Everything We Learned From The Explosive Britney Spears ‘New Yorker’ Report
"My dad, and anyone involved in this conservatorship...who played a huge role in punishing me when I said no...they should be in jail."
Over the weekend, The New Yorker published an explosive new report on Britney Spears and the conservatorship she has been under for over a decade.
Being placed under a conservatorship means that one is no longer in charge of their own financial or general life affairs. The extremity of control that takes place in a conservatorship arrangement can vary from case to case, and conservatorships are typically established with the mind to protect the mentally ill or the aged.
The report, co-written by Ronan Farrow and Jia Tolentino, alleges that Spears’ conservatorship is extremely severe. It details Spears’ own discomfort with the arrangement, and her desire for freedom.
Here’s everything we learned from the report.
The Conservatorship Was Established After A Psychiatric Hospital Stay
The report alleges that Spears was first placed under the conservatorship after a series of psychiatric hospital stays. Those involved in the establishment of the conservatorship said that they were concerned by Spears’ behaviour — on one visit, she “spoke in a baby voice”, and would often be visibly teary — and that she was being financially exploited by a series of close contacts.
Shockingly, the report alleges that Spears was not interviewed or even notified about the conservatorship proceedings; the whole process of placing Spears under a level of extreme control for 13 years and counting took no more than ten minutes.
According to the report, Spears was immediately resistant to the conservatorship, but under the law, was not granted legal representation to fight back against the decision.
Spears Wants Her Conservators To Be “Put In Jail”
On June 23rd of this year, a court hearing was conducted in order to discuss the level of control that Spears had been placed under. Spears had asked for the hearing herself. According to The New Yorker, in the days leading up to that hearing, Spears’ team assumed that the hearing would go routinely, with Spears merely asking for her father, Jamie Spears, to stand down from his role as her conservator.
Instead, Spears spoke “lucidly and furiously” about her lack of autonomy. “The people who did this to me should not get away,” Spears said. “My dad, and anyone involved in this conservatorship, and my management, who played a huge role in punishing me when I said no … they should be in jail.”
Britney Spears Called The Police Over The Conservatorship
The night before the hearing, 911 records show that Spears called the police. That call has not been released to the public, but the report alleges that it was made in order for Spears to “report herself as a victim of conservatorship abuse.”
Spears’ Social Media Posts Are Tightly Controlled
Throughout her time under the conservatorship, Spears has posted repeatedly to Instagram. Tolentino and Farrow’s report states that these posts are closely monitored — Spears writes them herself before they are sent to a social media company to be posted. Under this level of monitoring, Spears is not allowed to talk about the conservatorship, and posts about it are not posted to social media.
The report also responds to the persistent rumour that Spears’ Instagram is designed by her conservators to make her look mentally ill, thus allowing her to be kept under the conservatorship for longer. An anonymous source who is part of the popstar’s team says that this is untrue. “Trust me, if I had my way, that’s not what she would be posting,” the source states.
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