The #FreeBritney Movement Gets Its Day In Court And Its Revenge

The #FreeBritney Movement in action

I knew it would be a circus, but I barely expected this well-organized movement with podcasters, lawyers, and influencers: the #FreeBritney movement got its day in court and it got at the same time the recognition it deserved. Today, Britney Spears appeared remotely in court and the #FreeBritney people who had gathered in front of the LA courthouse were both crying and jumping for joy while listening to her testimony. They had gathered downtown LA with signs of all sizes and shapes, although pink was the dominant color by far.

Britney was expected to plead her case to have the conservatorship terminated. Her career and finances have been in the hands of legal guardians since 2008, after a well-publicized mental meltdown, and her father, Jamie Spears, has been controlling over her estate and every single aspect of her life for 13 years. However, in 2019, Jodi Montgomery, a care professional, replaced him on a temporary basis after Jamie got some health problems.

Today was a big day, the pop star spoke for the first time in public, telling the world how bad the conservatorship has been for her. After waiting for the big moment and protesting around the courthouse with a ‘Free Britney, the conservatorship has got to go’ chant, the fans gathered around a mic that was capturing an audio feed directly coming from the courthouse and we heard Britney saying she wanted to end the conservatorship.

This was such a big moment for them for a good reason: since the beginning of the #FreeBritney movement, they have been ridiculed and called conspiracy theorists. How could Britney be miserable when she looks so happy on her Instagram page? How could she be in an abusive situation when she is posting all these dancing videos?

It turns out that Britney is not happy at all: ‘I’m traumatized. I’m not happy, I can’t sleep,’ she said, ‘I am crying every day.’ She said she had been forced to go on tour in 2018 and perform in Las Vegas during her residency (now I feel guilty to have seen this show), and one of the most dramatic moments (but there were several dramatic moments) was when she revealed she was put on lithium against her will. ‘I felt drunk, I couldn’t even have a conversation with my mom or dad about anything. They had me with six different nurses.’ She also revealed that the conservatorship is even controlling her uterus: ‘I want to be able to get married and have a baby. I was told I can’t get married. I have an IUD inside me but this so-called team won’t let me go to the doctor to remove it because they don’t want me to have any more children.’ All the fans’ faces got livid when they heard this, a few were even crying, this felt unbearable that a 40-year-old woman could not control her own body.

She basically pleaded to have her life back, mentioning she had worked all her life (since she was 17) but had no rights. She used the words ‘abusive,’ ‘traumatized, ’oppressed,’ ‘depressed,’ ’bullied and alone’ to describe her situation. Not only she was medicated against her will, but she was also forced into therapy she didn’t want and felt threatened if she didn’t go to the meetings. She also complained about a complete lack of privacy, as nurses, security, and other people were inside her home 24/7 and even were watching her change naked.

She declared being very angry with her family – she would like to sue them and said ‘they should be in jail’– and compared the conservatorship to sex trafficking. She also said she hadn’t talked earlier because she was afraid that people would not take her seriously. ‘I don’t trust people with what I’ve been through,’ she added. Her tone was very confident and determined from what I could hear, and she even addressed the situation of other conservatorships that should basically not exist: ‘there are other conservatorships that are abusive as well. I want to end the conservatorship.’ I overheard an attorney saying that basically what she was saying was routine for a conservatorship, ‘we looked at thousands of cases.’ he said. Apparently, Mickey Rooney and BB King’s finances were handed over to a conservator… and who knows how many people are in the same absurd situation? 1.5 M said a speaker!

Shortly after Britney’s testimony, the court took a recess and then stopped the public audio feed of the proceedings, as the judge was probably angry of all this been immediately all over social media

For the #FreeBritney people, these 20 minutes of testimony were the culmination of all their efforts, it looked like a victory or at least a step toward victory. People around me (most of them have been part of the grassroots movement since day one) looked very proud. Everything Britney said in court proved they were right: they were not conspiracy theorists. Why haven’t the media investigated this human rights violation before? When it concerns one of our most beloved pop stars? Britney Spears truly worked all her life and was treated like a slave with absolutely no basic rights. Funny how this could happen in the US, in California, in plain sight… Funny how nobody was trying to stop this obscenity because Britney was the cash cow for so long.