Britney Spears Has A Chance To Be Free From Her Father Today. Here’s What To Know

Enlarge this image

#FreeBritney activists protest outside the courthouse in Los Angeles during a conservatorship hearing on April 27.

hide caption

toggle caption

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

Movies
What New Netflix And Hulu Documentaries Reveal About Britney Spears’ Conservatorship

Spears has said in the past that she found her father intimidating and abusive, and three recent documentaries from The New York Times and Netflix raise more questions about the degree to which she has been controlled and even exploited under the arrangement.

For example, Limbong says, Britney vs. Spears shows how hard those in charge of Spears were working her, noting their financial incentive for putting her on tours and booking her shows. And Controlling Britney Spears alleges that her guardians planted a listening device in her room to record private conversations without consent.

He also notes that while this case is very much about Spears’ future, it also has broader implications: Conservatorship reform advocates are watching it closely, and politicians across the aisle are also paying attention (among other developments, a Senate subcommittee held a hearing yesterday on «toxic conservatorships»).

There’s a lot at stake, and a lot to digest. Check out these recommended reads and listens while you wait:

• Background: Here’s an explainer on how conservatorships work.
• Legal developments: Read Spears’ statement to the court from June about her experience. She was allowed to hire her own lawyer in July, and he quickly requested for a new conservator of her estate. Jamie Spears filed a petition on Sept. 7 to end the conservatorship, and Spears consented with that petition last week.
• Entertainment: NPR’s TV critic, Eric Deggans, walks through what the newest documentaries reveal about Spears’ situation.
• Public support: Read about the increasingly vocal «Free Britney» activist movement. Plus, the creator of the iconic 2007 «Leave Britney Alone» video spoke to NPR about what’s changed.
• Political implications: Lawmakers with drastically different political leanings are expressing support for Spears and moving to advance guardianship and conservatorship reform.
• Commentary: NPR’s Anastasia Tsioulcas sees Spears as the latest victim of the industry machine, and one New York City psychiatrist reminds us that the cost of forced psychiatric care can be «ruinous» for many patients.

Reporting for this story originally appeared in the Morning Edition live blog.

• California news
• Jamie Spears
• Britney Spears