The ‘Toxic’ and 'Outrageous' Way Britney Spears Has Been Treated

Britney Spears has been a household name for me since I was 12 years old. I will even go as far as saying I idolized her. I wanted to be everything she was, from her clothes to her hair, to the way she danced I embraced it all. She had a magic about her that resonated with not only me but a wide majority of girls and boys. She was known as the Princess of Pop before her 18th birthday. Britney embodied confidence on and off stage, and even though she worked hard for what she had, the media still managed to drag her name through the mud at a young age. For the first 4 years of her career she was unstoppable, and it seemed like the only way she could go was up, until she hit the top. The saying goes, what goes up must eventually come down, and when Britney least expected it, she was pushed off the top. She didn’t face a graceful fall; she took a violent tumble for the entire world to see.

In 2010, many fans noticed a change in the pop star that we’d loved for years. She didn’t dance how she used to, she didn’t sing at all anymore, and she appeared to just be on autopilot most of the time. It was disheartening and confusing to see a light that was once so brightly shining from within her, go so drastically dim. For the longest time it didn’t feel like Britney was ‘Britney.’ Where was the goofy, passionate, and confident Princess of Pop that we’d all loved and adored? Who was this timid and afraid imposter in her place and what had happened that created all this? Why does she need a conservatorship in the first place and why did she wait 13 years to speak out on it? The answers go back to when she was a little girl growing up in Kentwood, Louisiana.

Miss American Dream Since She Was 17

Britney and her father Jamie have never had a wonderful relationship. Throughout her young life, her father was heavily involved in alcohol, in a strained marriage, and was reckless when it came to his children. Britney escaped her home life by performing. From as early as 7 she dealt with the stress of a toxic home and embraced any opportunity to perform. Her mother Lynne also used Britney’s love to entertain to get away from her husband Jamie. Landing the Mickey Mouse Club was not only a start to Britney’s career but also short freedom from her not-so-happy home life.

With the success of her first album, ‘Baby One More Time’ Britney was launched full speed into the world of celebrity. She was overworked and over-exploited at every opportunity. Being so young, and not having a stable foundation of a support system made it easy to be taken advantage of. She was the perfect canvas for the entertainment business to take on and mold her into what they wanted her to be, and so she became one of the biggest pop stars of her time. She was an icon and respected for her talents but had few people in her corner after the lights went down.

She’s a Slave 4 U

There’s a popular meme that we have all seen, with a picture of a freshly shaved-headed Britney accompanied by text saying, ‘If Britney Spears can make it through 2007, I can make it through this day.’ In 2007 Britney experienced the worst of the paparazzi, a divorce, rehab, a shotty MTV Video Music Awards performance, and an ongoing custody battle for her two boys with Kevin Federline. At the beginning of 2008, Britney was placed under the conservatorship by her father Jamie Spears. The question stands, did Britney really survive 2007? Or was 2007 her last year of control that she had over her life?

The conservatorship was initially supposed to last only a few months, but the extension of it kept getting pushed back continuously, leaving her in the situation she’s now in today in 2021. During the time that the ‘temporary conservatorship’ was put into motion, Britney was once again in a rehab facility. The motion and the grant of the conservatorship happened without her knowledge. This left Jamie Spears and a lawyer named Andrew Wallet in complete control of Britney’s every move, including all her financial expenses, her business deals, and even the people who were in her inner circle. Jamie cleaned house, and went as far as hiring all new staff, and not allowing Britney the basic freedom to venture out on her own anymore or own a cell phone.

She’s so Lucky, She’s a Star

If Britney Spears is such a big pop star, how could she not fight back in the early stages of her conservatorship? The truth of the matter is that she had been trying to since the beginning. As the era of her ‘Circus’ album tour came into play in 2009, she tried to contact anyone she could that would help her. There were times that she would get a cell phone secretly given to her in a steam room of a gym, and she’d leave voicemails in lawyers' voice mailboxes, but her attempts to reach out were quickly stopped. Her staff would tell Jamie Spears about the cell phones, and her father would shamelessly threaten to prevent her from visitation with her children and end her career.

In 2010 the conservatorship was extended again and went from being temporary to permanent. During that time Britney faced many other personal downfalls. She ended an engagement with Jason Trawick, and she lost the hope of getting out of the control that had been put over her life. Throughout the Britney fandom, it became noticeable that the Princess of Pop had lost the ‘spark’ that shined through. Britney was becoming more isolated and closed off from everyone. Despite all these things happening to her behind closed doors, she still performed and stayed in the spotlight through it all.

#FREEBRITNEY

At the shaky beginning of 2019, a Britney Spears podcast called Britney’s Gram which is hosted by two comedians named Tess and Babs began showing some concern for Britney. The red flags were raised after the announcement of Britney’s second Las Vegas residency 'Demolition' was canceled. The podcast was notorious for following along on the posts that Britney regularly made on her Instagram account, but when her gram went ‘dark’, and she hadn’t posted for months the questions began to be asked if something was seriously wrong.

In April 2019, the silence on Britney's where-abouts was broken, and an announcement was made that Britney had been admitted of her own free will into rehab after devastation over her father’s illness. For the first time, and with the new power of social media, no one was buying these cryptic Instagram posts on Britney’s social media. Babs and Tess began a bit of a deep dive and openly discussed all the suspicious social media posts that kept popping up. The questions they asked appeared to be the right ones when they received an anonymous tip from a paralegal who used to work on Britney’s team. He revealed that Britney had not recently checked into the rehab in April, but that she had been forced into it in January by her team.

The curtain was pulled back and the severity of the truth behind Britney’s situation was fully exposed through the power of social media. Youtube videos and TikTok videos gave traction to the #FREEBRITNEY movement. More and more people spoke out and exposed the obvious mistreatment and excessive control that Britney’s father and his team were involved in.

Stronger Than Yesterday

In June 2021 Britney broke her silence and spoke out on the abuse that she suffered under the conservatorship in court. She has faced nothing but an uphill battle in trying to get it removed so that she can finally be able to live her life again. Britney didn’t survive 2007, she was trapped in it, and forced to remember that the last time in her life that she had a sense of freedom was the worst time of her life.

The movement that was kicked off by two fans who ran a podcast about Britney’s Instagram, set the ball into motion. It brought light to a dark situation. The power of support was not something Britney ever thought she had. From the inside looking out, she was lonely and closed off from everyone, assuming no one would believe her and say she was crazy, but now there is no denying that she does have an army of supporters behind her.

Though many involved in the conservatorship have resigned, as of July 2021, the motion to terminate the conservatorship has not been filed. Britney’s appointed lawyer is the most recent to resign from the conservatorship, leaving Britney still waiting, and hoping for the motion to have the conservatorship be terminated.

Keep on Dancing till the World Ends

What happens next for Britney if she’s able to have the conservatorship removed? Will she finally find the freedom she’s longed for and deserved? Will she get married to her current boyfriend Sam and have more children while finally being in control of her career? I hope that the answers to these questions get answered sooner rather than later. The tears I cried for Britney after hearing her in court are ones, I know many of her other fans cried too. It was the first time since 2010 that Britney was back. Despite all her so-called comebacks, her speaking her truth has been the biggest of them all. It’s only the beginning, and even though people took everything away from her, they still weren’t able to take away her truth.

Author’s Note: The New York Times documentary ‘Framing Britney Spears’ was an eye-opener for many. It only just scratched the surface of the way Britney had been mistreated in her life. It was a great start to exposing the wrongdoings that had been done to her in the past, but luckily there is a YouTube channel called Deep Dive that explores even more in-depth information on Britney and her family’s life. If you have some free time in your life, check it out first part below.