Photo courtesy of Billboard

The New York Times documentary “Framing Britney Spears” has led to fan theories, a notes app apology and many TikTok videos and Twitter threads breaking down what the documentary missed along with the story of Britney Spears’ conservatorship. The documentary follows Spears’ childhood, her rise to fame, her struggles with mental health issues, her impact on fans and her conservatorship. 

Spears grew famous very quickly, specifically for her hit single “…Baby One More Time.” Throughout her career she was constantly sexualized and criticized by the media. Growing up she was followed by the paparazzi everywhere. 

In 2004 she married Kevin Federline. The couple had two children together and divorced three years later. The press was quick to accuse Spears of bad parenting, being neglectful and leaving her children behind at a party. After years of pressure from the tabloids, Spears had a mental breakdown and was placed under her first 5051 hold, a psychiatric hold for people who are undergoing mental illness-related challenges.

            After this hold, courts granted her father, Jamie Spears, a temporary conservatorship. After a year, Jamie petitioned for a permanent conservatorship and won. Since then, Britney has been in this conservatorship. On Nov. 10, 2020, she asked the courts to allow her to change her conservator from her father to a third party. The courts refused to remove Jamie as a conservator but signed on the bank as a co-conservator, which was a small win for Britney. 

Throughout the documentary, specialists note how peculiar a conservatorship is for someone Spears’ age. Many specialists note that conservatorships are often enacted for elderly people who are unable to maintain their person or finances. A conservatorship can either legally give a conservator special access to the person’s finances (credit cards, estate, etc.) or their body (medical records, visitors allowed in homes, etc.). Under Spears’ conservatorship, her father is a conservator for both. 

Fans were quick to point out that not only does Jamie Spears have access and control over these parts of Britney’s life, but she’s also not allowed to drive, vote or get married under the conservatorship, things that the documentary did not mention.

Another thing “Framing Britney Spears” did not explain was the reasoning behind why Jamie Spears petitioned to change the conservatorship from temporary to permanent. According to a file found on Reddit, Jamie claimed that his daughter had dementia. Many have raised questions about this claim, stating that her abilities and memory do not align with a dementia diagnosis. Furthermore, there is no evidence that she has been officially diagnosed with dementia.

Among the conversation online, many fans on Twitter and longtime followers of the #FreeBritney movement have pointed out the fact that Lou Taylor, Britney Spears’ former business manager, was left out of the narrative entirely, despite the huge role she played in Spears’ life at the time. 

Taylor began publicly speaking on Britney’s behalf as “Britney Spears’ Family Spokesperson” in January of 2008, when Britney was under her first 5150 hold. Prior to this, Taylor was also the business manager for Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney Spears’ sister. 

Taylor is significant to the story of Britney Spears’ conservatorship for many reasons, but one of the most important ones is the fact that, according to Spears’ mother Lynne Spears’ book, “Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World,” Taylor was part of the planning process for putting Britney under a conservatorship.

“Quiet plans had been underway for six weeks for Jamie to petition the court for temporary conservatorship of Britney, but it seemed like an impossible dream at that point,” the book reads. “In fact, Jamie was going to file for the conservatorship on January 22, eight days beforehand, but he and his business manager, Lou, felt God leading them to wait, fast and pray.”

Taylor has also tried to place other clients of hers under conservatorship, including Lindsey Lohan and Courtney Love.

There are multiple facets to the story of Britney Spears’ conservatorship, many that cannot be covered in the 75 minutes running time of the documentary. Netflix announced that it is preparing to release its own documentary on Britney Spears; hopefully viewers will see more of these details mentioned and explained in the next Britney documentary.