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Britney Spears has a new army of fans – but it’s the saga of her battles with her dad, not her music, that have triggered the attention. A megastar at just 16, she had the world at her feet and enjoyed a string of chart hits including Baby One More Time and Oops!... I Did It Again. But, like another No1, things turned Toxic during a 13-year wrangle with her father Jamie over her finances. Now, after a new bombshell documentary laid bare the controlling influence he has over her £46million (Sh5billion) empire, Britney is back in the spotlight.
Framing Britney Spears exposes the singer’s long-running fight to wrest control of her estate away from Jamie, 68. Singer Courtney Love tweeted it too, alongside a picture with the message: “We are sorry, Britney.” And fellow singer Miley Cyrus shouted “We love Britney!” during her pre-Super Bowl performance last Sunday. Britney was placed under a temporary conservatorship by Jamie and a lawyer called Andrew Wallet in 2008. It is a form of court-appointed guardianship typically used for elderly and infirm people or those who cannot make decisions for themselves.
Last November, Britney unsuccessfully tried to oust her father from the role – while a legal bid by Jamie to take more control also failed. Instead, a judge appointed wealth management firm the Bessemer Trust as co-conservator. At the time, Britney’s lawyer had said she was scared of her father and would not resume her showbiz career while he had power over it. While the details of the agreement remain private, the release of the bombshell documentary in the US – yet to be scheduled in the UK – has dredged up the affair once more.
ALSO READ: Britney Spears breaks silence amid documentary row saying she 'wants to be normal'
#FreeBritney supporters Babs Gray and Tess Barker, who appear in the documentary, launched a fan podcast exploring the star’s career and her ongoing legal struggle for freedom. They also dissect Britney’s Instagram posts for “hidden meanings”.
Babs says: “We started noticing more and more these very cryptic things she would post, like a hole cut out in a wall, and the caption is ‘There’s always a way out’. And it was just like, God, like, what is this? It almost seems kinda dark.” Contrary to the belief of some of her supporters, Britney’s social media manager Cassie Petrey insists the star is in control of her own online posts.
In the documentary, Britney’s well-documented mental health problems – many of them painfully played out in the public eye – are revisited. When her divorce from Kevin Federline was finalised in 2007 and she lost custody of their two children, Britney was seen behaving erratically at times. She shaved her head in public and hit a photographer’s car with an umbrella. She was in and out of rehab before being placed in psychiatric care.
That came after a stand-off with police in which she refused to hand sons Sean and Jayden – now 15 and 14 – to Kevin. A year later, the conservatorship was put in place. Critics claim Jamie showed little interest in Britney’s career until she made it big. One record executive recalls in the documentary: “The only thing Jamie ever said was, ‘My daughter’s gonna be so rich, she’s gonna buy me a boat’.”
Britney’s fellow superstar and ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake, 40, came off badly in the documentary. The singers dated from 1999 to 2002 but when they split, audio clips were released of Justin crudely bragging about sleeping with the star. He has now apologised and in a statement to his 60 million Instagram followers said he was “deeply sorry” and wanted to “take accountability”.
ALSO READ: Justin Timberlake apologizes to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson
Even Jamie’s lawyer, Vivian Lee Thoreen, says it is unusual for someone of Britney’s age to be a conservatee. But she argues that Jamie has “done a good job of looking after the star’s estate and is acting in her best interests”.
Over the past decade, Britney has launched a number of comebacks, repeatedly touring the world and releasing multiple albums, including Femme Fatale and Britney Jean. While she hasn’t directly responded to the documentary, she posted a video on Instagram last week of her performing Toxic on stage three years ago.
She told her 27 million online followers: “I’ll always love being on stage. But I am taking the time to learn and be a normal person. I love simply enjoying the basics of everyday life!”
The next hearings in the Spears saga are scheduled for March 17 and April 27.
Now #FreeBritney campaigners are even asking the White House to end her conservatorship, submitting petitions with tens of thousands of signatures. Britney superfan Dustin Strand, 28 said at court in Los Angeles last week: “I want her to be independent, to be able to live her life on her own terms. That’s why we’re here. That’s why I’m here.”
