Britney Spears opens up about being ‘controlled’: ‘People need to hear this before it’s too late’
Britney Spears. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Britney Spears has said the Free Britney movement “kicks ass” as she furiously rallied against being “manipulated by the system” for the last 13 years.
In an outspoken Instagram post shared Monday (13 September), Britney vented about spending so much of her life living in a conservatorship, a complex legal arrangement that sees her financial and personal wellbeing controlled by others.
She also thanked the Free Britney movement that has been calling for an end to Britney’s conservatorship for years, inspiring the Framing Britney documentary that thrust her case onto front pages shortly before she finally spoke out against the arrangement.
“Growing up in a world where basically almost everything I did was controlled by someone else,” Spears wrote.
“I hope this message gets to people who have been confused or manipulated by a system !!!!”
“No … you’re not alone and no … you’re not crazy !!!!” the musician added. “People need to hear this before it’s TOO LATE !!!!
Spears also shared a screenshot of article published by wellness author and public speaker Vince Gowmon, which notes how children “grow up trusting their inner authority rather than blindly granting power to external authorities of information”.
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“I’ve waited 13 years and counting for my freedom,” she added.
“Again … team #FreeBritney you guys f**king kick-a*s ?? !!!!! Love you so much and God bless ?✨?!!!!”
Conservatorships, also known in some states as guardianships, are a legal mechanism typically intended to support the elderly, the infirm or the disabled.
About 1.3 million people live under conservatorships in America, according to a 2018 estimate from the National Council on Disability.
But as disability rights advocates warn, conservatorships, so broad in their use, are often near impossible for the conservatee to undo. The level of oversight they enforce is unnecessary, they add.
A Britney Spears fan holds #FreeBritney flag in Washington DC. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
For more than a decade, Britney Spears’s father Jamie Spears has exercised sweeping control over his daughter’s career, finances and everything from her birth control to her kitchen cabinet colours.
After Spears indicated in court that she would like to sue her father for conservatorship abuse, lawyers for Jamie filed documents urging the court to “seriously consider whether this conservatorship is no longer required”.
“She wants to be able to get married and have a baby if she so chooses,” wrote Jamie’s lawyer, Vivian Lee Thoreen, in the filing.
“In short, she wants to live her life as she chooses without the constraints of a conservator or court proceeding.
“If Ms Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life,” she added, “Mr Spears believes that she should get that chance.”
Though welcoming the move, Britney Spears’ lawyer said: “It appears that Mr Spears believes he can try to avoid accountability and justice,” he said, “including sitting for a sworn deposition and answering other discovery under oath.”
The star has previously asserted in court that she had been forbidden from marrying and having children with her boyfriend Sam Asghari. Days after Jamie Spears indicated he would now back her freedom, she announced her engagement to Asghari.
