Britney Spears has gone through life with strings attached to her. In 2008, Jamie Spears, Spears’ father, petitioned at Los Angeles Court to place his daughter under “temporary” conservatorship, which he soon asked to be made permanent. A conservatorship is an appointment of a guardian or a protector by a judge to manage the financial affairs and/or daily life of another person due to old age or physical or mental limitations. For thirteen years her father used her as a puppet to control her affairs. Britney has had to pay her father 2.1 million dollars in tour revenues plus sixteen-thousand dollars per month since 2009 as her conservator. Britney received an eight thousand dollar allowance per month. As a conservatee, she has rules placed onto her that dictate the things she can or cannot do. The twenty-six year old mother at the time was treated as if she was a child in grade school. 

She was seen as an icon by many, and her every move was watched by millions of fans across the world and even more so by the paparazzi. Britney was spiralling out of control, and sooner or later the pressure of being famous broke her. In 2006, Britney filed for a divorce from husband Kevin Federline, which led to a custody battle in 2007. According to her previous boyfriend at the time, Adnan Ghalib, he discussed in the new Netflix documentary that she was in a very dark phase of her life where she was twisting into something unknown.

Sam Lutfi, former manager, was blamed largely for what happened to America’s Sweetheart.  They claimed that Sam was dangerous for Britney. For instance, there are rumors that he crushed pills into Britney’s food and bragged about it. During the trial of the conservatorship, Britney should have been notified five days prior so that if she wanted to contest, or find a lawyer, she would have had time to do that. The reason why Britney did not get notified is because Jamie and Lynne Spears claimed that they needed to protect Britney from Sam Lutfi. Sam believes he was seen as a scapegoat because he was new, and no one knew him. It was easier to use him as an expendable guy to waive the five-day notice so that she was not able to contest it. Lutfi knew she would have contested it, and they also knew that they needed to find a way to stop that from happening.

In 2008, Britney had a public mental health crisis. She had refused to turn over her children to Federline’s bodyguard at the court-appointed time. She was then hospitalized for her own safety, which led to the conservatorship. February 1st, 2008 the court-ordered agreement gave her father, Jamie Spears, control over her estate and other aspects of her life. She was seen to have dementia, which is not typical in younger people. She was seen as largely ill but was well enough to be able to work soon after. 

Reviewing the Netflix documentary, journalist Jenny Eliscue and filmmaker Erin Lee Carr investigated Britney Spears’ fight for her freedom with exclusive interviews as well as confidential evidence. After two and half years, there was finally enough evidence to prove Britney’s right to freedom. They discovered information on previous trials from an anonymous source close to the case. Many documents exposed further information on Britney’s numerous attempts of ending or changing the guardian of her conservatorship. It was seen that Jamie and the people who were around him blocked any chance Britney had for the ending of her suffering. No opinion yet from Britney about the documentary. Many fans are demanding and fighting for Britney in the ‘Free Britney’ movement. Luckily, Jamie Spears petitioned to be removed from conservatorship, and now Britney is waiting on the court for their decision. 

Britney Spears has been loved by many for decades, and now she has so many people not just fans supporting her in her fight. ‘The Princess of Pop’ is now on the verge of freedom!