A documentary about Britney Spears – from her rise to fame to the conservatory she now stands under – is making headlines and attracting response from viewers, including fellow celebrities and artists.
The New York Times documentary “Framing Britney Spears,” which premiered February 5, explains the rise of the Free Britney Movement. Although the movement was started by fans, it has grown from those engaged in her conservatorship to viewers, including celebrities, who are concerned about the way Spears has been treated in the media and reportedly treated by her loved ones.
After watching the documentary, some Twitter users said they did “uncomfortable,” others said the documentary made them “angry”. Actress and presenter Valerie Bertinelli called the documentary a “gut punch.”
Singer Kacey Musgraves tweeted: “You … it torments me that nobody knows if @BuienRadarNL is really okay. I really hope that if she isn’t, she can somehow formally pronounce it and that she knows that all of us externally really care about her well-being. “
The pop star’s father, Jamie Spears, has served as Spears’ 39-year-old curator since 2008 and was recently co-conservative of her finances when Judge Brenda Penny of the Los Angeles Supreme Court created the Bessemer Trust Co. to share the duties of the curator with him.
Spears has fought to completely remove her father from her conservatorship, and the documentary states that she shouldn’t be in a conservatorship at all because she can understand the conservatorship and work.
Many fans involved in the Free Britney movement believe that Spears is trying to send secret messages through her Instagram asking for help, as she often posts somewhat bizarre videos with confusing captions.
On Tuesday, Spears ‘boyfriend, Sam Asghari, used his own Instagram to talk publicly about Spears’ dad, writing, “Now it’s important for people to understand that I have no respect for anyone trying to control our relationship and constantly face obstacles in our way. In my opinion Jamie [Spears] is a total d ** k. ”
The actor and model, 27, goes on to say that he will not go into details because he respects privacy. “But I did not come to this country in order not to express my opinion and freedom,” said Asghari, who immigrated from Iran.
CBS News has reached out to Mr. Spears’s attorney, Andrew Wallet, for comment from him and Mr. Spears about the documentary, the Free Britney movement and Asghari’s post, and is awaiting a response.
Other celebrities said they watched the documentary and hope Spears will be released from her conservatorship. Actress Amber Tamblyn tweeted: “Framing Britney was a difficult task, as was the Winehouse documentary, only we know how that story ended. I hope Britney is liberated from that conservatorship – ‘liberated’ as she puts it in her own words. It’s baffling that every judge would continue to enforce it. “
Comedian Fortune Feimster tweeted: “I’ve watched the NYT doc about Britney Spears and it’s SO screwed up that they don’t put this very successful grown woman in charge of her own life. She’s made it very clear that she doesn’t want her daddy to take any of it. “She has her finances and life decisions. That should be enough.”
Talk show host Tamron Hall said “it is an understatement” to call the documentary “heartbreaking”.
Miley Cyrus gave one scream to Spears during her performance after the Super Bowl, saying, “We love Britney.”
Other celebrities including Andy Cohen, Sarah Jessica Parker, Meghan McCain and Bette Midler shared their support by tweeting “Free Britney.”
Actress and activist Jameela Jamil shared a petition to end the conservatorship, which has been signed by more than 100,000 people.
Jamil has spoken out against what she calls the “gaslighting” of women in the media, saying that the media often portrays women as “irritating and hysterical.” Jamil said on Instagram on Tuesday that her theory applies to Spears.
Los Angeles attorney Lisa MacCarley, who specializes in estate planning, probate law and conservatories, has sent a letter to more than 100 attorneys asking them to “ contact the Los Angeles County estate department, specifically the probate officers, and request that Judge Penny close the case. conservatorship. “
In the letter, which MacCarley shared with CBS News, she writes that “Framing Britney Spears” “gave a subtle but powerful look into the unconstitutional way Ms. Spears’s conservatory originally transitioned.” She tells her fellow attorneys, “We would be complicit in the remarkable violation of Ms. Spears’s constitutional rights if we just stand by and do nothing.”
The ACLU has advocated for Spears in the past, sharing in August how they believe the conservatory is threatening its civil rights. A conservatorship is established when a judge appoints a responsible person or organization – the “conservator” – to care for another adult who cannot fend for himself or manage his or her own finances, according to the California legal system.
“Conservatorships limit a person’s civil liberties, which we at the ACLU naturally consider a core concern. But otherwise, conservatories do not necessarily make people safer: they can result in financial, physical or emotional abuse,” the ACLU said. writes.
“Framing Britney Spears” also brings up old paparazzi videos and interviews in which the media appears to be insensitive to Spears.