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Last week’s premiere of the film “Framing Britney Spears”, part of the TV documentary series “The New York Times Presents”, took a close look at Spears’ legal battle with his father, Jamie Spears, for control of his finances. For more than a decade, this control was largely maintained by Spears in guardianship, a complex legal arrangement normally used for the sick or elderly.
Since the film’s release on FX and Hulu, celebrities and fans have expressed their support for Spears on social media. The last hearing of the fight was scheduled for Thursday in Los Angeles. On Wednesday, Samantha Stark, the director, and Liz Day, a senior editor for the film, answered questions from readers in an “Ask Me Anything” session on the Reddit website. The following are edited excerpts.
Did you face any legal obstacles to making the film?
LIZ DAY We did not receive any direct legal threats during the making of the documentary. Reporting any investigative story requires extreme attention to accuracy and factual justice, and this project was no different, although it was made even more difficult by an ongoing lawsuit, attorney-client privilege, medical privacy, celebrity secrecy agreements, distrust of press and other factors.
What is the involvement of Lynne Spears, Britney’s mother, in all of this?
SAMANTHA STARK So, what we know about Lynne Spears is that she is not legally part of Britney’s guardianship team. We know that she recently asked to be included to have access to more information and to have her lawyer speak during the hearings, and that she introduced herself as an “interested party” to do so.
It is unclear what involvement Lynne had in guardianship until recently. At a November 10 hearing, Lynne said, through her attorney (and I’m paraphrasing) that she thanked Jamie for the work he had been doing, but that she wanted Britney to wake up to see better days. It is very difficult to understand the role that Jamie, Lynne or several other people played during guardianship because many of the court records are sealed.
What is your opinion about the media’s response to the documentary? It appears that many of the vehicles that disparaged Britney years ago are now doing analysis on how the media destroyed her.
HARD There is one thing I noticed last week, giving interviews to the media, which I had never thought about before the film came out. When Britney was being embarrassed for her sexuality as a teenager and persecuted as a young adult, the guardians of all these media – those who embarrassed – were in their 30s, 40s, 50s. We, as teenagers, have seen this happen. Now that my / our generation are many of the guardians, we are saying “enough of”.
How should these media outlets react after participating in all the scorn Britney suffered?
HARD I think they should react never again by doing anything like that. I think they should write down Britney’s book and be kind, open and uncritical.
Have you contacted any of Britney’s ex-husbands or boyfriends, such as Jason Alexander, Kevin Federline, Jason Trawick or Charlie Ebersol, or any of his photographers / videographers, like David LaChappelle and Nigel Dick?
DAY Yes, at the end of the document we list the members of Mrs. Spears’ family with whom we have requested interviews on camera, but who have not responded or refused. But we reached far more people than just that list, including the aforementioned ex-husbands / boyfriends. We talked to Nigel Dick and we talked to David LaChappelle too. Many people with whom we speak behind the scenes who did not appear on camera. There were also some people whose interviews on camera were not included because of the weather.
What do you think of Britney’s obsessive fans who question and dissect her posts on social media?
HARD There is such a narrow circle around Spears, apparently empowered by guardianship, that it is really difficult to ask how she is or what she thinks. We know that she hasn’t been interviewing for a long time and that, when she did it for many years, she was probably under very careful surveillance. So, I honestly think it makes sense for people to look at her Instagram to try to analyze how she might be. It is the only place that we can see or hear about it for some time.
Did you look at the financial records? Forbes estimated its wealth at $ 60 million. Shouldn’t you be taller?
DAY Excellent question. Britney’s true net worth is a mystery, and there is speculation that there may be a lot more money than $ 60 million out of her property, in funds or elsewhere like royalties, intellectual property and more. There are many companies established as private LLCs, whose records are scarce. One thing I would add is that, often, when you hear big Hollywood paychecks, you should take into account everyone who is getting a reduction – managers, lawyers and government taxes, for example.
Did you expect this film to result in a major resurgence of the #FreeBritney movement?
HARD When making a film, I never know which parts of the play will hit people in the emotional stomach. I really had no idea this was going to happen.