What is #FreeBritney

In the past few weeks, the hashtag #FreeBritney has returned to trend. Explained precisely on Instagram by Diet Prada (@diet_prada), in a post commented and shared also by Chiara Ferragni, it is a real liberation campaign in support of Britney Spears, born in the attempt to free the pop star from the legal protection of her father, which can also be supported by fans through concrete actions. Although at first it may seem difficult to take seriously, also due to a widespread superficiality towards celebrities, it is actually a human tragedy that shines the spotlight on all those stars who, at the top of their fame, today are trapped in an abyss from which they cannot go back (from Lindsay Lohan to Macaulay Culkin, through Maradona), who often become the object of derision.

Everybody remembers Britney's 2007: the sad performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, or the paparazzi pictures where she was shown shaving her hair; moments that have also inspired a collection of doubtful cups good taste with the slogan "If Britney survived in 2007, you can manage it today". Few, however, know that from that moment the pop star has lost control over her finances and, more generally, over her life. Although she continued to work - and in 2018 her assets were estimated at at least $ 59 million, since 2008 all of her money has been managed by her father Jamie Spears (born James), who was appointed as her legal guardian by virtue of an instrument that takes the name of conservatorship.

This is a story about a girl named Britney

After taking the first steps among the young people of the Mickey Mouse Club (together with Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling and Justin Timberlake), Britney Spears became famous all over the world in 1999 with the album ...Baby One More Time. From then on, she produced a series of timeless hits, which have survived until today without losing their iconicity (also thanks to the recent trend of the Nineties nostalgia). In 2002, Forbes declared her the highest-paid celebrity in the world, as well as the highest-paid artist of the first decade of the 21st century according to Billboard. At the same time, however, problems also began, first with drug addiction and then with mental collapse, worsened by morbid media attention towards her, up to hospitalization and TSO. 

What is the conservatorship

Conservatorship is the name of an American legal instrument that provides for the appointment of a guardian to manage the finances and most important decisions of a person who is not judged to be able to take care of himself/herself, for both physical and mental reasons. The first request for Britney's conservatory was made by her father after the 2007 episodes, first for a limited period of time, and then made permanent at the end of 2008. From that moment on, all Britney's entries are managed by him: for this assignment, Jamie Spears is paid around $ 130,000 a year and is primarily responsible for not only the economic decisions but also all of her daughter's daily activities. According to Diet Prada, without the permission of her father Britney cannot drive, vote, marry, spend her money, use a mobile phone or social media independently or see her children.

#FreeBritney

As much as her posts on Instagram and TikTok make us smile, among flowers, slightly boomer quotes and unmistakable ballets, the situation is dramatic: conservatorship is a radical, but unusual measure for a 38-year-old person, since he usually comes applied to elderly or disabled people. After all, after the 2008 crisis, Britney seems to have taken up her life consciously. Her career also went through an interesting second phase: three albums (Blackout, Circus and Femme Fatale), nearly 250 concerts in Las Vegas and a chair among the X Factor judges. For this reason, the fans of the artist ask for the revocation of the conservatorship, which has been active for more than 12 years. Just a few days ago Alli Sims, the pop star's cousin and ex-assistant, commented on a photo on Instagram writing that Britney has always felt like she was trapped in a cage.

It is not the first time that the hashtag #FreeBritney jumps to the attention of tabloids: think of the Britney's Gram podcast, conducted by the two American comedians Tess Barker and Barbara Gray and entirely dedicated to the artist's Instagram posts (which often become real meme), in which last year a telephone message received from an anonymous source had raised new doubts about her autonomy. The episode had restored vitality to the movement, so much so that during one of his concerts, even Miley Cyrus had shouted "Free Britney". Britney Spears herself had to intervene to reassure fans of her health.