Spears Spears quickly became popular after her debut in the late 1990s, and was once the most influential pop diva and national idol, also known as "Little Sweetie" because of her sweet appearance. (Infographic/Figure)
<h3>"Liberate Britney"</h3>
"I just want to take my life back."
On June 23, 2021, local time, a publicly published 23-minute recording of the trial speech was shocking, and it was Spears Spears. She told the Los Angeles Superior Court at a remote hearing that she was desperate to end the custody system that has dominated her life for the past 13 years, "which is an abusive, manipulative system." During her period of guardianship, she was drugged, forced to work, and even denied the right to become pregnant again. This is the first public response of Britney herself since 2008, when Britney's father, Jamie Spears, served as her legal guardian and Britney fans launched a massive "Liberate Britney" campaign.
Previously, she did not know that she could apply for termination of custody, "I have been refusing to face it, in a state of panic." Britney's court-appointed attorney in custody, Samuel M. D. Ingeon, on her behalf, strongly opposed Jamie as guardian and would not resume the show as long as he remained guardian. Britney also insisted that the hearing, which exposed the "ugliness of the family," be made public.
In the 23-minute speech, Britney complained that she was forced to work hard and could not rest. "I went on a tour in 2018 but I was forced and my management told me that if I didn't do this tour, I would have to find a lawyer to help me fight the case. Under the contract, my management had the right to sue me. ”
With a slight sluggish rehearsal, Britney would be forced to change her medication and be monitored by six nurses who had previously been admitted to a psychiatric rehabilitation hospital. "When I say I don't add a certain dance move during rehearsal, it's like planting a huge bomb. They called my therapist and said I wasn't cooperating with rehearsals and not taking my medication on time. Within a few days, my therapist had swapped my normal medication for five years with lithium, a very intense medication that would cause a mental disorder if taken for more than five months. Every time I took it, I felt drunk and couldn't do even the most ordinary things. Britney said to the judge.
What makes Britney unbearable is that before visiting the two children born to her ex-husband, she must undergo endless psychological tests, and as long as the tests do not pass, she cannot visit. "At that time, my children were sent back to my home in Louisiana, and I had a two-week vacation," she recalls. Later, my dad called to tell me that I had failed my test and had to go to Beverly Hills for rehabilitation. I have to pay $60,000 a month for this. I cried on the phone for an hour, and every minute I was sad, he enjoyed it. ”
Britney, who lives in a small compound in Beverly Hills, was confiscated her credit cards, cash, cell phones and passports, and the room was filled with nurses, 24/7 security guards and a cook. "They watched my changes, saw my naked body, and didn't have any privacy in my room."
Most incredibly, Britney was denied the right to conceive. "They told me I couldn't get married or have kids because I was under supervision. I had an Iud in my body and I wanted to take it out and try to have another child, but this so-called team didn't allow me to go to a doctor and they didn't want to see me have other kids. ”
Jamie still oversees her daughter's food, clothing, shelter and transportation, and manages her daughter's wealth of nearly $60 million. Fans involved in the "Free Britney" campaign find it hard to believe that in the United States, the guardianship system is usually aimed at those who cannot take care of themselves, such as the dying elderly, severely disabled or dementia; Britney has always been working normally and making money, and everyone around her takes her salary and controls her life.
During the speech, Britney was crying the whole time, and because she was so excited and so fast that the judge had to interrupt her repeatedly and ask her to slow down. At the end of the recording, she said: "I felt like a walking dead, as if I were insignificant. I hope I never hang up this call. ”
<h3>"She used to know exactly what she wanted</h3>."
How did Britney's life slide step by step into the abyss? In 2020, The New York Times produced a documentary, Framing Britney Spears, which outlined the first half of Britney's life when she became a superstar and was designed and hurt through a large number of peripheral interviews.
Felicia Cullotta was Britney's best friend and former agent for many years, and the two met when Britney was 5 years old. They were all from Kentwood, a quiet town in Louisiana, usa, when Britney often went to the church choir to sing, and from an early age, she showed a talent for singing. "One of the reasons I agreed to be interviewed by you is that I can remind people why people like her." Kulotta said in the documentary.
At the age of 10, Britney debuted on stage and sang on a TV show, where the host praised her for having a pair of incredibly cute big eyes and jokingly asked her: "Do you have a boyfriend?" She replied, "I didn't because they were all bad." "It caused the audience to laugh.
Everyone around her praised Britney as beautiful and talented, and Britney's parents couldn't resist writing to Nancy Carson, a well-known child star scout at the time, hoping that she would design Britney's star path. Carson recalls the impression that Britney's parents left her as ordinary working-class people who were proud of their daughters, compared to her father, Jamie, who cared about money from the start, "and how he thought the most about how britney could make a lot of money." Growing up in Britney, Jamie was often absent, he drank heavily, and even went to a rehabilitation center. He worked as a construction worker, a cook, and tried to open a gym, but eventually declared bankruptcy.
Carson devised a route to fame for Britney: her mother, Lynn, stayed in New York with her, learning vocals, dancing, performing and auditioning. In December 1992, Britney was selected for the Disney Channel's Teen Talent Contest "Mickey Mouse Club", where she was successfully selected and participated in two seasons. After the show was discontinued, she returned to her hometown of Kentwood, attended high school, and lived a normal life for two years.
In 1997, at the age of 15, Britney returned to New York, and after participating in auditions for several pop groups and recording some auditions, she finally got a contract with the well-known record label JIVE. Kim Keyman, a veteran marketing director at JIVE Records, remembers britney's serious, focused look when she first walked into the office, "She's like a friend you kind of adore." As for Britney's father, Cayman recalled: "I never had any in-depth conversations with Jamie, and the only thing he said was that my daughter would get super rich and buy me a big boat. ”
It was then that Cullotta also became Britney's agent. Cullotta began taking care of Britney in place of Lynn, performing with her and witnessing her go from obscurity to popularity — in just two years.
In 1999, at the age of 18, Britney released her first album "Baby One More Time", which topped the "US Billboard 200 Albums Chart" with 121,000 copies in the first week of release, and Britney became a popular national icon with which she was nominated for the 42nd Grammy Awards for "Best Newcomer" and "Best Pop Female Artist".
At that time, the West side boys and backstreet boys were all the rage, the female singers were not popular, and Britney's emergence was a phenomenon. "She perfectly interprets the two states of an adolescent girl, wanting to be a woman, but still being a child." Keman said so. Britney appears on various TV shows and does not shy away from showing her life. At Christmas, Cullotta recalled, Britney took a hundred-dollar bill, drove all over Kentwood, and sent money to passers-by she met, "She didn't say, hello I'm Britney, but said, Merry Christmas to you." Before Britney, no star could get so close to the public, which made her gain a large number of fans.
Britney also had a strong sense of autonomy – although she debuted as a teen idol and took the sweet and pure route, she preferred to wear sexy clothes. As she grew more famous, she dressed more freely and boldly, and no longer pleased everyone. The New York Times reporter commented, "This is another metaphor for the awakening of women's consciousness." ”
Britney's dance companion and touring director Kevin Tancharon mentions in the documentary that in the years he worked with Britney, she would only agree to the ideas she liked, "she used to know exactly what she wanted".
<h3>"I've had enough that everyone is touching me"</h3>
The change began with Britney and American pop singer Justin Timberlake's sensational love affair, which went public in 2000 and broke up two years later, equally violently. During that time, Timberlake gave frequent media interviews and accused Britney of sabotaging the relationship. Many moms are starting to worry that their daughters see Britney as an idol. The Maryland Governor's wife has publicly stated, "If there is a chance to shoot Britney, I will definitely do it." ”
On November 13, 2003, the American broadcaster Thursday PrimeTime broadcast an exclusive interview with Britney, and the host broadcast this remark by the Maryland Governor's wife, britney was shocked, and she said with tears: "I am not obligated to be the babysitter of her children." ”
Just a few months after the interview, Britney and actress Jason Alexander flashed into a 55-hour marriage; eight months after the divorce, she married dancer Kevin Federing. The news reports are full of speculation about Britney's marriage, or ridicule her as a marriage maniac, or question her fake marriage, in short, she has been surrounded by all kinds of negative news.
Britney's private life is so rich that she has become the object of paparazzi competition for candid photographs - as a pop superstar, secretly taking a photo of Britney's private life can sell for $1 million, and the more sensational the photo, the higher the price.
Celebrity photographer Daniel Ramos is one of the paparazzi who have been secretly photographing Britney for many years. He recalls in the documentary that when the paparazzi first secretly filmed Britney, she did not refuse, and even acted friendly. Then she got pregnant and gave birth to her first child, and the paparazzi crouched in various places where Britney might appear, wanting to take more sensational photos, so there were constant photos of this trail: Britney driving, she put the baby on her lap. After the photo was posted, the public accused her of being an unqualified mother.
Britney was with the child. (Infographic/Figure)
A few months after the birth of her second child with Federline, Britney filed for divorce as well as sole custody, and the next day, Federline also filed for sole custody. The duo's fight turned into paparazzi revelry. Federline is not a celebrity, his photos don't sell well, what matters is Britney.
One of the most expensive photos that Ramos sold was of Britney's shaved head. Britney, who had had enough of public criticism and paparazzi sneaking up on her, picked up the clipper and shaved her hair herself, "I've had enough that everyone is touching me."
Fueled by negative news, Britney lost custody of her two children in October 2007 and retained only visitation rights. She fired her longtime agent, Kulotta, and was estranged from her family and isolated.
Britney gradually became synonymous with "bad girl", TV and tabloid headlines were full of topics of teasing her, photographers took photos of the bald Britney lying on a park bench, and the TV host teased, "Won't her bald head be frozen?" ”
"Destroying a young, beautiful, talented star is really simple and very interesting." In the documentary, Cayman, senior marketing director of JIVE Records, laughs sarcastically.
"When Britney was in trouble, no one discussed the issue of mental health, and the pain she endured created great wealth for others." The documentary's voiceover is narrated in this way.
In November 2008, police received a call from Britney's ex-husband that Britney had refused to return them after picking them up to play. Britney was forcibly taken to the hospital for a psychiatric diagnosis, and the court revoked Britney's visitation rights. It was from then on that Father Jamie applied to become Britney's temporary guardian and guardian of the property, overseeing Britney's life with a court-appointed lawyer.
"Why don't you let her go and let her live her life?" In a TV interview program, a guest finally stood up and reflected.
After Jamie became guardian, Britney's life seemed to be quickly back on track: In late 2008, she recorded a new album and was ready to go on tour; in 2009, she was re-favored by advertisers, serving as a judge on talent shows, and also received a big order, re-starring in Las Vegas, earning about $310,000 per performance. The media estimated that her annual income in 2009 was more than $58 million.
Despite the resurgence of her career, Britney's interpersonal circle has gradually closed, and because of the guardianship plan, the people she deals with every day are insiders in the same small circle. "When a person can make so much money, you have to doubt the motives of everyone around her, especially when they make her into making decisions on her own without consulting people." New York Times reporter Liz Day, who has long followed Britney's case, said.
The dramatic turning point took place on October 18, 2018. A new theater in Las Vegas opened, inviting a large number of media and audiences to prepare a high-profile announcement that Britney had become the theater's resident star. Following the day's routine, Britney performed on stage and was interviewed by the media. But Britney walked straight out of the showroom, straight ahead, through the crowd, straight into her luxury car and left.
11 weeks later, Britney announced the cancellation of the residency. "The sudden cancellation of the second round of the residency show is like a prologue to the exposure of the guardianship plan. After that, without any warning, Britney disappeared. The filming of the documentary "Framing Britney" also came to an abrupt end.
Britney reappeared in public at the June 23, 2021 hearing.
"There are many villains in pop star Britney Spears' story, paparazzi, her ex-boyfriends, fans, and those of us who are harsh, curious onlookers." The Financial Times commented.
Southern Weekend reporter Li Yilan