Armando Britney Spears, a documentary addressing his guardianship, is set to go live via FX and Hulu on February 5 (watch here). It will be the sixth episode of The New York Times Presents first season of the series.
For more than a decade, Spears has been placed in guardianship, where a judge appoints a guardian to manage the financial and personal affairs of someone who is disabled or unable to make these decisions on his own. His father, James “Jamie” Spears was his conservator until the fall of 2019, when he backed down due to ill health and a licensed conservative took his place.
Last year, the pop star said in a lawsuit that she was “strongly opposed” to her father resuming his role as conservator and supervisor of his financial and equity affairs, but of his father’s tutelage (alongside the requested co-conservative) by the singer, the financial company Bessemer Trust) has been extended until at least next month.
A growing group of supporters, who have been concerned about Spears and questioned the conditions and reasons for his guardianship, have defended the pop star under the hashtag #FreeBritney.
According to a description of the stand-alone documentary, “People close to Britney Spears and lawyers close to her guardianship are now reevaluating her career as she battles her father in court over who should control her life.” A new teaser for the episode discusses the tutelage of the pop star and the singer’s objections to her father being her conservative, and also presents thoughts of people involved in the #FreeBritney movement.