Much like some people still ship Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, there’s a certain subset of millennials who still go hard for Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. The two pop stars dated publicly in the late 90s and early 00s, breaking up in winter 2002. Of course, their split was at the center of tabloids, with some alleging there was cheating on Spears’s end. (Those claims were never founded.) Nearly twenty years later, there’s still a picture out there of the twosome as the prince and princess of pop—destined to be together in some alternate universe where all-denim outfits are the norm.
But this didn’t happen in the actual world. Timberlake has been married to Jessica Biel since 2012, and the two share a son together, Silas. Spears, meanwhile, is happily dating the very hot 26-year-old model-slash-personal trainer Sam Asghari.
Neither Timberlake nor Spears has said much publicly about each other, especially lately, which is why Spears’s latest Instagram post is worth mentioning. The Glory singer posted one of her now-infamous selfie dancing videos on Wednesday, April 15, and the caption and song choice captured the internet’s attention.
In the clip, below, watch Spears iconically flip her hair to—wait for it—Timberlake’s 2018 song “Filthy.”
And in her caption, she calls out her breakup with Timberlake directly. “I know we had one of the world’s biggest breakups 20 years ago …… but hey the man is a genius !!!! Great song JT ✨,” she wrote.
This isn’t the first time Britney Spears has grooved to Justin Timberlake’s music—she worked out to his hit “LovedStoned/I Think She Knows” in 2018—but her caption is the most transparent she’s been about their split in years. From the jokey tone, though, it appears there are no hard feelings.
In 2016, Spears mentioned in an interview that she’d be down to collaborate with Timberlake, something he then reciprocated that same year. “Sure, absolutely,” he told E! News. “I’m accessible. Give us a call!”
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Will JT respond to Brit’s Instagram with a video of his own dancing to one of her songs? May I suggest “Gimme More?”
Britney Spears, the princess of pop, has—despite her stumbles—always delivered in music video form. These days she’s found a new source of creativity on Instagram, offering fascinating peeks into her world through short workout videos, Doolittlereviews, and fashion shots. And now that everyone’s at home with a lot of time on their hands, Britney included, it seems as good a time as any to look back at the singer’s iconic music video offerings to see how she—and we—have grown through the years.
Below, a complete history of Britney Spears’ music videos.
“…Baby One More Time” (1998)
As Fabolous would say, “Often imitated, never duplicated.” This video is a classic and was instantly iconic as soon as it premiered. “…Baby One More Time” is an incredibly catchy song on its own, but the music video is what truly put Britney on the map—and on the rocket ship to superstardom. What more can be said about the schoolgirl outfits, the fuzzy pink pigtail holders, the basketball, that hasn’t been covered? As far as first impressions go, they may never top this.
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“Sometimes” (1999)
Britney’s bare midriff continued on its hot streak in “Sometimes.” This video, I think, is singlehandedly responsible for crop tops becoming a huge thing in 1999. Even though “Sometimes” is a ballad, Britney managed to work in a white-clad dance troupe to bust some moves on a boardwalk—and that’s why she’s the world’s greatest entertainer.
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“You Drive Me Crazy” (1999)
At this point Britney was clearly ready to have some fun. It was finally time to see the goofy side of Britney in all her gum-chewing glory. The pigtails are back, the exposure is high, and Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier make the most 1999 cameos of all time. “Crazy” also offers what is now known as a Britney trademark: her signature “stop!” and slow swoop forward on a chair for optimal cleavage teasing.
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“Born to Make You Happy” (1999)
In what mostly seems like foreshadowing to “Oops!…I Did It Again,” Britney serves a lot of leather LOOKS, some slightly awkward choreography, and very random (but much appreciated) cutaways to a ripped male torso. Watching this video, it’s easy to see why we all thought metallic eyeshadow was a totally appropriate daytime look.
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“From the Bottom of My Broken Heart” (1999)
Maybe Britney was tired of showing off her dance moves in music videos, because “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart” marks a shift into focusing on her acting. The now overused music video cliché of lip syncing and longingly looking into the camera was basically invented by Britney in this video. “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart” also cemented the singer as a style chameleon: As soon as I saw her pull off a green fleece bucket hat, I knew she was a star to be reckoned with.
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“Oops!…I Did It Again” (2000)
Rewatching the “Oops!” video is like taking a time machine to a world where everything was right and nothing hurt. Britney in a red leather jumpsuit is how we all deserve to be remembered: vivacious, silly, lusted after by a hot astronaut. This is a perfect song, a perfect video, and a perfect encapsulation of why Britney had the worldwide impact she did. If you didn’t attempt to learn Britney’s “Oops!…I Did It Again” arm choreography, did you ever truly live?
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“Lucky” (2000)
“Lucky” was our first taste of biographical emo Britney. This video has a fabulously meta plot that seemingly took place in the 1940s, which meant we got to see Britney in sweeping Sunset Boulevard sleeping gowns and Veronica Lake–inspired hair. Looking back, “Lucky” was an almost too obvious cry for help—maybe that’s why we ignored it for so long? Or maybe we were just distracted by the star swipes.
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“Stronger” (2000)
“Stronger” demonstrated Britney’s growth in music videos from a codependent basket case (“…Baby One More Time”) to…well, stronger. So strong, in fact, that we learned Britney didn’t even need backup dancers! All we need is Britney, a chair, and an all-black room to make our lives a little bit better for three and a half minutes.
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“Don’t Let Me Be the Last to Know” (2001)
Previously, all Britney got to share with her onscreen beaus were a few chaste kisses, some hand-holding, and a weird pillow fight. “Don’t Let Me Be the Last to Know” was Britney telling us that not only did she know what sex was, she was having it—often—on the beach! Of course, Britney was infamously coy in real life about sex stuff (as she had every right to be—everyone’s obsession with her virginity was gross).
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“I’m a Slave 4 U” (2001)
This video cemented what Britney fans already knew was brewing: Britney was done with the cutesy kid-friendly pop star stuff and ready to be unveiled as a smoking hot sex symbol. The sweat, the orgy, the lowest cut pants of all time, the abs! This is what passed as controversial and “too hot” in 2001. How far we’ve come.
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“Overprotected” (2001)
At this point Britney dropped the pretense of “Lucky” and was full-on telling us how fed up she was with being a media sensation for doing little more than growing up. She did so with her tried-and-true formula: Britney. Chair. Dancing. She mixed it up a little by dancing on a chaise longue as well!
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“I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” (2002)
An accompanying piece to the Shonda Rhimes–penned Crossroads, “Not a Girl” was an anthem for young women everywhere who found themselves in that strange space between girl and adulthood. This is a notable video for the “bleached blonde hair and eyebrows” look Britney popularized. Also, doesn’t it seem as though this is where The Bachelor got the idea for leaving contestants on majestic, abandoned natural wonders?
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“I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” (2002)
Another Crossroads soundtrack fulfillment, the music video for “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” was Britney’s chance to feel like a true rock star. She fronts a band (!)—something that has never before been seen in her videos—writhes on a motorcycle, and demonstrates some pretty impressive cat/cow positions on the ground. What a limber lower back!
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“Boys” (2002)
“Boys” is an extremely underrated video in Britney’s canon. It has everything: awesome dancing, a CGI castle, Pharrell whispering sweet nothings, cameos by Austin Powers and DJ Qualls, Britney being all horny, and multiple zebras. How fun is it to see Britney goof around with Mike Myers? Why aren’t there more movie-character cameos in music videos? As usual, Britney is a pioneer.
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“Me Against the Music” (2003)
Britney’s love for Madonna was well-publicized, and in “Me Against the Music,” she finally had her chance to collaborate with the pop veteran. At the time, this video was thought of as somewhat lackluster, considering it contained two of the biggest singers-who-dance of all time, and it’s clear they were never on set at the same time. There’s only so much that body-double work and camera angles can make up for, and the lack of sizzle from Britney and Madonna’s true chemistry shows. Britney’s dancing in the flophouse is fun, though!
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“Toxic” (2004)
The “Toxic” music video was the dizzying high Britney reached before it all came crashing down. “Toxic” had several great set pieces (airplanes! Paris! motorcycles! the side of a skyscraper!), phenomenal outfits, and wigs that were to die for. And Britney writhing in an all-diamond outfit is still the Halloween costume we wish we were ballsy enough to wear. “Toxic” looks still get referenced by fans today (ahem, Taylor Swift) and this is without a doubt the best music video of 2004.
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“Everytime” (2004)
Another ballad, another cry for help in music video form that we ignored. We follow Britney through Vegas as she’s hounded by the paparazzi, a bad boyfriend, and her own demons. This video was dark. Britney gets a piece of glass lodged in her head and then drowns in a bathtub, people. And she still gets no peace from the public. Looking back on this video, Britney needed a break, y’all.
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“Outrageous” (2004)
As fun as it is to see Britney love up on Snoop Dogg, this video feels like a bit of an afterthought—a “why not” video for the last single from In the Zone.
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“My Prerogative” (2005)
At this point, Britney and Kevin Federline had become a thing, and the Britney we had come to know and love began to flounder. Emboldened by her second marriage, Britney started the more rebellious part of her career and life, as visualized in the “My Prerogative” video. Britney crashes her car into a pool at a spooky house (which feels weirdly prescient to the theatrical experience “Sleep No More”), is filmed bed-dancing for some exhibitionist, and more.
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“Do Somethin’” (2005)
This should have been Britney’s big moment, but it was more of a tepid shrug. It’s same old, same old. Fans began to wonder: Is Britney spending too much time with Kevin to evolve?
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“Gimme More” (2007)
Aaaaand here was our answer: Britney evolved all right—at this point, she was a mother of two, had a reality show, was hounded by increasingly dangerous and volatile paparazzi, shaved her head, and had been to rehab twice. The video for “Gimme More” is not quite the disaster that was her 2007 VMAs performance, but it’s also not the return to form everyone was hoping for after such a tumultuous period in Britney’s life.
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“Piece of Me” (2007)
Luckily “Piece of Me” came along and salvaged the Blackout era. Britney’s most personal and specific song to date, “Piece of Me” showed Britney having fun with her all-blonde gal pals, making fun of photographers and tabloids, and had some solid dancing that helped erase “Gimme More” from our memories.
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“Break the Ice” (2008)
“Break the Ice” is entirely animated, so it doesn’t feel as though it should count as a Britney video. I’m guessing she was too busy with motherhood to participate in a proper shoot. That’s okay, Britney. We all need breaks…
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“Womanizer” (2008)
…especially if that break leads up to a video as fabulous as “Womanizer.” This bit of filmmaking is why you should never count Britney Spears out. Along with the great “catch the cheating boyfriend” concept, we got to see Britney as we had never seen her before: in an office! “Womanizer” feels like a natural sequel to “Toxic” (some of the wigs even look similar) and hits all the right notes. At this point, we were all screaming, “Welcome back, queen!!!”
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“Circus” (2008)
Britney starts this video with not one but two beats of obvious product placement. Hey, get that money. What follows is an extremely literal circus theme, including elephants and Britney as a lion-tamer. It’s not exactly pushing the envelope as far as videos are concerned, but “Circus” is a solid follow-up to “Womanizer.”
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“If U Seek Amy” (2009)
Ah yes, the controversial F-U-C-K. In one of Britney’’ weirdest videos, we start at the morning after a hotel room party, segue into an almost Kubrick-esque couch dance while drugged-out partiers watch, and then segue to Britney’s “happy housewife” look in the suburbs, where she’s hosting an apple-pie fueled orgy. It’s extremely ambitious for a relatively simple dance song—and for that, we must give Britney props.
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“Kill the Lights” (2009)
Another animated yawner. Nothing more to say.
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“Radar” (2009)
“Radar,” or “Britney goes to a polo match,” is mostly notable for its first-generation iPhone. Was this video that long ago?!
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“3” (2009)
A simple white backdrop and plunging neckline was all this single about threesomes really needed, and Britney delivered.
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“Hold It Against Me” (2011)
With this video we return to a theme that has worked well for Britney in the past: outer space. Again, the product placement (this time Makeup for Ever and Plenty of Fish (????)) is so egregious that it distracts from an otherwise cool and futuristic treatment.
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“Till the World Ends” (2011)
At the time, post-apocalyptic was all the rage—Hunger Games was huge—and Britney cashed in with this video. It’s a much hotter take on the underground orgy from The Matrix Reloaded, and the visual effects are actually pretty good for a music video.
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“I Wanna Go” (2011)
Finally, a return to Britney’s considerable comedic timing! Wearing a cut-off Mickey Mouse T-shirt, Britney kicks off this video in high style by hilariously shutting down haters in the press and poking fun at herself. This video even has a subtle Crossroads 2: Cross Harder joke and a nod to Thriller. It’s perfect.
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“Criminal” (2011)
“Criminal” is a way better video than it has any right to be and is incredibly underrated. The song is pretty mediocre, but the video follows Britney as a put-upon domestic violence survivor who breaks free and moves on with a hot affair with her real-life boyfriend at the time, Jason Trawick.
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“Ooh La La” (2013)
You can’t really expect a masterpiece video for a song on the Smurfs 2 soundtrack, but Britney nonetheless delivers her first family-friendly effort in years. It’s cute. Her kids are cute. It’s fine.
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“Work Bitch” (2013)
Britney at her capitalist best! “Work Bitch” was just the shot in the arm that Britney’s career needed in 2013. The dominatrix persona suits the singer, and the desert/pool visuals are truly stunning. This video gave us some glorious GIFs, and for that we must be eternally grateful.
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“Perfume” (2013)
I don’t doubt that perfume is an important presence in Britney’s life, as she’s spritzed some on in approximately 12 of her videos previous to this one. But despite some decent Americana road trip looks, “Perfume” is a bit of a filler song and video.
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“Pretty Girls” (2015)
The “Pretty Girls” song and music video were a bit of a stumble for both Iggy Azalea and Britney. Hastily put together and cheap looking, this video is not up to what we’ve come to expect from Ms. Britney Jean Spears. Luckily we know that if there’s one thing Britney can do, it’s a comeback. We look forward to many more music videos for years to come.
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“Make Me…” (2016)
The concept of the video is simple but effective: Britney and her friends audition hot guys for the very music video we’re watching. It’s nice to see the star looking so easy and breezy. And fun fact: The guy who “wins” would later star on U.K.’s Love Island.
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“Slumber Party” (2016)
This isn’t the most memorable of Britney’s videos, but it does feel like a return to form. So many of her signatures are here! There’s a sexy, mysterious house party, a love interest with chiseled abs, dancing in the shortest skirt available in Wardrobe—all things we’ve come to expect from Britney, and a solid way to end this list.
That same note applies to “It Should Be Easy,” which turns BritBrit into a robot and features an EDM breakdown that sounds dated upon delivery.
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4. “Pretty Girls” (with Iggy Azalea)
“Pretty Girls” is, sadly, just a lukewarm attempt at recreating Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea’s song “Problem.” Everything from the chanty, bratty chorus to Azalea’s sleepy rap just feels off—and like a regression for Spears.
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3. “Tik Tik Boom” (feat. T.I.)
“Tik Tik Boom” is catchy, sure, but Spears’s voice is practically indiscernible in it, and the lyrics in T.I.’s verse are inexcusable. (“She like the way I eat her, beat her, beat her
Treat her like an animal somebody call PETA.” Um, excuse me?)
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2. “Chillin’ With You” (feat. Jamie Lynn)
It’s nice that Spears featured her sister Jamie Lynn on “Chillin’ With You,” but the song itself is a bit underwhelming. Matchy-matchy lyrics and a head-scratching chorus are ultimately the cause of its downfall.
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1. “Private Show”
Spears really stretched and played with her voice on her 2016 album, Glory. In some cases, like the song “What You Need,” she triumphs, and on others, well…I’ll let this track speak for itself. “Private Show,” unfortunately, is an unlistenable song—and I say that with the upmost love and respect for Britney Jean Spears. This one should’ve been left on the cutting room floor.
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Christopher Rosa is the staff entertainment writer at Glamour. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrosa92.
Actors Beanie Feldstein, Britney Young, and MJ Rodriguez rocked the big and small screens this year in awe-inspiring ways. You probably recognize Feldstein best from the summer movie Booksmart. Meanwhile, Rodriguez brought tears to your eyes as Blanca on FX’s Pose. And Young has been killing it on GLOW for three seasons now.
These performances couldn’t be more different, but they’ve all had similar effects on viewers: We were captivated and transformed by them. Credit for that goes to Feldstein, Rodriguez, and Young, who have changed the landscape for women in Hollywood just by being themselves. They’ve each pushed the needle forward for representation in various ways—be it race, gender, sexual orientation, size. At Glamour’sWomen of the Year Summit, these three women got together and talked about how they’re disrupting the system.
Growing up, Rodriguez, Feldstein, and Young didn’t really see themselves reflected on screen. “There wasn’t a lot of representation for young African American trans women,” Rodriguez told Vogue senior culture editor Estelle Tang, who was moderating their panel at the summit. “But I found comfort in watching shows like Will & Grace and Noah’s Arc. It made me feel included at a young age.”
Young, meanwhile, didn’t see good representation for either plus-size women or bi-racial people. “There were larger people on film and TV, but they were never shown in a positive light” she said. “They were always the bully, the prison guard. I never saw a nice plus-size girl who wasn’t being mean to people. [Bi-racial representation] was never shown in a positive light, as well.”
Feldstein had a similar experience growing up. People constantly told her she’d grow up to play Tracy Turnblad on Hairspray, but that role never interested in her. She wanted to be seen for all her complexities and nuances. , “[Tracy] is not who I am. I’m so many other things, let me show you all the other roles I can play,” she said. “Thank God things changed as I got older, and we have so much room for growth.”
We do have room for growth, but these three women are playing a huge part in moving things along. They’re using their positions of fame and power to impact the sets and projects they work on. Feldstein says she learned a lot from her Lady Bird co-star Saoirse Ronan on how to set the tone of a set. “Stepping into slightly bigger roles [like Monica Lewinsky in American Crime Story, her next project] at the center of a story, I think, ‘What would Saoirse do?’ To be the center of a story and hold that space is intimidating, but watching her do it was [inspirational].”
Beanie Feldstein, Britney Young, and MJ Rodriguez at Glamour‘s 2019 Women of the Year Summit.
It’s been a few days since I first watched Miley Cyrus‘ episode of Black Mirror, but my mind is still spinning. The story is simultaneously fresh and familiar: We’re introduced to a pop star named Ashley O. (Cyrus), whose songs are as bright and whimsical as her neon-purple wig. But underneath the smiley press appearances and sleek bops is a young woman deeply unsatisfied with her life. She desperately wants to shake up her image and sound but feels pressure from her manager-slash-aunt, Catherine, to stay the same. So Ashley’s team gives her pills—illegal ones—to balance her mood and, essentially, control her. Eventually she realizes what they’re doing, but her efforts to break free end in horror.
I can’t say much else without revealing major spoilers. Watch it for yourself to see what I mean. And when you finish, I wonder if you’ll be thinking what I am right now: that Cyrus’ episode feels very similar to the #FreeBritney movement on social media.
For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, #FreeBritney started in April by fans who wanted to advocate for pop singer Britney Spears. At the time, they were widely speculating that Spears was being held without her permission in a mental institution after refusing to take medication requested by her father, Jamie, who’s also her conservator. Spears has since gone on the record denying the claims and telling fans “all is well.”
That may be, but it’s still hard not to think of #FreeBritney while watching Cyrus’ Black Mirror episode.
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At the center of the #FreeBritney narrative—I’m calling it a narrative because nothing’s been verified—is a pop superstar very similar to Ashley O. We don’t know how Britney Spears feels about her music or image, but we do know from past interviews that she finds the parameters of her conservatorship constraining. “I don’t feel like [my life] is out of control. I feel like it’s too in control,” she said during her 2008 MTV documentary Britney: For the Record. “There’s no excitement. There’s no passion. It’s like Groundhog Day every day.” My mind immediately recalled this soundbite while watching Cyrus in Black Mirror, specifically when her character looks out the car window at a grungy dive bar she wants to perform in. Instead, she’s selling out stadiums.
Miley Cyrus as Ashley O. in Black Mirror.
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It’s the freedom of choice that Ashley O. misses—the ability to play where she wants, sing what she wants, and go where she wants. Spears has often expressed a similar yearning for autonomy; she allegedly isn’t even allowed to drive. (In For the Record, her “surprise” for a day is getting to drive her car on the freeway, and the rumored catalyst for #FreeBritney was the fact she was caught behind the wheel of a Mercedes.)
I’m hesitant to discuss the medication component of #FreeBritney because even though it’s believed by some that she takes some kind of mood-stabilizing medicine, it’s never been confirmed. In Black Mirror, though, we see Ashley’s Aunt Catherine use drugs as a vehicle to keep her niece on a straight, narrow, lucrative path. When Ashley expresses a desire to do anything outside her shimmery pop shell, her team doesn’t listen: They just up her dosage. Conspiracy theorists allege the same thing is going on with Spears, but, again, that’s highly speculative.
What does track is Spears feeling like the people around her don’t take her requests seriously. “When I tell them the way I feel, it’s like they hear me but they’re really not listening,” she also says in For the Record, likening her situation to prison. “Even when you go to jail, you know there’s the time when you’re gonna get out.” I have no doubt that Ashley O. has similar feelings in Black Mirror. Both she and Spears (according to the #FreeBritney movement, that is) are confined to the expectations the world has for women in pop: to be affable, beautiful, likable, calm, and, above all, malleable.
What is going on with Britney Spears? This is a question some fans have been asking since early January, when news broke that her second Las Vegas residency, Domination, was canceled. At the time the pop icon wrote in an Instagram caption that her father Jamie’s illness is what caused her to call off the show. “A couple of months ago, my father was hospitalized and almost died,” she wrote alongside a childhood photo of herself, Jamie, and her mother, Lynne. “We’re all so grateful that he came out of it alive, but he still has a long road ahead of him. I had to make the difficult decision to put my full focus and energy on my family at this time.”
What’s transpired since this announcement has been confusing, to say the least. Spears‘ Instagram—which was buzzing with selfies, memes, and fashion-show videos—went silent. Then, on April 3, TMZ reported that she had checked into a mental health facility in late March because she was “distraught” over her dad’s health. A source told E! it was Spears’ decision.
For context: In January, People reported that Jamie was expected to make a full recovery after his colon ruptured. This contradicts the TMZ story, which claimed his condition is “quite serious” and “not getting better.” In short, there have been inconsistencies in the reports. Then Spears posted this Instagram on the day TMZ ran its story:
“We all need to take time for a little ‘me time,'” Spears wrote, alongside a smiley face she styled as “:)” instead of using an emoji. Anyone who frequently looks at Spears’ Instagram feed knows she often uses emojis, which led to speculation that she didn’t write this “me time” post.
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On April 16, a voicemail was sent to Britney’s Gram, a podcast hosted by comedians Tess Barker and Barbara Gray, that speculated all was not well. It came from a paralegal who claims he worked for one of Spears’ lawyers.
But before we get into this voicemail, it’s important to understand Spears’ current legal situation as we know it: She’s under what’s known as a conservatorship, which essentially means she does not have full legal control of her affairs. In 2008, shortly after Spears’ well-documented breakdown, Jamie was appointed as a conservator of his daughter’s estate. The exact nuances and minutia of Spears’ conservatorship aren’t widely available, but the fact that Jamie is her conservator—and has been for over a decade—is common knowledge. Attorney Andrew Wallet has also served as Spears’ co-conservator for 10 years, specifically looking over her finances, but that ended in March 2019.
What the paralegal claims is going on with Spears in the voicemail speaks to this conservatorship and the (alleged) lack of control she has in her decisions. Here is the transcript:
“Hi there. I cannot disclose who I am. I just heard the latest
episode. You guys are on to something. I used to be a paralegal for an
attorney that worked with Britney’s conservatorship. I’m no longer
with them. And what is happening is disturbing, to say the least.
Basically, Britney was in rehearsals for Domination. It came to
Jamie’s attention—Jamie Spears—that Britney was not taking her
medication as prescribed. She was missing a lot of doses and just
full-on not taking them. So they got her to the doctor. The doctor
said, ‘OK, if you don’t want these medications, let’s get you on a new
one.’ She refused to take the new one. So Jamie said, ‘Either you take
this medication or the show’s off and I’m pulling my support and you
can’t do it.’ Britney did not follow Jamie’s instructions, and so he
was true to his word: He pulled the show. He, verbatim, said, ‘Blame
it on my illness.’ That’s when we get the early January Instagram.
Fast-forward a couple of days, Britney’s still not following through
with her medications, and as you guys have mentioned, she is seen with
Sam [Asghari, her boyfriend] driving. It’s a big rule that she broke. Britney has been in the
mental facility since mid-January. Of course, the statement yesterday
said she entered last week. That is not true. She’s been in there
since mid-January, and there is no timeline. Granted, I haven’t worked
at the firm for a little over two weeks now, but there is no end,
particularly in sight, for this stay at this mental facility to end.
She did not want to go. I, of course, am just a paralegal and haven’t
had any contact with her. But from what I understand this was not a
decision she made. At all.”
None of this information has been confirmed, of course. Gray and Barker say in the podcast they vetted this paralegal and believe him to be a credible source—but that’s still not a definitive answer about Britney Spears‘ situation. Everything is speculative right now, which is why you should take all of this with a grain of salt.
That being said, since Gray and Barker posted the voicemail, several things have happened that some fans claim speak to its validity. A hashtag is now all over both Twitter and Instagram, #FreeBritney, accompanied by messages from fans demanding answers.
Paris Hilton, who hung out with Spears in the early aughts, has even used this hashtag:
Luann de Lesseps, from The Real Housewives New York City, also posted about #FreeBritney, though it’s unclear how or if she knows the singer.
The Talk dedicated an entire segment to the movement:
She also posted this message about having faith, which fans claim is tied to #FreeBritney:
The movement has moved beyond social media too. A real-life #FreeBritney rally went down on Monday, April 22, at the West Hollywood City Council:
Entertainment Tonight sent a reporter to cover it:
On April 22, Spears’ younger sister, Jamie Lynn, posted on Twitter defending herself against people accusing her of being silent on the #FreeBritney front. She embedded a video of herself protecting Spears from a heckler back in 2008 and wrote, “10 years ago, who was there?? I have been here long before anyone else and I’ll be here long after. I love my sister with everything I have. So anyone or anything that speaks to the contrary can GTFOH with all the comments about what you don’t understand. Don’t come for me or the ones I love anymore.”
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