Perez Hilton, who once called Britney an unfit mother, has the nerve to say she’s being ‘exploited’
Britney Spears was hounded by the media in the lead-up to her mental health crisis. (Isaac Brekken/Jerod Harris/Getty)
Perez Hilton, who once branded Britney Spears an “unfit mother” and made repeated jokes about her mental health, thinks she is being “exploited” by a new documentary about her life.
The gay gossip blogger made a name for himself for his often ruthless take on celebrity life – and he has faced increased scrutiny since The New York Times released its documentary Framing Britney Spears, which looks at the appalling treatment the singer endured from the media in the lead-up to her mental health crisis in 2008.
Hilton was just one of the many media figures who pursued Britney Spears relentlessly. In one particularly infamous incident, he sold t-shirts following Heath Ledger’s death in January 2008 that featured a picture of the late actor alongside the message: “Why couldn’t it be Britney?”
Now, Hilton has hit out at the creators of the new documentary, claiming that they are using Britney Spears in much the same way many media figures did in the early 2000s.
Speaking to KIIS FM’s Jase & PJ in the Morning on Wednesday (3 March), Hilton said: “Part of me feels like the documentary is a for-profit venture. It’s about ratings disguised as investigative journalism.
He said there was “no new information” in the documentary, and criticised the creators for failing to land an interview with the singer herself.
“It’s just a regurgitation and a re-framing of the past. To me it almost feels like it is exploiting Britney all over again.”
Perez Hilton insisted that Britney Spears is not a ‘prisoner’
Hilton went on to insist that Spears is not a “prisoner” under the terms of a court-ordered conservatorship, which was put in place in 2008 following her public mental health crisis.
“I know for a fact if she wanted to speak she could. She’s not a prisoner in her house,” Hilton said.
He added: “Yes, her life is controlled. Yes, things have to be controlled by the conservatorship. But if she were to say, ‘I want to go shopping in Beverly Hills,’ the conservator would arrange that for her and her bodyguards.”
The gossip blogger also insisted that the singer is not sending fans secret messages through her Instagram account, and that she is not reading off a script handed to her by controllers in recorded videos.
“I know her well enough to know she won’t say things she doesn’t believe in,” Hilton said.
He continued: “I’m curious to hear from Britney herself. I don’t think we will see her out of the conservatorship for another five years or so.”
Speaking on Good Morning Britain in February, Hilton said he “regrets” most of his breathless coverage of Britney Spears in the lead-up to her breakdown.
He later told the Chanel in the City podcast that he has apologised to Spears on several occasions throughout the years, and he apologised again in December 2020 after going through a “big emotional break”.
Hilton said he doesn’t “deny” the things he said about Spears in the lead-up to her mental health crisis, but said he prefers not to “verbalise” what he did.
“I know it was awful, and so does everybody else,” he said. “And like I’ve said repeatedly, I’ve apologised to Britney long before this documentary, repeatedly throughout the years, in various different ways, on my website, on my YouTube, on my podcast, on my social media, in interviews, in my memoir. I’ve apologised to her privately as well.”
Hilton went on to praise Britney Spears as “gracious” and said “everything was good” between them in the years after her breakdown.
