On Friday, February 5, 2021, FX and Hulu premiered “The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears,” an unauthorized documentary about Spears’s life and career, mainly focusing on the conservatorship that she has been under since 2008 and the legal battle that she has been involved in since 2019 regarding the conservatorship. A conservatorship is a legal arrangement where a guardian or “conservator” is appointed to control one’s financial and personal endeavors when that person is not believed to be physically or mentally able to take care of themselves. Spears’s father, Jamie Spears, has been the conservator of her estate and person since 2008.
A promotional photo for the New York Times/FX documentary. Britney herself was not directly involved in the documentary, despite being reached out to by the New York Times.
The documentary begins chronicling Britney’s life and career. She debuted in late 1998 at sixteen years old, releasing pop music that resonated with fans in every corner of the world. She faced a great deal of scrutiny in her early career, resulting in the paparazzi’s unhealthy obsession with her. This obsession hit its peak between 2005 and 2007, where Spears was basically unable to leave her home without being harassed by paparazzi. At one point, Spears made up 25% of the paparazzi business.
Spears was unable to leave her house without being swarmed by paparazzi. In this photo, one cannot even see Spears because of the photographers.
Due to this pressure and harassment, Spears dealt with a great deal of mental health issues in the mid 2000s. Following a hospitalization in early 2008, she was put under a temporary conservatorship, which was later turned into a permanent conservatorship. Later that year, she released a new album and embarked on a world tour, starting speculation as to whether or not she needed to be under a conservatorship.
Spears performing on her 2009 Circus tour, which came in the midst of her highly publicized breakdown and beginning of her conservatorship.
For the following years, Spears continued releasing music and engaging in promotion, all while under the conservatorship. It was not until 2019 that she signaled she wanted out of the conservatorship. It was then that the conservatorship got wider media attention, with Spears stating that she does not wish to have her father as her conservator. Since then, he has refused to step down, resulting in the #FreeBritney movement, advocating for the end of her conservatorship or, at the very least, for her father to step down.
#FreeBritney protestors outside of a courthouse. The movement has brought up larger concerns about conservatorship abuse in general.
As of 2021, Spears’s father has still refused to step down, but with the increased media attention and the release of this documentary, one can expect more changes to come in regards to Spears’s conservatorship.
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