Just visited Britney’s hometown of Kentwood, LA for the first time! Very weird experience.

[PickleSpears]

I went late last year and I was soo nervous the whole time because it's a tiny, I mean TINY tiny little deep southern town. I just felt uncomfortable as an outsider, especially being there for Britney, and especially during the whole Free Britney movement. I went to her favorite restaurant (used to be Nyla's Burger Basket). I went to her childhood home, Serenity, and the famous Sonic lol. I went to the Kentwood Museum but it was closed even though it was listed as open. Nobody answered the phone so I didn't get to see it. Overall, I just got the vibe that everyone knew I wasn't from there and didn't love that I was there. Maybe it was in my head but it was uncomfortable. The girl that worked at Sonic was really sweet though!

My biggest takeaway was that I really couldn't believe anyone that grew up there could ever become a Hollywood star, much less one of the biggest stars in the world. It's really incredible that Britney was able to make something out of herself. There was no sign of privilege in that place except for Serenity, which she obviously built after fame. The town was full of poverty and felt like somewhere that didn't have a lot of opportunities. It really made me appreciate it even more that she came from such humbling roots and really became someone.

[Alexa James]

1 hour ago, DougfromBrazilIsBack said:

Did you take pictures? And who’s  interviewing who?

I did. I don’t know how to share them?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stannedforever]

6 minutes ago, Alexa James said:

I did. I don’t know how to share them?

You have to upload them to picture sharing site and then just copy the link to your message to embed the images 

https://imgbb.com/ is free and doesn't require account
 

[Alexa James]

1 hour ago, jordeezy said:

Interesting to hear your take on a Southern town. It's the same in LOTS of Southern US towns. See...in the 80s/90s, tobacco, cotton farming and factories were pushed to go overseas and these towns got left behind. It almost feels like the US gov did it on purpose. Since the 90s, many of these towns have not figured out ways to thrive without these businesses and government benefits have pretty much made many ppl feel that they don't need to work. My home town is a lot like Kentwood. 

Yeah I can see that. The same is true for many Midwestern cities that depended on the steel and automotive industries. Once those corporations went overseas, the cities became abandoned and laden with crime. Gary, Indiana is a perfect example. It used to be the Paris of the Midwest but it quickly turned dangerous after the steel mill closed down. Although the Jackson’s family home is still there, I don’t think it’s worth driving into the city as it’s highly likely that you will encounter crime. 

[FullyDattAndDatt3full]

3 hours ago, MissSpearsSaysSo said:

Britney was the biggest thing to ever come out of that area, and now it’s just decaying ever since. It’s a shame cuz I heard that it actually used to be very lively and beautiful. 

its funny but sad kind of funny i guess

at least to me

the op gives a weird vibe and to me is FUNNY description of oddity, but now that you say it has really come off the rails of what it was, im like RIP :D :D

[MonaLisa613]

I’ve read many times that the townsfolk don’t like the outsiders, I even remember reading an article when Britney was still fighting for her freedom (this is after everything was brought to light too) and people were still pro Jamie, one woman who was too cowardly to give her name even called Britney a brat.

[Alexa James]

1 hour ago, easy said:

from what i recall some/most kentwood residents are very pro jamie, so it's not surprising to me that they would be hostile towards "outsiders" now after everything that's been exposed. 

they all still live there, and i never heard anything about selling the property. they sold the childhood home, but lynne still very much lives in serenity. pretty sure jamie lynn and her family does too while they build their home. 

the last time britney was there was in 2020 during the height of covid. she's brought her children there numerous times, and they've been there without her too. i don't  think sam ever went. 

Wow! So she still feels at home in Kentwood! I think Louisiana is very unique in the sense that provides a home base for everyone. There’s a common saying here. “No matter how far you go, Louisiana will always be home.”

It seems that she can just be a regular person in Kentwood. People don’t go out of control everytime she returns home. 

[easy]

4 minutes ago, Alexa James said:

Wow! So she still feels at home in Kentwood! I think Louisiana is very unique in the sense that provides a home base for everyone. There’s a common saying here. “No matter how far you go, Louisiana will always be home.”

It seems that she can just be a regular person in Kentwood. People don’t go out of control everytime she returns home. 

i don't know if she still feels at home there, i imagine she has a lot of conflicting feelings about that place. i do think she can be just a regular person there.

[Frankie8]

The way the OP worded it, I just pictured after sundown they sick dogs on you and sketchy people come out of the alleys with baseball bats and crowbars.

[OutofKontrol]

7 hours ago, HRHPrinceRy said:

….. yep. Sounds about right.   
 

It’s probably a sundown town. 

What? The town is majority black...

[OutofKontrol]

3 hours ago, Alexa James said:

Yeah I can see that. The same is true for many Midwestern cities that depended on the steel and automotive industries. Once those corporations went overseas, the cities became abandoned and laden with crime. Gary, Indiana is a perfect example. It used to be the Paris of the Midwest but it quickly turned dangerous after the steel mill closed down. Although the Jackson’s family home is still there, I don’t think it’s worth driving into the city as it’s highly likely that you will encounter crime. 

LOL- Gary was NEVER the Paris of the Midwest(esp when you have CHICAGO nearby) 

Plenty of people drive to Gary from Illinois all the time. Because of the cheap gas & the casino. Esp if you live on the southside of chicago or south suburbs the drive is only 30 minutes. 

[Brit52]

I'm going to new Orleans for a work trip next February (I'm from canada) and I was planning to take an extra day or two to visit Kentwood and hopefully see the Britney Museum

But tbh this post kinda makes me think it'd be a waste of time to go, not much fun and I've heard the museum is never actually open 

I still wanna go though

[blackingouthenegativity]

Next time you go make sure you stop at the Kentwood VFW and see if you can see Jamie Spears being a hypocrite 

Just wear a bulletproof vest when you go in

[Oprah Winfrey.]

1 hour ago, OutofKontrol said:

What? The town is majority black...

But what’s your point tho?

[OutofKontrol]

6 minutes ago, 3IsACharm33 said:

But what’s your point tho?

omg.....sundown towns are majority white, if not all white. Not black. So it cant be considered a sundown town. Thats my point. 

 

[queenofhearts]

5 hours ago, SpearsSpearsBrit said:

What do those acquaintances say about Britney? Is Kentwood really a dangerous town?

one of my former co workers said he knew the whole family and use to play football with Bryan in school. He said he wasn't surprised when she became famous because and to quote "oh yeah now she can sing now".

I knew another friend from college way back who was more friends with Jamie lynn, but knew Britney as well and said they use to ride go karts around the neighborhood.

My friend's grandmother who knew the family just vaguely said she had a mental breakdown because of the fame.  I didn't ask my friend's grandmother about the situation but at a party I over heard someone asking her what caused her breakdown to happen (this was about 4 years ago)

I had a former boss who was from around Mccomb and he knew of her family and said he always saw them around town when he went back to visit. He said lynn was nice, but nobody liked Jamie because he's always drunk. He said he ran into him at a gas station one time and he wrecked of alcohol.

sorry don't have any more juicy info for you.........lol

[Kaitlyn Johnson]

A lot of the locals have turned on Britney since the freebritney stuff. I don’t even think they open the Britney museum anymore. 

[ElectricPlatypusLove]

It'll be wild once Britney releases her book and officially ends the false image created to make money off of her. It's obvious that rather than the perfect small town, driven little girl, we had a case of greedy parents desperate for escape from a futureless hellhole willing to sell off their talented daughter to do so. Britney likely played along because she was 1) a dreamer and 2) she needed to succeed in order to escape her own toxic family. Then the true nightmare began when she wasn't allowed that privilege. 

[sunny_liston]

6 hours ago, PickleSpears said:

My biggest takeaway was that I really couldn't believe anyone that grew up there could ever become a Hollywood star, much less one of the biggest stars in the world. It's really incredible that Britney was able to make something out of herself. There was no sign of privilege in that place except for Serenity, which she obviously built after fame. The town was full of poverty and felt like somewhere that didn't have a lot of opportunities. It really made me appreciate it even more that she came from such humbling roots and really became someone.

I've never been to Kentwood but part of the reason why I've been such a big fan from the very beginning was precisely because she came from a place like that.

It's just so much more impressive that she became who she was having emerged from a broken home from a broken part of America. Music aside, I wouldn't have been nearly as interested in the person if her background was middle class northeast/west coast (like me). 

OP - I am curious, when you say it felt unsafe, what do you mean exactly? It's the south so you're driving around in your car the whole time right? Did you feel like you'd get shot or something?

 

[queenofhearts]

2 hours ago, Kaitlyn Johnson said:

A lot of the locals have turned on Britney since the freebritney stuff. I don’t even think they open the Britney museum anymore. 

I think surprise witness went to the museum there a few months back