Britney Spears or Britney Jean Spears is an American singer, songwriter and dancer who helped spark the teen pop phenomenon in the late 1990s and early 2000s for which she is also known as ‘The Princess of Pop’. Being regarded as a pop sensation, she has sold over 100 million records worldwide, including over 70 million solely in the United States. Thus making her one of the best selling music artists of the world.
Early life
Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2, 1981, in McComb, Mississippi. She sang in the church choir as a child.
Spears began dancing and singing at a very young age and even competed at many talent shows. At the age of eight, she auditioned for Disney’s The All New Mickey Mouse Club. but was considered too young for the show. However , the producers were impressed and guided her to an agent in New York City.
She began spending her time there and completed her education in Performing Arts. During this time, she began featuring in television commercials and in 1991, she appeared in Ruthless- an Off-Broadway Play.
A year later, in 1992, she officially became a part of the All New Mickey Mouse Club, joining an ensemble of Mousketeers that included future pop icons like Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, Keri Rustell and Christina Aguilera.
In 1997, Spears was in talks to join the female group called Innosense. Her entertainment lawyer, Larry Rudolph wanted to pitch her to record labels for which she needed a professional demo. Rudolph sent her an unused song of Toni Braxton, she rehearsed and recorded it. However, it was rejected by three labels.
After a few months, at the age of 15, she made a demo that earned her a contract with Jive Studios. In 1998, she recorded her first single – Baby One More Time.
Princess of Pop – Baby One More Time
Her hit single – ‘ Baby One More Time’ became the subject of controversy – both for its lyrics and music video where Spears was shown as a provocative school girl. However, the attention only helped the song and it became popular among the youth. When the album – ‘Baby One More Time’ released in 1999, it quickly topped the charts, went to No. 1 and eventually sold more than 10 million copies in the United States. In 2000, she released her second album- Oops I Did It Again. It sold 1.3 million copies in its first week of release, setting a record for first week sales by a solo artist.
Her songs were often criticised for their music videos or revealing costumes – that were often imitated by her female fans but she was still able to spread wholesomeness that proved to be highly profitable for her.
In 2003, her third album – ‘In The Zone ‘ sold three millions copies, partially on the strength of her hit single ‘Toxic’ . With Toxic, she won her first Grammy. Her subsequent studio albums had diminished sales but they remain major breaks in the pop world even now. Spears has also acted in many movies and series along with being a judge at X – Factor.
What is a Conservatorship?
A conservatorship is a legal guardianship that is given to those who can’t make decisions for their own good such as people with disabilities.
The infamous conservatorship of Spears- The story so far.
Spears often found herself in the spotlight less for her music than her events in her personal life including her divorce with dancer Kevin Federline. She went through a difficult time and lost her custody over her children. At one point she shaved her head, attacked paparazzi and was even hospitalised . Her erratic behaviour resulted in her being under a conservatorship by her father. In 2008, it was implemented- following a year of mental concerns and life events.
The arrangement was made permanent in late 2008 but it gained attention in 2019 when she hit her career hiatus. Law experts said that it is “unusual for someone as young and productive as Britney.” In one of her documentaries, it was revealed that her bedroom was bugged and her phone activity was monitored.
In the documents in which he mentioned for the conservatorship petition, Jamie mentioned that she was suffering from dementia. She was admitted to a psychiatric ward and was later released. In the following months the temporary conservatorship was extended. She hired many lawyers to challenge the conservatorship but their charges were made invalid as James accused Britney of lacking “the capacity to hire an attorney”.
The then judge gave her some freedom including the ability to spend her own money with some weekly allowance. Additionally, she was allowed to retain her entertainment lawyer, permitting her to star up as a guest on the American Sitcom- How I Met Your Mother. She also had her fees reduced as a result for her obligation to pay bills to ex-husband Federline- a consequence of their custody dispute. She continued to undergo psychological evaluations and treatments.
A recent Netflix documentary with the name Britney VS Spears said how all of her actions were monitored. She was not allowed to make friends on her own. In 2016, a court investigator went to Britney’s residence to conduct a periodic review for the judge overseeing her conservatorship. In the investigator’s confidential report , he wrote that “all access to Britney must be conducted through her conservator, Jamie. She cannot befriend people , especially men unless they have been approved by her father. They are followed by private investigators to make sure they and their behaviour are acceptable to her father.”
How are her fans taking this?
Britney fans have been long worried about the conservatorship terms and have often raised questions about the proof whether it was really in Britney’s interest or not. In 2019, a fan podcast called Britney’s Gram, released a voicemail message from a source claiming to be a former member of Spears’ legal team. They alleged that the cancellation of The Residency was because of Spears, not taking her medications and that they had been holding her off in the facility since January 2019, after she violated the no- driving rule. They even revealed that the conservatorship was supposed to get over in 2009 but for 13 years she was forced to be in a toxic and abusive conservatorship.
#FreeBritney
#FreeBritney
These allegations gave rise to a movement to terminate her conservatorship – #FreeBritney which received a lot of support from many fans and celebrities around the globe. Some of the celebrities were – Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus , Cher and the non profit organisation of American Civil Liberties Union.
On April 22, 2019, fans protested outside The West Hollywood City Hall and demanded Spears’ release. After a month Spears left the facility. In May 2019, Judge Brenda Penny ordered a professional review of the conservatorship. In September, her ex husband obtained a restraining order against Jamie for an alleged altercation between Jamie and one of their sons. Spears’ care manager temporarily replaced Jamie as the conservator. In August, Jamie mocked the #FreeBritney movement and called its supporters “conspiracy theorists”.
In June 2021, Spears spoke to the court saying that the conservatorship is “abusive” . She stated that she had been lying to the world saying she was happy and fine and that in reality she was traumatised and angry. This court statement received widespread coverage and generated over 1 millions on Twitter , over 500,000 messages using #FreeBritney and 150,000 new hashtags referencing her court appearance.
In July 2021, Spears openly acknowledged the #FreeBritney movement using the hashtag in her caption on her Instagram post. Spears said the she felt “blessed” after earning “real representation”, pointing to Judge Penny’s decision to permit her to select her own counsel.
Finally, in September 2021. Jamie filed a petition to end the conservatorship. On September 29, Judge Penny suspended Jamie as the conservator of Spears’ estate with accountant John Zabel replacing him on a temporary basis until November 12, when Penny will hold another meeting on whether to terminate the conservatorship or not.
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