Video screenshot by Leslie Katz / CNET
Britney Spears is on the news again, but not for her music. Fans, including celebrities, are demonstrating in support of the 1990s pop princess after the release of a new series of documentaries, The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears, currently broadcast on Hulu. If you’re wondering why you keep seeing the hashtags #FreeBritney and #wearesorrybritney, keep reading.
The documentary series
An episode of the New York Times Presents documentary series focused on Spears was released on February 5. The show, Framing Britney Spears, lasts about an hour and 13 minutes, and has “generally favorable” reviews on CNET’s sister site, Metacritic. Chicago Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper calls this “a thought-provoking retrospective of Spears’ life and career, including the battle for guardianship while Spears continues to fight his father in court.”
The filmmakers contacted Spears and his family for interviews, reveal the show’s credits, but none ended up in the film. However, friends, supporters, former employees and reporters talk to the cameras about Spears’ life, career and the campaign to end or adjust his guardianship. Two documentary contributors, Babs Gray and Tess Barker, are launching a series of podcasts that will focus on Spears’ life, including the legal fight with her father and the birth of the #FreeBritney movement to free her.
What does #FreeBritney mean?
In 2008, a California court placed Spears in custody, which means that his father, Jamie Spears, has full control over his assets and business.
Spears’ father remains his conservative, and now he is the only person in that role since lawyer Andrew Wallet resigned from a co-conservative role in 2019. Some fans support a movement they call #FreeBritney, hoping that pressure from social media convinces the courts to release the 39-year-old singer from the legal settlement. The singer herself called the guardianship “voluntary” in court documents filed on August 31, but also said she is “strongly opposed” to her father remaining the only conservative.
In November, Spears’ lawyer, appointed by the court, said she will not appear again while her father remains in custody, the New York Times reported. “My client informed me that she is afraid of her father,” said the lawyer.
The next hearing on the case is scheduled for this week, February 11.
Bette Midler, other stars speak
In addition to Spears fans, some famous people have weighed in on the singer’s problems since the documentary’s release. Singer Courtney Love was among the many people who tweeted using the hashtag #wearesorrybritney.
Singer Bette Midler also tweeted her support, using the hashtag #FreeBritney.
Actress Valerie Bertinelli tweeted that Spears’ story “drives me crazy with gratitude for my parents and how they protected me as a young woman in this insane business.”
drives me crazy with gratitude for my parents and how they protected me as a young woman in this insane business #FreeBritney
– Valerie Bertinelli (@Wolfiesmom) February 7, 2021
Journalist Tamron Hall wrote: “I finally watched the ‘Framing of Britney Spears’ on Hulu. It is an understatement to call it moving.”
I finally watched “Framing of Britney Spears” on Hulu. It is an understatement to say it is heartbreaking. #FreeBritney
– Tamron Hall (@tamronhall) February 8, 2021
Actress Heather Matarazzo delivered a moving message, writing: “The anger and sadness I felt watching #FramingBritneySpears last night traveled with me to my dreams. I woke up wanting to burn everything and be friends with her.”
Diane Sawyer, Justin Timberlake face negative reaction
Older comments on Spears are also under a microscope. Some people are calling journalist Diane Sawyer for a 2003 interview with Spears that appears in the documentary, while others are praising talk show host Craig Ferguson for saying in the air that comics shouldn’t joke about Spears’ problems. Other fans criticized Spears’ ex-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, and others who were involved in some way with the singer, or who once offered comments on his problems.
I’m going to need a public apology from Ed McMahon, Justin Timberlake, Diane Sawyer, Jay Leno and Kendall Ehrlich. #FramingBritneySpears it’s amazing and shows how much Britney spent as a young girl. Justice for Britney. #FreeBritney
– Meaghan Cunningham (@ MCnumber1) February 9, 2021
Britney basic
If you somehow made it to 2021 without ever hearing about Britney Spears, here’s the briefest of summaries. Spears was just 11 years old in 1992 when she was cast for The Mickey Mouse Club. Her 1999 debut album … Baby One More Time, has sold over 25 million copies worldwide and is one of the best selling albums of all time. She won a Grammy, six MTV Video Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards and won a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. There is no doubt that she is one of the best-selling, most profitable and most searched stars of all time.
But his personal life has always overshadowed his professional successes. She married childhood friend Jason Alexander in 2004 and that marriage was canceled after just 55 hours. She later starred in a reality show, Britney and Kevin: Chaotic, with eventual husband Kevin Federline – whose girlfriend was still pregnant with her son when he started dating Spears. Spears and Federline had two children, and she later lost custody of the two, with the couple’s various parental battles always making the news.
Her mental health and other struggles became terribly public: in 2007, Spears shaved her head, claiming she was “tired of people touching me”. But the public’s sympathy often seemed to favor Spears, who emerged as a troubled young woman who found fame and fortune at an early age and was understandably unable to cope.
How to watch the documentary
The New York Times presents Framing Britney Spears is now available on FX and FX on Hulu. You can watch it on the Hulu streaming service, on the FX cable channel or on the FX website, as long as you pay for a cable subscription that includes FX or subscribe to a streaming package that includes the channel.
The official FX channel on YouTube was also exceptionally free with clips from the show, if you don’t mind getting highlights in two-minute video blocks.