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Saving Britney
Freeing Britney didn't end up like we hoped it would. Why are we so hesitant to admit it?
JESSICA REED KRAUS
15 JUN 2023
∙ PAID
514
306
“For those hoping the end of Britney Spears' conservatorship would mark the beginning of a new chapter of happiness and stability for the singer, the past 18 months have proved challenging.”
The truth is told here in full. Without concern for how it might be twisted, interpreted, confused, judged.
Saturday afternoon was intended to offer brief escape from the eternal gloom that hangs over San Clemente in June.
A curtain of clouds paints our introduction to summer a bleak shade of gray. Blue skies don't usually break through until mid July, so I was looking forward to sitting poolside in a warmer town with a friend.
When we planned the day, there was no mention of a scandal on the horizon (or if it was mentioned, I didn’t press her on it) Dishy headlines are her profession, after all. Her stories have dominated the pages of The Sun and The Daily Mail for over two decades. Her prison feature on Ghislaine Maxwell last year is what first connected us. I reached out wanting more information on this rumored interview (an exclusive I caught wind of before it was teased in print), and Daphne was kind enough in her responses, even though it was clear she had no idea who I was or what I did.
We existed in separate media orbits, but I appreciated that she provided me with a concise follow-up to the questions I posed.
Insight to an infamous inmate, we had in common. Britney was an unexpected shock.
A text on my way to her home warned that I was arriving in a media “storm.”
Ten minutes later, I read “METH,” in capital letters next to Britney Spear’s photo splashed across The Daily Mail, parked in Daphne Barak’s driveway.
What transpired was not a pool day but a front-row seat to behind-the-scenes of a scandal breaking in real-time. I watched from the sidelines as calls from editors and attorneys poured in between conversations with political powers and other miscellaneous celebrity sources she chatted with on and off throughout the night.
The phone never stopped ringing.
The big reveal in the article is what nobody (including myself) has wanted to say out loud for the past year: Britney — post-conservatorship — is not well.
Everything I've learned over the past few months from sources of my own echoes exactly what was published over the weekend in Daphne’s article: the drugs, the run-down homes, hurt and humiliated teenagers, concerned and estranged family members, neglected trust funds, a jealous stepmother, unpredictable behaviors, reclusive tendencies, erratic mood swings, and overall … a sadly declining mental state.
The reality framing this whole situation (behind the scenes) is grim and growing grimmer everyday. Selfishly, we are hesitant to acknowledge it because we almost resent that it didn't turn out how we had hoped. Britney unchained is not what any of us envisioned, and it took a headline on the front page of the Daily Mail for us to finally confront it.
Collective denial is indicative of current culture, though. How many concerning things go overlooked on mass scale because we prefer avoidance over action and lean into deflection, detachment, and denial when confused or conflicted? We can ignore a consistently stumbling president in spiraling cognitive decline just as easy as a perpetually spinning pop star displaying classic signs of addiction in the shadows of a raging opioid crisis.
To admit that Britney, free from the shackles of her conservatorship, might be in a worse place now is distressing for us all. It doesn’t help that her fanbase thrives on denial.
If you notice, addiction is never mentioned in any theories that tail her. Instead, they bounce between varying conspiracies that strip her of all accountability, even when it combines conflicting angles. They claim she is being controlled by handlers with sinister motives, but also sending cryptic (coded) messages in captions and wardrobe choices as hidden cries for help that her fans examine to relentless ends.
Darker theories insist a manufactured version has replaced the "real" Britney. Because apparently, death and cloning are more digestible than mental illness and addiction.
Or maybe we are petrified to question the other side of her “freedom,” because we were a contributing factor to her 13 year imprisonment. The media-induced traumas she suffered — that fed a decade of content we consumed in ravaged tabloid form, undoubtably led to devastating damage.
Collective guilt is paralyzing.
For 18 months, we've watched her liberation unfold with silent horror. If we’re being honest — it’s been awful, witnessing the decline of a spinning, half-naked (shadow) of the pop star we adore, staring back at us with hollow eyes and manic dance moves in a dated living room twirling on repeat for tiny screens that now create a global stage that now dictates the hours of her day.
Her mental illness is on constant display. A steady and uncomfortable presence in our daily lives online. We see her change clothes, strut the room, curse crude obscenities, spin endlessly into the camera, paired with angry, erratic captions that show not the slightly hint of healing. With zero social commentary to support (or even acknowledge) it.
In recent months I started avoiding her page (again) because of the sadness I feel whenever I log on and catch a new video of her rolling naked around a public beach trying to seduce millions of strangers in such a fragile state.
I hate the way Britney’s online corner makes me feel.
Two years ago I sat in a courtroom in LA when Britney was given 21 minutes to argue her freedom. I was in awe that day of her bravery. She sounded desperate and determined to convince us that she was capable and deserving of her revived autonomy. Her pleas brought the whole courtroom to tears.
The fervor surrounding her then was infectious. It was the unwavering passion of the Britney Army that drew me in but the mounting delusions that came after that pushed me out. If I strayed from the narrative they were quick to turn on me. Support was vocal and proactive but also entirely conditional. Egos overshadowed intentions and the last thing anyone wanted to admit, after a fierce battle to free a beloved pop star, is that maybe they were wrong about their own convictions.
I stopped writing about Britney’s struggle a year ago because I could not have an honest conversation without inviting a fury of attacks from her fanatical fanbase.
But sources continued to quietly find me.
I talked to a her old friends last summer who were concerned that no one could reach her to prove (to her mother) that she was still alive. Their numbers were blocked, Sam refused to respond to anyone trying to reach him, so they tried (however they could) to get confirmation (via video or Facetime) that she was okay.
Lynne Spears was so desperate to see Britney, she threatened to stalk the property or break a window just to catch a glimpse of her daughter. Friends, caught in the middle, only wanted to help.
When I asked what they thought of Britney now one explained that it's been a slow grieving process. They feel they've lost her in stages (gradually) as anyone who's dealt with addiction or mental illness can relate.
Constant attempts to communicate with her took a toll on them as well. She would lash out on social media and blame them for things they say never happened. At a certain point, they had to pull away to protect their own sanity.
Her childhood friends - the ones I connected with - are all loyal, hardworking women with wholesome Southern sensibilities, still close to "Ms. Lynne," even though Britney has been missing from the scene for several years now. One drives Lynne to Dr. appointments and checks in on her regularly, as a stand in for the daughter she’s lost touch with. It’s these conversations, from those who knew Britney since Lynne’s daycare days, that exposed a deeply personal side to this tragic media circus. Real people, unaffected and uninterested in fame, who have been left heartbroken by this divide. They miss her terribly but remain powerless in her life.
They say Britney changed drastically after the last 2019 rehab stint.
Photos of her exiting the facility show her looking drained and empty. The expression on her face is haunting. Before that she was in contact with her friends daily — complaining about the hours-long therapy sessions she was forced to participate in. But all correspondence dropped off after her release.
Recent sources suggest it’s Cade Hudson, her longtime manager, that is behind her increased isolation. He and Sam are the only people in her life now on a regular basis. No friends or family are visiting. And because Cade is no longer with CAA, his whole life (and livelihood) revolve around his stake in Britney’s life. Many believe he is the one monitoring her phone.
I'm told that when Victoria Asher entered the scene — hired on as Britney's assistant — a friendship evolved that Cade felt threatened by. Britney was the happiest she'd been in years and Vicky was largely the reason for it. She confided and trusted in her, but the bond between them created tension with Cade. He didn't like that Britney started to depend on Vicky.
Her role was cut abruptly, with sources insinuating Cade was behind it.
Shortly after she was let go, months-old videos of them together (on vacation, laughing on a boat) started disappearing from Britney’s feed. The missing posts were replaced with similar scenes of Britney and Cade frolicking in tropical locations that closely mirrored the videos Britney had shared (and deleted) of her and Vicky.
Further details of her life (post-dissolved conservatorship) are more depressing. We know about another failed intervention earlier this year organized by Jodi Montgomery, who resigned shortly after. Sources say she was the only one fighting for Britney’s sobriety but gave up because it was too much to handle alone.
Britney’s current routine is increasingly erratic. She stays up for days, hoped up on drugs (sometimes mixing dangerous prescriptions with gross amounts of energy drinks) then crashes and sleeps the rest of her week. She is angry and restless. Her demeanor, described as stunted and “childlike.”
Is sadder scenes, she is overheard talking to herself or replaying old conversations on loop. She yells at no one in particular. Her anger is sharp and easily triggered, which is one of the main reasons her staff has such a quick turnover.
Her dogs too, are neglected. They get out often and are retrieved after running loose around the neighborhood while Sam is off on his own excursions, basically living a separate life. He started staying at the new house as soon as they purchased it, but Britney refused to leave the old one, so their lives run on separate schedules ever since.
His role remains the same: keep her happy and amused when he can. Which, I hear, is harder now than ever. No one close to them views them as a “real couple.” So if anyone is a paid handler in this arrangement, one might assume it’s Sam.
The fake pregnancy last year also went oddly overlooked. We all knew it wasn’t real, but congratulations poured in followed by well wishes when the imagined miscarriage was later announced. We enabled the narrative.
While Sam has an active social life, Britney “never leaves the house.” She is a recluse, and has been for years, but still loves to drive aimlessly (sometimes for hours) around town. She shops compulsively — buying hordes of cheap clothing and accessories online that sit piled up in bags and boxes around the house. Her room is unkept. And the house, in general, is described as rundown and “depressing.”
Her Instagram posts (examined in excruciating detail by dedicated internet sleuths determined to decode hidden messages they swear she’s including) I’m told are really just the result of her current tastes. Like all of us, she enjoys combing the internet and plucking whatever images she finds on Pinterest that she thinks are “cool” or “cute” and simply hits publish.
Contrary to sleuths, there is not much thought that goes into anything she adds to her feed. The latest conspiracy — a viral video of her twirling in slow motion with another face exposed in a brief flash at the end is the work of a user who ran it through another app that created this layered image which fans swear is “proof” that she is still being controlled.
'I fear she's on meth – I've been praying someone would make it public and that she wakes up,' Kevin Federline, her ex- husband and father of their two sons, told me. 'It's terrifying. She is the mother of my boys.'
Her sons, Preston, 17, and Jayden, 16, are refusing to meet their mother, claiming they have seen drugs being delivered to her house.
Her family are scared, with Britney's father, Jamie, telling me he worries she will meet the same fate as English singer Amy Winehouse, who died at the tragically young age of 27.
And as her ex-husband put it several times: 'Every time the telephone rings, I fear that there will be devastating news.
'I don't want the boys to wake up one morning and find their mother has taken an overdose.' - Daily Mail
In Daphne's article, details about her severed relationship with her boys emerged, as well. Though it’s hardly shocking to read that Jayden and Preston are both embarrassed and resentful of their mother’s behavior on social media. I’m told they were hopeful that having her addiction exposed by a major outlet might shake her into seeking help. Of everyone involved, the boys are rarely considered as the biggest victims in this scenario. On one hand, they are living with the humiliation of their mother’s public antics. On the other, they are still the meal ticket to their father who raised them. The income Kevin receives from Britney, Daphne disclosed at 40K a month with a (rented) run-down property in Calabasas littered with dog poop, no dining table, plastic plates, no flowers, or silverware to show for it. Britney's parents allegedly were the ones to point out that there is no evidence of trust funds set up for the boys like the settlement demanded. The family is wondering where the money is going if not to her sons.
When I asked about the origins of her conservatorship, pointing to the corruption I have personally uncovered while researching it, I was told that it started as a genuine attempt to save her life. Her father truly believed she was going to die because meth - in some form or another - was always a lingering struggle in her life. So they did what they thought was needed to keep her alive.
However, over the years — like everything she’s been attached to, it was corrupted. Profit eclipsed health concerns, and power tainted what I was told were initially good intentions.
Since the divorce, Kevin hasn’t ever held a steady job and His wife, Victoria, is allegedly addicted to Fantasy Sports. Something she learned as a kid thanks to her father's interest in it. Based on Daphne's reports, Victoria gambles all day and Kevin is permanently stoned with the assumption being: a lot of the Britney’s money is being thrown at Victoria’s gambling habit.
“Kevin and his partner Victoria have certainly given the boys a loving home and spend time driving them to school and activities. But there are no flowers in the garden. The grass is unkempt. And with two dogs roaming free, you have to watch where you step. The boys might have pictures of their mother in their bedrooms, but there is not much sign of Britney downstairs.
When I suggested that Jayden's talent on the piano might be a legacy from his superstar mom, Victoria begged to differ.
'No!' she said. 'Britney used to yell at Jayden for practising the piano at her home. He was making too much noise. It was us, me, who encouraged Jayden to practice.'
Those close to Britney were pinning their hopes on staging an 'intervention' – to effectively kidnap her with medical supervision and take her to a place of safety – on Tuesday, February 7.”
“Some family members say they had long assumed that the monthly payments for child support would include money to be put aside for trust funds for Preston and Jayden.
They have calculated that, by now, Jayden and Preston should have six-figure sums at their disposal. Family members say they've seen no evidence these trust funds exist.
But the boys are doing their best to focus on their future. It is clear that they feel powerless to intervene in their mother's life.
Their only power is to stay away, hoping that one day she will understand their reasons and they can repair their relationship.” - Daily Mail
Their upcoming move to Hawaii is financially motivated. An escape route that Britney has signed off on. The child support age extends from 18 to 23, so relocating will buy them a few more years now that both boys are approaching the final cut-off. On top of that looming deadline the private school his daughters attended in LA is suing them, as well. Debts from all corners are piling up. Hence, this new desire to help or “expose” Britney.
I enjoy reading all your comments and hearing opinions from both sides of the spectrum. Me personally I’m on the side that thinks she is a hot mess and hides behind the “trauma” of the CS. What the die hard fans seem to forget is she was behaving erratically and engaging in dangerous behaviour, also putting her children at risk, years ago. Before the CS. The CS was in response to her actions. But I get how people might view is as too hardline. Off topic - I noticed the back of her hair in her recent video. Jeepers.
