Everything Felicia Culotta revealed in Britney Spears’ new documentary

Britney Spears’ guardianship was at the center of a new The New York Times documentary, “Framing Britney Spears”, which came out on Friday on FX and Hulu.

Although the special included interviews with many people in the singer’s inner circle over the years, reporters and even some fans, the most surprising person who appeared in the 75-minute documentary was Felicia Culotta, Spears’ longtime friend and former assistant.

As someone who was there with Britney from her early years to her Las Vegas home – and for all of her personal problems between them – Culotta’s insight definitely added something new to the conversation about Spears’ guardianship.

“The only reason I agreed to give the interview is so that we can remind people why they fell in love with her in the first place,” explained Culotta near the top of the special.

“I don’t know if I really had any definition of what I should do with Britney. For a long time they called me their date and then at one point they wanted to call me their partner and we didn’t think it felt right,” he said. her about her role in Spears’ orbit. “I was definitely not your mother or older sister, so we decided on an assistant.”

Filming showed Culotta proudly displaying Britney’s record and memories of the ticket sale she framed on her home walls, while talking about the “tiny, sleepy” town of Kentwood, Louisiana, where they came from. “We are who we are, we are not rich, but we are rich in other ways,” she added, saying Spears had been attending church since she was young and has been known since Britney was just five years old.

Culotta explained that he worked as a nanny in New York City when Spears got his contract with a record company. That’s when she became a member of Britney’s team, after a call from the singer’s mother, Lynne Spears.

“She said, ‘Felicia, I had a hidden reason to ask you out to dinner. She got a record deal today and I can’t travel with her, Jamie Lynn is in first grade, can you travel with her?'” Culotta recalled, saying that he initially only agreed to be his escort call for only three months. Of course, their working relationship lasted much longer than that.

She detailed how, as Britney’s popularity began to soar during those first “… Baby One More Time Days”, fans started looking for her at mall shows instead of just meeting them while shopping. She also revealed how Spears used part of her initial earnings to repay those in her hometown.

“We were still those people from Mississippi, Louisiana, we were new, everything was new,” said Felicia. “One of the first things she did when she was getting famous was that we were home for Christmas and she wanted to get $ 10,000 in $ 100 bills and she drove through Kentwood and gave out $ 100 bills.”

As the special touched on Britney’s relationship with Justin Timberlake, Culotta was missing, although she made a brief comment about Spears’ marriage to Kevin Federline.

“I don’t think I was surprised when she and Kevin got engaged,” said Felicia. “She told me and then I remember her saying, ‘I have to call my mom.’ I was like, ‘You sure do.’

From there, the documentary began to detail some of the problem areas in Spears’ life, which began at the time when she and Federline welcomed their first child, Sean Preston. The two welcomed another baby before they parted, while stories about Britney being an inadequate mother started to make headlines. Then came the nights with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, the shaving incident, her battle for custody and eventually her wait in 2008 5150. This, of course, led to her guardianship, which she still maintains today.

“To be honest, I didn’t know or understand what guardianship is now,” Culotta said of the deal, under which Spears has no control over his property or finances. “Especially for someone Britney’s age and someone capable of so much, I know, first hand, she is capable.”

“After the guardianship started, my role changed,” said Culotta, who transitioned to backstage tours when the “Circus” tour started in 2009.

“When I came back, it was a different business management and her father was involved. They didn’t hire me, the tour company hired me,” explained Culotta. “I don’t know why the Britney company didn’t hire me. All I know is, maybe, they didn’t know the role I had played before.”

“So, I took a back seat and just did what I was hired to do,” she added. “I really don’t know what happened, I just don’t know if they knew her well enough to realize her ability to make decisions. Just me looking in, that’s what I saw.”

Culotta continued to do backstage tours in Las Vegas as soon as Britney’s residency started there in 2015. “I’m saying that when she went on stage, she never felt judged when she went on stage,” said Felicia, “was one of the highlight of my life, is to see how much she was loved. “

Felicia’s last appearances in the documentary showed her tenderly looking at photos of her and Spears from earlier times, while expressing optimism about Britney’s future.

“I know that at some point she will tell her story, I know she will and I am very grateful when that point comes,” said Culotta. “Everything will fall into place.”

Spears and her father, Jamie, are still in a battle for her guardianship, with Britney making it clear that she wants him to step down. Her lawyer, Sam Ingham, said she refuses to perform again until Jamie is no longer a co-conservative.

The New York Times noted that they tried to contact Jamie, Lynne, Jamie Lynn and Bryan Spears, as well as Ingham, Sam Lutfi and Britney herself to participate in the documentary, but their representatives did not respond or refused to be interviewed at camera.