Throughout the entirety of the #FreeBritney movement, fans of the popstar could only speculate about what was going on behind the scenes with Britney Spears and the conservatorship over her life and finances. When the pop star finally got her chance to speak for herself, taking to the stand in court to confirm suspicions of mistreatment in a speech that prompted the judge to finally allow her to live freely, it was clear even then that we only heard the footnotes of years of abuse.
Soon after, Spears signed a contract to tell her story through an interview with Oprah Winfrey. But over the weekend, she decided to take matters into her own hands in a now-deleted YouTube clip.
In the 20-minute audio recording, Spears detailed how difficult it was to try to get help during her conservatorship, explaining that her father, Jamie Spears, went to extreme measures to keep her contained and to keep control over her millions. She claimed her phone would be “tapped” when she would try to seek legal counsel and that even in her own house, people would watch her get changed and shower.
Explaining that she doesn’t know what she did to warrant the conservatorship in the first place, Spears said, “I literally spoke in a British accent to a doctor to prescribe my medication and three days later there was a Swat team at my home, three helicopters.”
Spears claimed the conservatorship was “pre-meditated” and that she was held down on a gurney in an ambulance at the beginning of it, despite there being “no drugs in my system, no alcohol, nothing.”
When she was forced into a mental health facility in 2019 — something that made headlines at the time and reignited fans’ worry about her wellbeing — Spears alleged her father told her if she tried to fight it, she would lose. “You don’t have to go, but if you don’t go, you will have to go to court,” Spears recalled. “And there will be a big trial. And you’re gonna lose. I have way more people on my side than you, you don’t even have a lawyer.”
Spears went on to describe herself as a “machine” during her Las Vegas residency and said she wasn’t allowed to object to anything in the creative process. When she said no to a dance move, she said, “[My family] got pissed. I feel like the scare tactic and how badly they treated me in the end, I think they thought I was gonna come begging back to work. Cause they thought I needed them.”
“I went to one of the rehearsals and I said no to a dance move…I just remember everything got really weird and quiet and the directors and producers went in the back room and just spoke,’ she continued. “The next day, I was told I had to be sent away to a facility and that I was supposed to say on my Instagram that the reason why was because my dad is sick and I need treatment, which I didn’t want to ever go there.”
Spears also addressed speaking out on her own terms, saying she’s been offered a lot of money to do interviews “ with Oprah and so many people. Lots and lots of money but it’s insane, I don’t want any of it.” She added, “For me, it’s beyond a sit-down, proper interview.”
Before uploading the now-deleted clip, Spears deleted her Instagram account, which, until then, she’d posted on regularly. Thankfully, she quickly joined Twitter, where her iconic content continues:
Just touching on the door 🚪 !!!
Psss I messed up at the end of the video with my edit !!! Oops 🙈 !!! pic.twitter.com/rFVgZamyMR— Britney Spears 🌹🚀 (@britneyspears) August 28, 2022
Furthermore, last week Spears’ first song in six years, a duet with Elton John named ‘Hold Me Closer’ hit number one in the US immediately upon release. We love to see it.
