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Szalla, Audrey

English Block C

Ms. McVey

4-26-22

Britney is Free

For years, Britney Spears has been one of pop culture’s biggest icons. Through

influencing fashion trends, producing record breaking music, and having her personal life in the

spotlight, Spears created a name for herself. Through an unfortunate series of events, Britney

Spears' life was taken over by a conservatorship with her father. In 2008, Britney had multiple

negative public episodes leading people to believe she was incapable of taking care of herself. A

conservatorship happens when a court appoints a trusted adult to make decisions for another

adult. The court ultimately allowed Britney’s father to have control over all of her decisions. The

conservatorship between Britney and her father took away her basic human rights, her children,

and her overall happiness. This situation could have had a better outcome if Britney had been

allowed mental help from friends and family as well as trained professionals instead of having

her life dictated through a conservatorship.

Britney started her career in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show in 1993. Her career took

off from there and she became a huge pop sensation. Britney created pop hits from “Baby One

More Time” (1998) to “Circus” (2008). In 2007, Britneys Spears' whole life dramatically

changed for the worse. On October 1, 2007, at 3:00 am, Britney locked her children in a room

with her and would not let them leave when her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, had legal custody

of them at that time. The police were called and Britney was hospitalized and taken in for a

mental evaluation. People were very concerned about Britney around this time. There had been
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photos of her shaving her head and trying to break a car window with an umbrella. News outlets

were claiming that Britney had gone crazy. That following February, after off and on hospital and

mental holds on Britney, Britney's father, Jamie Spears, issued for an emergency temporary

conservatorship. It was granted and after that nothing was the same for Britney Spears.

Once the conservatorship was put into action, all of Britney Spears's basic human rights

were taken away. She didn't have the right to freely communicate with people, decide what

medication she needed, or what of her own money she could spend. Britney's whole life was

taken over with nothing left for her to decide. Soon after, Jamie Spears made the decision that the

conservatorship should be permanent from that point on. Britney had no idea how long this

conservatorship would go on for. “The arrangement was extended yet again—this time,

indefinitely—with a court officer saying it can last a lifetime” (Chang). One month later, MTV

released a documentary, Britney: For the Record. Britney opened up and talked about how she

felt her whole life was under control and how she could see no end in sight. Britney spoke about

the pain of her divorce and how she was struggling like anyone else would be. Britney expressed

that she was trying to feel free and make herself feel better. The media that was released about

her was misconstrued and blown up for views and publicity.

The conservatorship went on and Britney did as she was told. Britney still made music,

released many albums, and performed. Britney never saw any of the money that she worked so

hard for day and night. Britney later went on in an interview about her conservatorship

explaining how she was feeling, “If I wasn’t under the restraints I’m under right now, with all the

lawyers and doctors and people analyzing me every day — if that wasn’t there, I’d feel so

liberated,”(Spears). In April of 2012 Britney's fiance, Jason Trawick, became co-conservator in

the conservatorship. This seemed like a positive change for Britney, but Jason had control over
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her personal life but none of her assets. This meant that still, she did not have control over what

happened in her own life. For almost a decade Britney did not speak on the conservatorship, she

kept to herself and kept making music. Dedicated fans and viewers knew that Britney was

struggling and needed to be out of this conservatorship.

In 2014, documents about Britney had broken out to the press. In these documents,

Britney said that she had concern over her father's role in the conservatorship. She expressed her

distress about his drinking issues and “other grievances” (Reslen). “The ‘…Baby One More

Time’ singer spoke up again in 2016 to an investigator, who recounted to the court that Britney

was “sick of being taken advantage of” and felt she was “the one working and earning her money

but everyone around her is on her payroll.”(Reslen). After all these years Britney was getting fed

up with the conservatorship and wanted to work to completely terminate it this time. In January

of 2019, Britney Spears stated that she would be going on an “indefinite work hiatus” after her

father had been struggling with a very intense illness. Britney explained how at this time she just

wanted to be with her family and support them as much as she can. Britney then postponed her

new album and tour until further notice. Britney did not speak out to the press very much and

kept a lot behind closed doors. People had no idea what Britney was going through. Paparazzi

followed Britney intensely everywhere she went. Media sites blew up her life and spoke poorly

of her when no one truly knew what had been going on in her life. The misconstrued information

that was in the press made the already difficult situation feel so much worse for Britney.

In August of 2019 news broke out about Britney's family. Britney's father and

co-conservator, Jamie Spears, allegedly had a dispute with Spears's 13-year-old son, Sean

Preston. Kein Federline, Britney's previous husband, then filed a restraining order against Jamie

to keep him away from their children. One month after the incident Jamie Spears was
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temporarily removed as co-conservator over Britney Spears. He claimed the reason for this was

health issues. Following this event, Jodi Montogmery, Britney's care manager, replaced him. This

was a small win for Britney since she had not wanted her father in the conservatorship for quite a

long time. A year later, The New York Times released a documentary called Framing Britney

Spears in February of 2021. This led to worldwide support for Britney and her freedom and

resulted in the trend #FreeBritney. “That following month Britney requested to have Jamie

permanently replaced by Montgomery as co-conservator”(Reslen). Finally, in June of 2021.

Britney Spears spoke for the first time in a public hearing. The words she said shocked many

people. “I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized,” she said “I just want my life back.” She said she

wants the conservatorship, which she feels is “abusive,” to end without having to be

evaluated.”(Aswad). Britney was emotional and obviously in a great deal of pain. Britney went

into detail on all of the difficulties the conservatorship has caused her. “The control he had over

someone as powerful as me — he loved the control to hurt his own daughter 100,000%. He

loved it.”(Spears). She spoke words in court that struck everyone deep and allowed them to feel

for her. People didn't see how much she was truly struggling until this point. After all the trials

and pain, Jamie Spears stepped down as co-conservator in August of 2021. Jamie expressed that

he only wanted to help his daughter and was only doing it for her best interest. After this, all that

was left was having the conservatorship completely terminated and on November 12, 2021, it

was finally granted.

“Judge Brenda Penny of the Los Angeles County Superior Court officially ruled to

terminate the pop megastar’s conservatorship”(Reslen). People were yelling, clapping, crying,

and hugging outside of the courtroom when they heard the news. All the pain and suffering had

finally stopped and Britney Spears was free. She took to her social media not long after to thank
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all her fans. “Good God I love my fans so much it’s crazy !!! I think I’m gonna cry the rest of the

day !!!!,” she wrote. “Best day ever … praise the Lord … can I get an Amen????”(Spears).

“After all the time and effort people made into standing up for her and trying to make a change

“#FreeBritney is no longer an activist rallying cry: It's now a fact”(Tsioulcas).

Britney Spears is a pop star that has never stopped working. Britney Spears’ career

started as a young girl who just wanted to make music but instead was used, hurt, and taken

advantage of for almost all of her adult life. The conservatorship took away her basic human

rights, her children, and her happiness. Britney never stopped working and always provided for

her fans while no one was providing for her. Britney was one of the biggest pop icons of this

generation and today she is finally free.

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Works Cited

Ahlgrim, C. (2022, January 31). Britney Spears called her little sister Jamie Lynn

8'scum.' here's a complete timeline of their feud. Insider. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from

https://www.insider.com/britney-spears-jamie-lynn-spears-apparent-feud-timeline-2021-7

Chang, R. (2021, September 8). Britney Spears' conservatorship: A complete timeline.

Biography.com. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from

https://www.biography.com/news/britney-spears-conservatorship-timeline

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Britney Spears. Encyclopædia Britannica.

Retrieved April 29, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Britney-Spears

Reslen, E. (2021, November 12). A timeline of Britney Spears' conservatorship and why she has it.

Page Six. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from

https://pagesix.com/article/britney-spears-conservatorship-timeline-why-she-has-it/

Tsioulcas, A. (2021, November 12). Britney Spears' conservatorship has finally ended. NPR.

Retrieved May 3, 2022, from

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/12/1054860726/britney-spears-conservatorship-ended