Sour skull, shaved, has remained etched in our memories. We are February 16, 2007 and Britney Spears begins, under the flashes of the paparazzi, a year marked by stays in nursing homes and appearances in court, which will lead in particular to the loss of custody of her two children. The sequel, not very photogenic, is however less well known: the 1er February 2008, Britney Spears, 27, is placed under the care of her father, Jamie Spears, and a lawyer, Andrew Wallet. The first is responsible for ensuring the good associates and career choices of his daughter, the second manages the fortune of the star, now estimated at 51 million euros.
This supervision, which was initially to last until the end of 2008, is still relevant today. Justice wanted to perpetuate it until the star presents “Signs of lasting improvement in mental condition”. A condition not met so far, according to justice, despite the undeniable productivity of the artist – four albums and as many tours in twelve years. With the approach of a new judicial hearing, on July 22, his fans mobilized around the keyword #freebritney to publicize and put an end to this situation, considered unfair. To the point of overwhelming, since the beginning of the summer, social networks, from Twitter to TikTok, via Facebook and Instagram.
Page Contents
The birth of the hashtag
If it emerges again today, the #freebritney keyword is nothing new. It first appeared on February 20, 2009, on BreatheHeavy.com, a successful blog founded by fan, Jordan Miller. That day, he relays the transcript of audio notes attributed to the star, where the latter claims that his father would have threatened to no longer see his children if she did not accept the placement under guardianship. “These soundtracks need to be released now, so that the whole world will know the pain and the struggle that Britney is currently waging”, writes the blogger, before concluding with “Free Britney! [libérez Britney !] “.
The slogan then begins its journey on social networks. In July 2009, he appeared on Twitter, written by a Brazilian fan, Eduardo Pereira. “Britney Spears must be able to take back legal control of her life, free yourself, my dear!” #freebritney “, he writes. However, the hashtag is slow to emulate. That year, there were less than a hundred occurrences of #freebritney on Twitter.
Despite regular use of the keyword by some fans, the movement only really took ten years later. On January 4, 2019, the star announced to postpone to an indefinite date the series of residency concerts she was to give at Park MGM in Las Vegas (Nevada). She says she needs to devote “His energy to take care of his family”, recalling the serious health problems of his father at the end of 2018.
A few days after the announcement, posts ceased to her Instagram account, which usually teems with selfies, roses and inspirational quotes. Spears will not speak again until three months later, to react to the comments of the people site TMZ announcing that she is in a nursing home, severely affected by her father’s poor health. “We all need to take some ‘time for yourself’ :)”, she writes. The announcement of his stay and his silence alarmed his fans.
The time of rumor
In January, Britney’s Gram, a podcast devoted to the analysis of Spears’ Instagram account, discusses possible “Mega-conspiracies”, without further details. In April, the same source claims to have received a message from a person who worked for the law firm managing the star’s guardianship. This time, the accusations are clear: Britney Spears’ father allegedly had his daughter interned and canceled her concerts in order to reprimand her, because she no longer wanted to take her medication.
The information is not verified, but it worries some fans, who then begin to search the messages of the star for calls for help. The use of the smiley “:)” in its publication on the necessary “Time for oneself” is a sign that this “😊” emoji lover didn’t write this message, some worry. In early summer, a fan asks Britney to wear yellow in a video to let people know if she needs help. At the start of July, the star wears a flashy bolero on Instagram, accompanied by the caption:
“THE COW 😍! !!!! My florist surprised me today by making me a bouquet of all colors 💐💐💐… .. I was so excited that I put on my favorite yellow top and I had to SHOW it to you 🌸🌸 🌸⭐️⭐️⭐️! !!! “
The hashtag #freebritney is relaunched, and with it new requests for signs from Britney. Signs that some fans find in the star’s publications – whether it’s wearing a black or blue outfit or the tracing of the emergency call number in the United States (911) through his eyelashes.
Spears’ denials are not enough to allay concerns. Upon the podcast’s release in April, the star asked her fans to “Do not believe everything [qu’ils lisent] And this [ils entendent] “.
A “Confirmation bias” classic among those who adhere to conspiracy theories, analyzes Marie Peltier, historian and specialist in conspiracy:
“Anything that can confirm the conspiracy belief will be taken as is, as verified information, just like the star’s outfit choices. Anything that goes against that belief – like her statements that she canceled her show on her own and asked to go to a nursing home – is either going to be ignored or will be returned to participate in the narrative: “She wouldn’t. could not say anything else without being sanctioned by his father ”. “
This type of thesis, adds Marie Peltier, “Thrives particularly well in situations where people have little information and need to make sense of what they are witnessing”.
A confused situation
The situation is indeed more vague than the viral publications of some seem to indicate. As recalled by New York Times in 2019, “Details of Spears’ guardianship have not been made public, nor has his mental condition or diagnosis”.
A fan post on Facebook on July 10, shared more than 400,000 times and widely used in other formats elsewhere, suggests that the star is – among other things – not allowed to talk about her guardianship without l ‘agreement from his father. An assertion denied by the documentary Britney: for the Record, released in November 2008 for the promotion of his album Circus. The star expressed very directly her dissatisfaction with the tutelage to which she is subject: “When you go to jail, you know when you’re going to get out. But there, this situation has no end. “
Likewise, if the singer cannot hire a lawyer without the agreement of her guardians, as the viral publications indicate, this does not prevent her from being able to ask the courts to end her guardianship. This is what happened in May 2019 and will culminate in the July 22 hearing.
Commitment
In April, at the height of rumors, Britney Spears thanked her fans on Instagram for their “Love and [leur] incredible dedication ”, while adding: “My situation is unique, but I promise you I’m doing the best I can at this point 🌸🌸🌸 (…). What I need right now is a little privacy. “
For media semiologist Virginie Spies, the intense engagement of fans in the #FreeBritney movement, tempered by the artist in her April publication, is a sign of the times:
“People have taken control of their communication, via social networks. There is no longer any mediation between the fan and his idol, as during the golden age of the tabloids. The fan has the feeling of forging a personal bond with the people, of sharing his daily life. The media, when they do not have access to the “paparazzades”, are now forced to content themselves with reporting what is happening on Instagram. “
We could not have said better.
