacies of her case show how powerful media can be and that public voices do matter. Instead of finding the peace and comfort she needed during her lowest points, she was subjected to 13 years of unfair treatment. But through mediums such as the documentary and her social media channels, she was able to find some support. As public relations, journalists, or communication professionals, it is important to keep an eye on audience opinion and to check all sides of the story. How can we best support our client and urge others to? How can we fight the deception of negative portrayals? I encourage us to keep an open mind and to see things from both sides. The media can be both our greatest ally and our most dreaded enemy. New, developing stories hold the potential for both. For now, we can wish Britney Spears the best on this new phase of her journey and hope that it’s finally smooth sailing from here.
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