Where is Britney Spears now and what is she doing in her life?
It's kind of hard to keep track of Britney Spears. Lately, all eyes have been on her Instagram as she shares content that's, well, confusing.
Since the infamous head-shaving incident over 13 years ago, her personal life and career have been up and down like a roller coaster — as detailed in the new documentary Framing Britney on 9Now.
And now the songstress has addressed a court in Los Angeles, saying she "deserve[s] to have a life" and she's "not here to be anyone's slave."
Up until 2017, she was regularly performing and releasing new music despite being under full court-ordered control of her father.
But the last two years has seen #FreeBritney trending online, with celebrities like Paris Hilton even jumping on board to comment.
Britney's son revealed in an Instagram Live video last year that she'd probably never make music again, something the singer also hinted at in June 2021.
So, what's going on? Here's everything that's happened with Britney over the last decade, to get her to where we are now — in the midst of an intense court battle.
2007
In early 2007, Britney was filmed shaving her own head in a Los Angeles hair salon after leaving a drug rehabilitation centre. Later, she voluntarily spent some time in various treatment facilities over a few months.
In the year that followed, she dropped her album Blackout which received positive reviews and sold three million units worldwide. But her performance of 'Gimme More' at the MTV VMAs in September was criticised, with many suggesting the star wasn't as mentally stable as she claimed to be.
2008
In January 2008, Britney was placed under a 5150: an involuntary 72-hour psychiatric evaluation. She was photographed by paparazzi being removed from her LA home on a gurney, but only stayed in hospital for two days.
A couple of weeks later she was placed under another 5150, and while in hospital the courts ruled that she should be placed under a temporary conservatorship held by her father, Jamie Spears.
What's a conservatorship? Basically, a conservator, like Jamie, controls every aspect of her life: business, financial, and personal. If Britney wants money — even just $5 for a coffee — she has to get permission. While her conservator, he has total control over her career choices, her appearance, and even romantic life.
People placed under a conservatorship are not allowed to vote, drive, get married, or be pregnant. Britney also lost custody of her two children, Sean and Jayden, then aged two and one.
Later in 2008, Britney had a highly-publicised comeback in the lead-up to her album Circus, released in December. Doing public performances and winning MTV awards, it felt like the Britney from the early '00s was back.
The conservatorship was set to expire in December, but it was made permanent by a judge.
Jamie was made the permanent conservator of her affairs while attorney Andrew Wallet was named the permanent co-conservator of her estate.
2009
In 2009, Britney toured the world with her Circus tour, while still legally under her father's control. Leaked voicemails with her lawyer revealed allegations that Britney's father was using her visitation rights with her two children as leverage to stop her from fighting the conservatorship in court.
2010 - 2012
In 2010 and 2011, many Britney fans noted that she seemed pretty lethargic on stage. It was widely believed, though never confirmed, that she was made to continue touring and performing despite not wanting to do so.
In 2011, she announced her engagement to Jason Trawick, a member of her management team. Britney was still under her father's guardianship, but during their engagement, Jason became co-conservator of her personal affairs. Jamie Spears still had full control of Britney's career and finances, but Jason could dictate everything in her personal life.
The pair split up by the end of 2012, before they could get married. Jason resigned as co-conservator and Papa Spears was in full control again.
2013
Britney's eighth studio album, Britney Jean, was released in December 2013 and was widely panned by critics. Though she called it some of the most personal music she'd ever released, some fans wondered if it was even her voice on some of the recordings.
2015
By 2015, Britney had an extremely popular residency in Las Vegas, Britney: Piece Of Me. It started in late 2013 and was extended multiple times.
In the middle of 2015, fans noticed that her energy had taken a pretty drastic shift. She suddenly looked excited and invigorated, like she really wanted to be there.
According to fans, she went from performing shows with little-to-no energy, where she just marked out the choreography, to having flawless form and actually smiling and enjoying herself.
At one point, she even wore a bedazzled top that read "YOU DON'T OWN ME" — a move some fans viewed as a nod to her father and the conservatorship.
2016
In 2016, things kept looking up. At that year's Billboard Awards, she won the coveted Millennium Award then took to the stage to perform a medley of her past hits.
Again, she looked happy and healthy and had the stage presence that had been missing from public performances over the last couple of years.
Later in the year, she dropped her ninth album, Glory, which was received much more positively than her last album had been.
2018
By the end of 2017, Britney's Vegas residency had been extended twice. It was originally set to run for two years but, due to rave reviews and numerous awards, ended up running for a full four years with nearly 250 shows.
Soon afterwards, her second residency, Domination, was announced to fans. In the lead-up to opening night in early 2019, Britney was constantly posting updates and videos from rehearsal. Fans commented that she was in relatively good spirits and seemed excited for Domination.
2019
In early 2019, Britney indefinitely postponed the Domination residence, citing her father's bad health.
Saying that the decision "breaks her heart", she wrote, "a couple of months ago, my father was hospitalised and almost died. We're all so grateful that he came out of it alive, but he still has a long road ahead of him. I had to make the difficult decision to put my full focus and energy on my family at this time."
A couple of days after cancelling the residency, Britney was spotted driving in LA. One of the conditions of her conservatorship is that she can't drive, and she hadn't been seen behind a wheel since 2008.
After that, she wasn't seen for three months, either online or in person. In April, it was revealed that she had been at a mental health facility, allegedly placed there against her will by her father.
And this is when the #FreeBritney hashtag was born.
Feel free to take a breather here for a second, because here's where the drama all starts to happen.
Firstly, in March, Britney's father became sole conservator after attorney Andrew Wallet resigned from his co-conservatorship.
In April, a paralegal who worked with Britney when she was contesting her conservatorship reached out to the podcast Britney's Gram. He claimed that Britney had stopped taking her medication while rehearsing for Domination, and her father Jamie demanded she go back on them or he'd cancel the residency. When she refused, he allegedly cancelled it and placed her in a treatment facility.
#FreeBritney began trending, and her own mother, Lynn Spears, was liking comments saying that Britney was being held against her will. Britney took to social media to clear up the allegations in a video where she claimed the rumours were "out of control". She asked for time to deal with things in her own way.
In May, Britney and her family went to court for the annual reassessment of her conservatorship.
As fans loudly protested outside, holding "Free Britney" signs, she allegedly asked the judge to "consider ending it".
The conservatorship stayed in place.
Shortly after, her longtime manager told TMZ that he thought she'd "never perform again".
"Personally, I want for her to just find a peaceful, happy place — whatever that means for her," he said. "It's not about a career anymore — it's about life."
In June, a lawsuit filed in LA alleged that a blogger had falsely claimed the court-ordered conservatorship had manipulated Britney's Instagram to make her 'troubled'.
The opening line of the lawsuit stated, "It is time for the conspiracy theories about Britney Spears' well-being and the mob #FreeBritney movement to stop."
In September, Britney and her ex Kevin Federline, the father of her children, reached a new custody agreement which meant she got 30 per cent (unsupervised) custody of sons Sean and Jaden, then 13 and 12, while Kevin got 70 per cent. The arrangement had been in place since August 2018, according to TMZ, but it was only formalised in September 2019.
Hours after this news was reported, it was revealed that back in August, Federline, filed a restraining order on behalf of his sons against Jamie. He claimed Jamie abused them and the request was granted.
Not long after news of the custody agreement and restraining order, Jamie stepped down temporarily as Britney's conservator, citing ongoing health issues. In his place, until January 31, 2020, Britney's care manager Jodi Montgomery was approved to fill in as conservator. It was decided, temporarily, that Jamie would no longer be conservator of Britney's personal life, though he would maintain financial control over her.
In late 2019 and early 2020, people began noticing that Britney's Instagram was becoming a strange place. She posted a lot of videos of her dancing, walking around her house, and just posing in front of the camera.
Nothing really out of the ordinary, but still not what you'd expect from one of the biggest pop stars in the world. This particularly bizarre Christmas video was posted with the caption "There's no reason to ever go out of your way to make mean comments and bully people."
However, she could just be living her life as a mum and doing her best to have a good time. She's been dating personal trainer Sam Asghari since 2016, and seems genuinely happy with him.
Early 2020
In January, Britney spoke in an Instagram Story about how important freedom is to her.
Around this time, she made another plea before the courts for her conservatorship to be lifted and a full hearing was scheduled for April 2020.
In March, a source revealed to Us Weekly that she refused to make any more music as a protest of her conservatorship. "This is the longest break between album cycles in her career — it's coming up on four years since Glory was released — and she's perfectly content with it," the source said.
In early March, her son Jayden went on a giant rant on Instagram Live, where he called his grandfather Jamie a "d--k" and commented that Britney would probably never make new music again.
When a follower asked him if Britney was under Jamie's control, he replied, "I don't know". But when someone else wrote "help your [mum] break free", he replied, "That's what I'm trying to do."
"I remember one time I asked her, I said, 'What happened to your music?' and she was like, 'I don't know, honey. I think I might just quit it'," he revealed.
On May 3, Us Weekly confirmed that Britney would remain under the conservatorship until the end of August.
According to court documents obtained by the outlet, a judge issued an order allowing the temporary conservator, Jodi Montgomery, to remain in place until August 22, 2020.
The extension was made due to courthouses being closed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The singer had also been hoping to start a family with her boyfriend Sam Asghari last year. Us Weekly cited a source that said Britney told a court official that she had wanted to have a child with her boyfriend and that the singer's father, Jamie Spears, had been against the idea.
"Britney told the probate investigator late last year she wanted to have a baby," the source exclusively told Us Weekly. "Her dad had always been against Britney getting pregnant."
Mid 2020
Considering the US has been in COVID-19 lockdown for months, there's a lot going on in Camp Britney at the moment. In May, her fans started a social media movement to stream and buy her 2016 album, Glory, which subsequently reached number one on the iTunes charts despite it being four years old. "I have no idea what happened, but because of you, I'm having the best day ever," she said in a video message.
As a way to thank fans, her record label released an alternate cover photo for the album. Apparently just before the album dropped in 2016, they changed the cover image. Fans speculated that it was because it depicted her with chains, and there could be links drawn to her conservatorship. The Glory artwork that was released in 2016 is a low-quality screenshot from a video, so fans are pretty happy with the new one.
Shortly after that, Britney then released a track called 'Mood Ring' onto all streaming platforms. It was previously a bonus Glory track, only available on the Japanese CD release. Fans really have no idea why she did it, but they're into it.
During isolation, Britney really leaned into Instagram and TikTok, filming a bunch of videos in her home. They're certainly quirky, and a lot of people have no clue what she's doing.
Because TikTok is flooded with Gen Z-ers who don't really know Britney's full history, she's been somewhat ridiculed in the comment section. It's also re-sparked the conversation about the state of her mental health right now.
In July, Britney responded to people who were making fun of her dancing — including Timbaland, a musician who she's worked with in the past.
"I never said I was the best dancer," she wrote on Instagram. "I dance simply because it fills my heart with joy and expression 💕!"
Britney also started adding the dates she filmed her videos to the captions, because she believes the paparazzi are editing photos of her to make it look like she's gained weight in quarantine.
From a legal standpoint, there has been little progress in Britney's conservatorship case. In July, her mother Lynne Spears requested that she have some involvement in her daughter's finances. She insisted that Britney's financial matters should be controlled by a third-party financial institution.
Meanwhile, in early July, a fan started a Change.org petition called "Britney Spears: right to her own lawyer".
That same month, Britney's brother, Bryan Spears, revealed that his sister is "frustrated" over her conservatorship and wants out.
"She's always wanted to get out of it," Bryan said in a podcast interview. "It's very frustrating to have. Whether someone's coming in peace to help or coming in with an attitude, having someone constantly tell you to do something has got to be frustrating.
"She's been in this thing for quite some time now. Obviously there was a need for it at the beginning that I assume everyone knows the issues that were going on, and now they've made some changes and all we can kinda do is hope for the best."
In a rare interview, Britney's father, Jamie, revealed that he was growing tired of the #FreeBritney movement.
Speaking to Page Six, Jamie called the attempt to see the end of her 12-year long legal conservatorship "a joke", saying protesters know nothing about what goes on behind closed doors.
"All these conspiracy theorists don't know anything. The world don't have a clue," he told the outlet. "It's up to the court of California to decide what's best for my daughter. It's no one else's business."
Britney's sister Jamie Lynn shared similar sentiments to her father. Lance Bass revealed that she told him she has no worries about Britney and her mental health. "The one thing that I do know is, I know Jamie Lynn… If Jamie is OK with everything going on, I feel like she really has her sister's back during all this," Bass expressed. "So I trust her to give us the real information."
It was revealed in August that Jamie Lynn has been the trustee of the singer's fortune since 2018.
On August 19, Britney told a court she wanted to remove her father as her sole conservator, but is OK with the conservatorship remaining in place.
"Britney is strongly opposed to her father continuing as the sole conservator of her estate," the court document stated. "She strongly prefers to have a qualified corporate fiduciary appointed to serve in this role."
Despite this, Jamie has asked to reinstate himself as conservator along with attorney Andrew Wallet, who was once his co-conservator before resigning last year.
In the petition, Jamie asked to be given the "power to obtain all documents and records" relating to his daughter's estate, such as credit cards, bank statements and estate documents. In his filing, it was also revealed that Britney had US$2.7 million in cash assets (approx. $3.7 million) and approximately US$57.4 million (approx. $80 million) in non-cash assets as of December 31, 2019.
There has been a lot of back-and-forth in the last few months, not helped by the viral social media campaign #FreeBritney which has spread a lot of misinformation.
Britney's plea to have her father removed as sole conservator drew the attention of The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who reached out to help her.
"People with disabilities have a right to lead self-directed lives and retain their civil rights," the ACLU said in a tweet as they shared a link to the article regarding the case. "If Britney Spears wants to regain her civil liberties and get out of her conservatorship, we are here to help her."
At a court hearing in October, Britney's lawyer compared her mental state to that of a comatose patient.
He told the judge that Britney no longer wants to perform, despite her father insisting that she revives her career. The judge wanted to hear this from Spears herself, which is when the lawyer claimed her mental state was not one where she should be making legal declarations
On August 22, it was decided that Britney's conservatorship will be extended until at least February 2021, and on November 10 a judge denied Britney's request to remove Jamie from her conservatorship
February 2021
On February 5, a documentary produced by The New York Times about the #FreeBritney movement was released. While attempts to contact Spears for an interview were unsuccessful, her former assistant and members of the media were interviewed for the doco titled Framing Britney Spears. The singer's parents, her siblings and her ex-husband Kevin Federline all declined to participate.
During the latest conservatorship hearing on February 11, a judge ordered Jamie to remain as co-conservator of his daughter's estate along with Bessemer Trust Company, despite his formal request to be reinstated as sole conservator.
Addressing the court, Judge Brenda Penny said the purpose of the order was to give both Jamie and Bessemer "an equal division of responsibility, in the hopes that they would sit down and figure out together the best way to handle this complex estate for the benefit of my client".
Britney had requested to entirely remove her father as conservator back in November — she wanted the Bessemer Trust Company to solely be in charge of her estate — but Judge Penny also denied that request.
It's impossible to know exactly what's going on in Britney's life. From the outside, there's no denying it looks messy — though she'll always be the iconic '00s pop princess in our hearts.
April 2021
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny announced Britney is set to personally address a court, in regards to dealing with her controversial conservatorship.
The address is scheduled to let the singer give the "status of the conservatorship", and will be the first time she's spoken publically about her battle to remove her father as her conservator.
Britney's lawyer, Samuel Ingham, said, "My client requested a hearing at which she can address the court directly," but was unsure what specifically she wanted to say.
The hearing is scheduled for June 23 and it's believed Britney will attend virtually.
June 2021
On June 17, a few days before her scheduled hearing, Britney answered some fan questions, addressing rumours she will never perform again.
"OK, so I hear that you guys have been writing in and I'm here to answer all of your questions," Britney said in an Instagram video. ... "The question is, Am I ready to take the stage again? Am I going to take the stage again? Will I ever take the stage again?"
"I have no idea," she answered. "I'm having fun right now, I'm in a transition in my life and I'm enjoying myself so, that's it."
June 23 2021
On June 23, Britney appeared virtually before the court and pleaded for her "oppressive and controlling" conservatorship to be removed.
At the Los Angeles hearing, the pop star called the conservatorship "abusive," and condemned her father and the others who have controlled it.
"This conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good," she said. "I deserve to have a life."
Britney said she wants to marry her boyfriend Sam Asghari and have a baby with him, but under her current conservatorship, she is not allowed to.
She also revealed, amongst other disturbing claims — including likening her conservatorship conditions to being a "slave" — that she is being forced to take birth control against her will.
