Madonna compares Britney Spears’ conservatorship to slavery in passionate call for her freedom
Britney Spears(L) and Madonna pose backstage during the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. (Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
Madonna has hit out at the treatment of Britney Spears as a “violation of human rights” as she sharply laced into the singer’s controversial conservatorship.
In an impassioned Instagram Story posted Friday (9 July), the queen of pop vehemently criticised the complex legal arrangement that has seen Spears’ personal and financial affairs largely controlled by her father, Jamie.
Sharing a photograph of herself wearing a vest which reads “Britney Spears”, Madonna wrote: “Give this woman her life back.
“Slavery was abolished so long ago! Death to the greedy patriarchy that has been doing this to women for centuries.
“This is a violation of human rights! Britney we coming to get you out of jail!”
Madonna speaks out in support of Britney Spears:
“Give this woman her life back. Slavery was abolished so long ago! Death to the greedy patriarchy that has been doing this to women for centuries. This is a violation of human rights! Britney we coming to get you out of jail!" pic.twitter.com/TPHKLxVseO
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 9, 2021
Madonna joins Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera in backing Britney Spears
Madonna is the latest in an increasingly long line of celebrities to emphatically throw their weight behind the embattled 39-year-old, joining the likes of Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera and even Elon Musk.
“After what we saw today, we should all be supporting Britney at this time,” Timberlake, who dated Spears more than two decades ago, tweeted.
“We love you Britney!!” fellow pop music god Carey tweeted. “Stay strong.”
Aguilera brandished the conservatorship as “unacceptable”, saying the artist “deserves all the freedom possible”.
Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the MTV VMA 2000 Stage at Radio City Music Hall. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
“Every woman must have the right to her own body, her own reproductive system, her own privacy, her own space, her own healing and her own happiness,” the “Genie in a Bottle” singer said.
Throughout her incendiary speech to the California probate court last month, Britney Spears flatly said she’s “not here to be anyone’s slave” as she laced into her decision-makers for deeply restricting her life, from her home decor to her reproductive rights.
Mainly singling out Jamie, Britney spears blasted the two-pronged conservatorship as “abusive” and “traumatizing” while signalling her intention to terminate it for good.
As Spears’ contemporaries rally around her, multiple parties in the conservatorship arrangement have resigned since her rattling court testimony.
This week alone saw both her talent manager of 25 years Larry Rudolph and her lawyer of 13, Samuel Ingham, both explosively resign.
The private wealth management company Bessemer Trust, which was planned to become co-conservator with Jamie over Spears’ estate, also requested to remove itself from the arrangement.
