Artists from Kacey Musgraves to Hayley Williams have been encouraging their fans to watch The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears, a just-released FX documentary about the pop superstar’s controversial conservatorship.
Britney Spears entered into a conservatorship in 2008 after suffering a public breakdown in 2007, which gave her father, Jamie Spears, full control over his daughter’s financial and personal affairs. The California Courts define a conservatorship as a judge appointing “a responsible person or organization (called the ‘conservator’) to care for another adult (called the ‘conservatee’) who cannot care for himself or herself or manage his or her own finances.” Framing Britney Spears, which aired Friday on FX and Hulu, pulls back the curtain on the pop star’s latest legal battles while shining a light on the #FreeBritney movement — which has gained some A-list supporters after the doc’s premiere.
Musgraves shared NYT‘s Instagram post on her IG Story and encouraged her 2 million followers to watch Framing Britney Spears. “Never has one person been so used and abandoned by every facet around her,” the Golden Hour singer wrote. “My heart goes out to her. She has always been such an inspiration to me my whole kid/teen life. Wish she could get a re-do.”
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Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams spoke about how the lens Spears was scrutinized under by paparazzi, according to the celebrity media culture of the early aughts, contributed to today’s “mental health awareness conversation” in society. But after a Twitter user refuted her comment, the singer stood by it and spoke from her own experience.
“The Framing Britney Spears doc holy f—,” the Paramore singer wrote on Twitter. “No artist today would have to endure the literal torture that media/society/utter misogynists inflicted upon her. The mental health awareness conversation, culturally, could never be where it is without the awful price she has paid.”
Williams continued, “I’ll say this- as an artist, my very personal experience with misogynistic journalists/media is that over the last 15 years, it’s improved. maybe bc there is a diff kind of accountability with cancel culture? but you’re right… misogyny hasn’t disappeared. it’s shape-shifted.”
See all the reactions from celebrities to the Framing Britney Spears doc — including Vanessa Carlton, Sam Smith, Hayley Kiyoko and Liz Phair — below, and stream the film here on Hulu.
https://twitter.com/yelyahwilliams/status/1358093963467620360?s=20
https://twitter.com/yelyahwilliams/status/1358097806578356224?s=20
— samsmith (@samsmith) February 7, 2021
Y’all..it’s plaguing me that nobody knows if @britneyspears is truly okay. Really hoping that if she isn’t she can formally vocalize it in some way and that she knows all of us on the outside really give a shit about her well-being. 😢
— K A C E Y (@KaceyMusgraves) February 8, 2021
#FreeBritney WE ARE SORRY BRITNEY pic.twitter.com/ncuVZf4OH7
— Kacey Musgraves Access (@KaceyAccess) February 8, 2021
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) February 7, 2021
#FramingBritneySpears stung. A) men controlling finances 10yr+ of a grown woman who earned her own money. Are moms put in charge of adult pop star sons who show erratic behavior?- no B) ‘90s solidarity: appalling slut shaming when what was happening was taking back the narrative
— Liz Phair (@PhizLair) February 7, 2021
#freebritney
Thank you @nytimes you did what you could. 🎀💔#wearesorrybritney pic.twitter.com/F8TZnXyyAa— Courtney Love Cobain (@Courtney) February 8, 2021
Watch Framing Britney Spears produced by the New York Times on Hulu, immediately.
— 𝕍 𝕒 𝕟 𝕖 𝕤 𝕤 𝕒 ℂ 𝕒 𝕣 𝕝 𝕥 𝕠 𝕟 (@VanessaCarlton) February 8, 2021
I am appalled by the Framing Britney Spears doc on her conservatorship. This an unprecedented usage of this procedure as she is not only of sound mind but works her ass off. Both can be proven. The most revealing bit of the doc was the quote from her brother. Cont’d #FreeBritney
— 𝕍 𝕒 𝕟 𝕖 𝕤 𝕤 𝕒 ℂ 𝕒 𝕣 𝕝 𝕥 𝕠 𝕟 (@VanessaCarlton) February 8, 2021
I would argue her dad used custody of her kids as consequence. Dear Patriarchy, IT IS OK FOR WOMEN TO SHAVE THEIR HEADS. Dear Paps, it is ok to hit your car w/an umbrella when you're stalking a mom who just lost custody of her kids to KFED. I would've done the same. #freebritney
— 𝕍 𝕒 𝕟 𝕖 𝕤 𝕤 𝕒 ℂ 𝕒 𝕣 𝕝 𝕥 𝕠 𝕟 (@VanessaCarlton) February 8, 2021
LISTEN. Proof it was always the threat that she'd lose her kids. That's why and how she got her. #FREEBRITNEY we see you queen! February 11th is the next hearing. https://t.co/jVkoQ5VY74
— 𝕍 𝕒 𝕟 𝕖 𝕤 𝕤 𝕒 ℂ 𝕒 𝕣 𝕝 𝕥 𝕠 𝕟 (@VanessaCarlton) February 8, 2021
#EndConservatorshipAbuse https://t.co/ixakPDOcPq
— 𝕍 𝕒 𝕟 𝕖 𝕤 𝕤 𝕒 ℂ 𝕒 𝕣 𝕝 𝕥 𝕠 𝕟 (@VanessaCarlton) February 8, 2021
— Hayley Kiyoko (@HayleyKiyoko) February 7, 2021
https://twitter.com/oranicuhh/status/1358767482668896256?s=20
— Sarah Jessica Parker (@SJP) February 7, 2021
https://twitter.com/TrinityTheTuck/status/1358580191078055936?s=20
Just watched the “Framing Britney Spears” documentary and have to say, there is something VERY weird, very wrong going on. #FreeBritney 💔
— Garbage (@garbage) February 8, 2021
The early 2000s world needs to say IM SORRY to Britney Spears
— Spencer Sutherland (@spencermusic) February 8, 2021
This Britney Spears doc is truly heartbreaking. She was so pure and good and the world ripped her apart.
— VINCINT (@VINCINT_) February 7, 2021
i love @britneyspears 💕
— olly alexander (@alexander_olly) February 8, 2021