Opinion: Not speaking up about the Free Britney situation does more harm than good. Plus, why I think Britney isn't the one posting on her social media

[ryan radar]

I’m coming from a place of creating a dialogue and discussion, not judgment.

I thought I’d bring up some counterpoints to the people who are not supporting the Free Britney movement – the people who think it's none of their business and the people who think that if Britney had an issue with it, she'd speak up. I'm hoping these thoughts will spark a dialogue here and this post is based on opinion, not inside knowledge or facts.

I agree that some of the conspiracy theories on TikTok and Instagram may make it seem like Free Britney is nothing more than a conspiracy theory. I also understand the harm in misinformation. There was some truth in the Diet Prada post and I think some people discrediting the whole post is a mistake. The post highlighted the realities of being in a conservatorship and the freedom taken away while in one, which isn’t unconfirmed or misinformation but rather is highlighting the legal scenario of being under a conservatorship or guardianship. 

Personally, I’m glad the post went viral because the general public is now aware of something they may not have realized Britney is a part of. I've had many friends who are not huge Britney fans bring up the Free Britney topic with me and ask for more info. It’s becoming more than a fan-led movement, which is important for it to gain traction and help put more outside eyes on the situation. I don’t see the harm in having more eyes on the case and independent bodies looking at Britney’s legal situation — if everything is fine and justified then it will likely stay in place but if it isn’t, well then Britney may have the opportunity to have a review of the situation. 

Now from a communications and public relations perspective, with an issues management and crisis communications lens, if Britney is truly happy in the conservatorship, in my opinion the easiest way for Team Britney to shut down this movement would be to have her speak up in an on-camera interview and let the world know she’s okay and just needs the time off to herself right now. It seems to me that the reason this hasn’t happened is may be because Britney may not be okay with the situation. Having her take part in an interview shutting down the theories, an interview which would likely finally give her peace and quiet if that’s what she wants, would be an easy way to shut down the movement's momentum – at least with the general public. However, if Britney is not okay with the situation, this interview would lead to scrutiny and perhaps a third-party investigation into what is happening. Come to your own conclusions here with why we haven't heard Britney speak to the situation herself. 

This leads me to my next opinion point, some may disagree with me on this but I don’t believe that her official account is run by her, nor that her captions are written by her. Some may say “why doesn’t she address her true feelings of being in the conservatorship on social” well it’s because, in my opinion, she doesn’t actually have access to those accounts. For anyone who has worked in social media for a big brand or celebrity, this likely wouldn’t come as a surprise. From my perspective, the brand voice and style used on her official account changed shortly after the Free Britney movement started (the overuse of spaces and '!!!', emojis, "incoherent" stories and “personal” anecdotes) likely part of a deliberate strategy to create the illusion that Britney is the one posting on social. Why would something like that happen? Well, if this is the case it would further the idea that since she runs her own social accounts, she has the ability to speak up at anytime about her situation but hasn't. In this theory, it would give whoever may be running the social media accounts the power to control the narrative. 

If there is indeed serious human rights infringements happening to Britney, which much of the Free Britney movement is focused on, I believe that not speaking on this could be an injustice to her. I’m writing to the people who believe it's a personal issue and that we shouldn't be pushing the Free Britney movement forward. Supporting the Free Britney movement, in my opinion, doesn’t hurt Britney because if everything is truly A-okay, the criticism likely wouldn’t negatively affect it. However, if there is indeed injustice happening in her situation and people with platforms are silent on it then the implied complicity could end up keeping her in a situation that she doesn’t want to be in. My point being that there are benefits to supporting the movement and potential risks to dismissing it should it turn out there is something wrong in her situation. 

What are your thoughts on this? Let's keep this conversation civil, please. Again, this post is my opinion on the situation and not facts but felt the need to shed light on a situation that I personally feel may be a serious injustice. 

[Applejack]

11 minutes ago, ryan radar said:

If there is indeed serious human rights infringements happening to Britney, which much of the Free Britney movement is focused on, I believe that not speaking on this could be an injustice to her. I’m writing to the people who believe it's a personal issue and that we shouldn't be pushing the Free Britney movement forward. Supporting the Free Britney movement, in my opinion, doesn’t hurt Britney because if everything is truly A-okay, the criticism likely wouldn’t negatively affect it. However, if there is indeed injustice happening in her situation and people with platforms are silent on it then the implied complicity could end up keeping her in a situation that she doesn’t want to be in. My point being that there are benefits to supporting the movement and potential risks to dismissing it should it turn out there is something wrong in her situation. 

You put really well something I've been saying and a lot of people haven't picked on. At least I believe so.

If there is really something wrong with the way they're treating her, is it really right to close our eyes to potential abuse because she has her privacy and private life?

The least her team could do was to reassure each one of our fears. I truly am in fear that, not only the whole human rights issues, she might be a victim of emotional, physical and medical abuse. The whole Free Britney didn't blow up because of her being involuntarily hospitalized? No one in her camp asserted what happened. They thought a vague Instagram caption talking about Lutfi emails would reassure us. But we haven't heard from her. We haven't heard from her since 2008...

All in all, yours is one of the best and most well thought posts on the matter.

[ryan radar]

54 minutes ago, Applejack said:

You put really well something I've been saying and a lot of people haven't picked on. At least I believe so.

If there is really something wrong with the way they're treating her, is it really right to close our eyes to potential abuse because she has her privacy and private life?

The least her team could do was to reassure each one of our fears. I truly am in fear that, not only the whole human rights issues, she might be a victim of emotional, physical and medical abuse. The whole Free Britney didn't blow up because of her being involuntarily hospitalized? No one in her camp asserted what happened. They thought a vague Instagram caption talking about Lutfi emails would reassure us. But we haven't heard from her. We haven't heard from her since 2008...

All in all, yours is one of the best and most well thought posts on the matter.

Wow, thank you! Very kind of you. You know, this got me thinking – remember that time that we saw Britney in paparazzi shots out with a boot on and then shortly after we saw via hers and Sam's Instagram that she had been in the hospital... well her being in the hospital for the injury would've likely happened before the boot but the posts weren't put out until fans started questioning why Britney had a boot on in paparazzi shots. In my opinion, this shows that she may not control what goes out on her Instagram – why is some content seemingly only put out as a reactionary post. In my opinon, it almost seems like content is being created by Britney and then, whether it's known to her or not, her team saves the content and sits on it until they deem it ready to be shared, if at all. 

[ryan radar]

36 minutes ago, Dirk said:

 

In my opinion, Britney doesn't say anything because she's not allowed and actually she doesn't want to, she would have to make a rant about it and she would sound crazy, people will judge her more than she already is judged. Also, she seems to just want to be in peace right now and waiting with confidence in the court hearing. We don't much what she's demanding, maybe she's quite okay with it but want some changes and more freedom, not exactly to be out of it but she probably wants to be out of it. Maybe her problem was really her dad 24/7 on her... but personally I don't trust Jodi (because of her history), I personally prefer it would be her brother or Lynne.

...

I think Britney got comfortable with the conservatorship and played along with it because to be in a fight mode all those years it's exhausting, I think she passed thru a phase to accept it, embrace it, and be okay with it, to cooperate to maybe have something to prove and say in the future, like "I got better and I accomplished things". And tbh, for some time the conservatorship wasn't that bad, because she had a schedule, she was having fun on stage, she was seeing her kids, her brother, her niece... however that shaken and I think she was getting excited to POM to end, I think she was like "I proved myself already", "I worked and I did a great job performing here from 2013 to 2018", she wanted some freedom, and since she was about to chill for a while she wanted more freedom and maybe she was discussing it and demanding it with her dad, because in 2018 there were articles around that Jamie was thinking to end the conservatorship after the POM end. I think she didn't like the idea to do another residency so soon, and she probably rebelled a bit but once again she got used to it and was excited with her rehearses and performing... but yeah, I don't think she wanted her dad 24/7 on her *** and it's better to be out in Vegas having fun instead of being home with him doing nothing.

I think she's looking beautiful and radiant lately, I think the worst already happened... I see nothing wrong with her posts and the content of it, she's at home doing her thing... yoga and dancing, if the GP public thinks this is weird idgaf, our Queen is a little bit weird and unique. I don't think it's her posting it on her phone, but she probably writes some captions and send it to someone to post it for her. In some cases I don't like it, like that time she recorded a video saying she was needing privacy bc her family was under stress and the caption was about Sam Lutfi... that was clearly Lou and that is unacceptable bc she probably doesn't even know what is happening outside her bubble and who knows what they tell her about what's going on, maybe they just tell what favors them, the narrative they want. Also, her addressing paparazzi pictures and so self-conscious... this is ****ed up. In general, I'm okay with it but her social media is really BAD, a lot of celebrities don't control their social media, they have people to do it for them, but in Britney's case whoever is doing it it's terrible... at least it's viral so maybe they really want it to be viral? I actually like it bc it's more real than Beyonce and less plastic than Kardashians, and since she's home in quarantine there's nothing to show... when she was out and about doing shows it was way better bc she was interacting more with the world, people and she was looking more "normal" in general.

so yeah, we don't know, maybe she already knows something is coming in her favor... 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I will respectfully disagree that she doesn't want to talk about it as in 2016 there were reports from fans in the audience during her Jonathan Ross interview that said she brought up the conservatorship but then in the final cut, there is no mention of it. On your point about her social media, it's my opinion that her social media is manufactured to look the way it does to create the illusion that she is the one posting, and thus has the freedom to post about her situation if she wanted to. In reality, I personally don't believe she is the one posting on her social accounts or writing her captions. 

[Watch Me Work It]

Yes, posting selfies while END THE CONSERVATORSHIP was trending all day feels really weird. 

They always try to use the silent treatment, only replying to us by TMZ articles, and it feeds to the idea of her living in a bubble. 

[ryan radar]

2 minutes ago, Watch Me Work It said:

Yes, posting selfies while END THE CONSERVATORSHIP was trending all day feels really weird. 

They always try to use the silent treatment, only replying to us by TMZ articles, and it feeds to the idea of her living in a bubble. 

I didn't even think of that! Also, those selfies could've been from weeks ago... she could've in theory stopped giving her team content... We really don't know. 

[Yoongi]

1 hour ago, ryan radar said:

the brand voice and style used on her official account changed shortly after the Free Britney movement started (the overuse of spaces and '!!!', emojis, "incoherent" stories and “personal” anecdotes) likely part of a deliberate strategy to create the illusion that Britney is the one posting on social.

YES, THIS! 

[Applejack]

29 minutes ago, ryan radar said:

Wow, thank you! Very kind of you. You know, this got me thinking – remember that time that we saw Britney in paparazzi shots out with a boot on and then shortly after we saw via hers and Sam's Instagram that she had been in the hospital... well her being in the hospital for the injury would've likely happened before the boot but the posts weren't put out until fans started questioning why Britney had a boot on in paparazzi shots. In my opinion, this shows that she may not control what goes out on her Instagram – why is some content seemingly only put out as a reactionary post. In my opinon, it almost seems like content is being created by Britney and then, whether it's known to her or not, her team saves the content and sits on it until they deem it ready to be shared, if at all. 

I do believe that too. Also, compressed videos (indicating they're not the original videos), pictures with borders (indicating they're screenshots), straight posting screenshots from older videos (like the two posts talking about the Alexander McQueen jacket).

 

13 minutes ago, ryan radar said:

I didn't even think of that! Also, those selfies could've been from weeks ago... she could've in theory stopped giving her team content... We really don't know. 

I don't think so, because she had been marking some posts with the day she filmed. Even on video. There is a video of hers where she's holding a calendar, saying "I filmed this on this day blah in June". And the video was posted 2 days after.

[ryan radar]

31 minutes ago, Dirk said:

she mentioned the conservatorship, it was not like she was discussing about it...

From what I remember, wasn't it alleged she mentioned the conservatorship in terms of not having as much control over her music? Apologies if I'm wrong.

[ryan radar]

1 hour ago, Yoongi said:

YES, THIS! 

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed it. Just my opinion of course but it's something I've noticed for a while. It was a distinct change from what I believe I had seen on her posts before that point. 

[Applejack]

38 minutes ago, Dirk said:

she mentioned the conservatorship, it was not like she was discussing about it...

She was saying it didn't allow her freedom in her career.

[ryan radar]

18 minutes ago, Applejack said:

She was saying it didn't allow her freedom in her career.

That's how I remember the tweet from the fan in the audience went also.