I wonder at what point her and Jim’s relationship started breaking down? I feel like a lot of what came after was her rebelling against him/being trapped by it all. Kicking off at the backlash. The Rhys stuff, hair change, smoking and drinking, weight loss. She had a bit of a break down I think. All the breaking free of YouTube was intertwined with breaking free from Jim and the sickly sweet, ditsy act, his “Hi best friends” thing. She wasn’t happy to be owned by her fans, agent and Jim anymore.
If you look at her friends they were maturing, living their dreams and becoming successful without having to sell out or owe anything to fans while she was trapped in the wifey, wholesome, good girl role expected to be the person she wa at 21.
I don’t think she’d have ever gone so far from who she was if she hadn’t felt so trapped by it and Jim was a big part of that.