Update: Netflix has unveiled a full trailer for its new documentary Britney vs. Spears, chronicling the pop star’s seemingly endless battle for autonomy. Take a look at the trailer and see if you find yourself shouting “Justice for Britney,” alongside her many fans.
Original Article:
Netflix is releasing a documentary about Britney Spears and it’s one step closer to reaching the screen. An 18-second teaser was released for the project where you can hear Spears leaving a message for an attorney in 2009. A trailer is expected to drop at some point today for the documentary titled Britney Vs. Spears.
The documentary is being directed by Erin Lee Carr and has been underway for more than a year. It’s reported that the documentary centers around Spears’ highly unusual conservatorship, and will feature key figures in Spears’ orbit. It’s highly unlikely that Spears, herself, will appear in the project, given how closely guarded she has been from media opportunities throughout the course of her conservatorship. Earlier this month, Spears’ father Jamie asked a judge to end her 13-year conservatorship. When speaking of his daughter, an attorney wrote in the request, “If Ms. Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Mr. Spears believes that she should get that chance.”
The Spears conservatorship battle has been going on since 2008 after the pop star suffered a very public meltdown due to heightened pressure from the paparazzi and mental health issues. The conservatorship was meant to protect Spears’ well-being and finances and that seemed to work in her favor, at least publicly. Spears crafted a huge comeback, released several more hit albums, did world tours, set up TV projects, and had a record-breaking residency in Las Vegas. Despite this perceived success, the singer’s fans began to suspect she was being taken advantage of, thus the #FreeBritney movement was born.
This all came to a head following Hulu’s Framing Britney Spears documentary which was distributed in collaboration with FX as part of “The New York Times Presents” series. That documentary, which focused partly on the #FreeBritney fan movement that has said, for years, that the singer is being held under a conservatorship against her will, caused an uproar on social media and a catapulted interest into Spears’ unusual 13-year conservatorship. Suddenly those behind the movement didn’t look like they were spouting off conspiracy theories. Soon their claims began to bring a lot to light.
Eventually, Spears’ situation was thrust back into the center of the international news cycle. During this time, Spears gave her own testimony, for the first time ever, on June 23, 2021, at a public court hearing at the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse. Ever since the hearing, where Spears called her conservatorship “abusive,” the singer’s legal battle has continued with unwavering support from Hollywood and fans around the globe, not to mention heightened media scrutiny and fan investigations into each and every legal filing.
Spears has been heavily shielded from media interviews and public appearances throughout her conservatorship, especially in more recent years. The singer alluded to the media in a no-holds-barred statement made to the judge on June 23, 2021, where Spears pleaded that for her “sanity,” she “needs” approval to do an interview where she can be heard. She went on to say, “I have the right to use my voice and take up for myself,” explaining that she wants to expose the treatment she claims she endured by her conservators. “I can’t let the public know anything they did to me and by not saying anything, is saying it’s okay,” she added.
With Jamie putting in the bid to end the conservatorship, Spears is one step closer to her freedom. It’s crazy but it was JUST deemed that she was allowed to drive a car on her own. I don’t think anyone deserves those kinds of restrictions, especially when they seem to think she’s mentally and physically fit enough to go on a world tour, make albums, and run a Las Vegas residency to pull in money for those working for her. Perhaps the most damning part of Spears’ claims on June 23, 2021, was that she was forced to put in an IUD so she couldn’t get pregnant, pretty much removing her choice to want to have a baby. They were also allegedly blocking her desire to marry her longtime boyfriend, Sam Asgahri. In a sign that things may be loosening on Spears, the duo recently announced their engagement on her Instagram page.
A premiere date of September 28, 2021, is expected for the new documentary and it will align with Spears’ upcoming September 29, 2021, court date to address the status of her conservatorship. Will YOU be watching?