This week’s OK! Magazine has the news that Britney Spears’ turned down a live radio interview with Carson Daly and refused to do anything unless it was pre-recorded and pre-approved. This seems to be supported by her print “interviews” to date and her recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, where she did two pretaped segments and no interview. She also made a quick appearance on the Kids’ Choice Awards where she got grossed out by Jack Black’s Kung Fu Panda character eating some noodles, but that was obviously also pretaped as I didn’t even see her in the audience or on the red carpet.
As we’ve seen from her stints on How I Met Your Mother and Will & Grace, Britney is a passable actress but we also know she has a hard time with live interviews. (Remember when she chomped gum, cried and got defensive with Matt Lauer in 2006?) Judging from her print interviews it’s doubtful that they’re conducted in person or that she even partially writes the answers herself. Kaiser covered her US Weekly “25 Things You Don’t Know About” article and noted that it was like someone was trying to sound like Britney but was just slightly off.
Her people are working hard to make us forget the past few years, and to present Britney as this devoted mom in a steady relationship. She’s on the cover of US Weekly (with a lovely photo, she’s so pretty when she’s styled) and an accompanying “interview.” It’s all so predictable and packaged. It also includes some adorable pictures of Britney with her boyfriend, Jason Trawick, and her boys. Here’s some of what Britney “said” and given her past interviews it’s clear she’s not actually saying this. They don’t even use the pretense of describing where they met her or what she’s wearing so I’m guessing this interview was conducted via e-mail, like some of her other recent interviews.
Congratulations on Femme Fatale! How did making this record compare to making your first, Baby One More Time?
I’m at such a different point in my life now than I was back then. I’m more mature and much more hands-on now. I know exactly what I like and what I don’t like. I guess that can make the recording process difficult, because I’m very particularl about songs I put my voice on.You’re a parent now too. How has motherhood changed you?
It really puts life into perspective. You have to think about all your decisions so much more carefully, because they are affecting your kids too. My priorities have changed, and I do everything for [the boys]. They remind me what life is all about.Tell us about Preston and Jayden
Jayden is the youngest, and he might be the mama’s boy. He’s very outgoing, always making us laugh, and he’s very creative. Preston is definitely the big brother. He’s very independent. He’s really, really smart and thinks everything through.What are they into these days?
Their new favorite thing is dressing up as different superheroes, and they’re just so cute! They especially love Batman and Spiderman. We love watching Disney movies together. I also love reading them Fancy Nancy books [a children’s series by Jane O’Connor and Robin Priess Glasser] before bed…What’s your parenting style? And what about Jason’s?
With some things I’m strict, and with other things I’m easygoing. I guess I’m right in the middle. Jason is just amazing with the boys. They look up to him so much – they adore him. He’s their hero.What else do you love about Jason?
We have such a great time together! He makes me laugh, and we are so comfortable being ourselves. We like to stay home, order in, watch movies, go to dinner with friends. And we love getting away for the weekend. Some of our favorite spots are Las Vegas, Hawaii or Mexico.Do you see yourself getting married again?
Maybe. Never say never!
[From US Weekly, print edition, April 18, 2011]
Does that even sound like Britney? You would think they would make more of an effort to make it sound casual. I get that she needs to be rolled out as “Britney 2.0: sane and better than ever,” and she seems to have made a big improvement, but I don’t think these staged articles are fooling anyone. She’s still lip syncing and kind of strutting around the stage and she just doesn’t seem into it. We’ve seen her struggle with fame, the paparazzi and with bathing before she leaves the house. I really want Britney to be happy and content in her life. I just get the feeling that she’d rather be doing something else instead of touring and putting out another album. It’s all she knows though, and she has a lot of people on the payroll depending on her.
Here’s are photos of Britney performing on Jimmy Kimmel on 3/29/11. Credit: WENN.com
This is smart of her. Control the uncontrollable environment a little, maybe keep your sanity. I think between her blown out knee and some of the meds she takes, it keeps her from moving like she used to.
Really sad that her people won’t just sit on the money she already has and wait until she is capable of a live interview or performance and isn’t medicated until next Tuesday.
Yeah, I think she definitely doesn’t care that much anymore, but on the other hand, she needs to be kept busy and, as you said, that’s all she knows. I think if she just stayed at home it wouldn’t help her problems.
And, within the few years K-Fed and his babies would eat up her fortune!
At least she’s trying. She seems to be warming up – this video is better than a previous one, and she also seems a little more comfortable even in those appearances.
There’s something so off about her eyes. It’s like they are more turned down than they used to be. She looks radically different to me but I can never pinpoint why.
I ALWAYS think this!!!!! I guess shes just aged. Never the same. No spark or fire
She really seems tired, and I can’t blame her.
ITA that this interview looks to have been written by her posse of Britney wranglers. And I confess, I didn’t know you could lip-synch/auto-tune an interview … but Britney has done just that.
Interesting, too: “I know exactly what I like and what I don’t like. I guess that can make the recording process difficult, because I’m very particular about songs I put my voice on.”
Why not “sing” instead of “put my voice on”? Hmmm …
She’s right! She must protect herself and her family. Why not?
Definitely not written by Brit Brit “y’aaalllll”. You can tell from the language and structure of the answers that are being quoted.
Brit has become nothing more than PR personified in everything she does, even her performances and appearances…it’s puppet-esque.
I feel kind of bad for her- she’s never had a chance to figure out what she might have wanted besides a music career. I always thought her marrying K-Fed was sort of a cry for help, and turning out two kids in rapid succession was partly in hopes that someone would treat her like an adult and let her have some control over her life. But neither worked, and she cracked, and lost control of herself altogether. And now she’s being marched through all these albums and tours when what she really needed was more than six months off. She’s still under her father’s conservatorship, medicated halfway to the moon, and we’re supposed to think she’s OK? We keep buying the albums, though- I don’t grudge her the money, but I feel like she’s a human being who’s being treated like an ATM by everyone around her.
poor girl needs a break. It does not matter how famous she is, she must be so over all of it and needs some time to herself and with her boys.
When will we stop glamorizing the fakes (lip-synch, fake interviews, fake appearances). Move on and give those with real talent a chance.
Enough with the Lindsay’s and Britneys. Everything must come to an end eventually. Let’s give attention to REAL talent and not these messes.
Is that Kirstie Allie in that last pick?
ya it definitely sounds like its at least been edited. but in my opinion this media stuff (like u said cb abt her interviews) could be the type of thing that sets her off. i don’t blame her for trying to control her situation a bit if it helps her keep her sanity, fragile as it is. i hope she is happy and content too, and i agree that this is all she knows. but what can i say i’ve been a fan since age 12, i’ll always love brit!! i love her new album. the last video was a bit corny but still better than HIAM. she seems like shes slowly gaining confidence which is good so who knows it seems like while shes tired, like malina said, it probably wouldnt help her problems if she stopped, sometimes people need to stay busy in order to heal. gooo britney 🙂
Well, she has made a couple of radio interview and it was her… She sounded relax and calm…
So if she does radio interviews, I don’t see why she wouldn’d make a small interview of US Weekly. So I do think it’s her (even if I’m sure the questions and answers were reviewed by her team).
I guess she is just confortable enough to make a TV interview yet… She must be afraid that people are going to ask her some questions about her past..
Myabe with radio and magazin she is more confortable because it’s more controlled…
I guess she is taking it one step at a time, which is a good thing…
RhymesWithSilver@ you thought her marrying K-Fed was sort of a cry for help and not when in 2004 she marriage some guy in Las Vegas that lasted 55-hour.
I think that cover picture is old. It is lovely though and she has been looking pretty lately. I understand wanting to control her image but it seems like she must still be off or fragile or something for them to need to control to this extent. It’s not like US Weekly is hard-hitting journalism.
Agree completely Magye she and everything about her are utterly fake and useless. Can you imagine back in the day a Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, etc. needing handlers to script what they say. Much of the public has become inured to this talentless fakery; although there is a large segment that rejects it that’s why most of these fakes must endlessly promote themselves left to their own devices they would soon disappear. Funny that in our media saturated world we know more about these celebutards than ever, and most have the substance of a wet noodle and the intellect of a moldy box of cheese.
I am sure the fatigue comes from everyone speculating about her mental state and if interviews she gives are her words or her PR’s.
Unlike MOST celebs, her mental meltdown was public. I guarantee she is not the only celeb with emotional/mental issues, the difference is she wasn’t able to hide hers in time like everyone else.
@ di butler
Keeping a tight leash on your star product is how Tom Cruise came across as sane all those years! Maybe it is the same here. I hope she’s alright and its just a matter of packaging – i.e. her image.
jover: interesting that you mention the three J’s. They all basically killed themselves before they even got to be Britney’s age.
Don’t get me wrong-Jim Morrison is one of my all time favorite people EVER, I have been a Doors fan since age 11, and ITA that music these days bites. Your comment just made me think perhaps if they had handlers they would still be with us.
Most of it sounds like Britney, especially all the kid and Jason stuff. The beginning questions, it looks like she got help with. Maybe she answered and they kind of refined it and changed how it was worded.
Britney isn’t some comotose person. She’s out and about all the time. She and Jason were at Madonna’s Oscar party. I think they are very fearful of questions being asked about her breakdown and her conservatorship and mental illness. Look at Chris Brown being questioned. So they keep a lid on it. I don’t blame them. Is it overkill? Definitely. But I’m sure they do it because this is what Britney wants. Britney is very strongwilled, so believe me, she’s not being led around by her management. She has a temper. I’m sure they would like more promo, but this is it.
I think the picture of Britney in the box says it all. Poor girl.
The fact that the Britney machine keeps cranking out awful music and sub par performances is just sad.
Reminds me of a show I watched on HBO that chronicled the lives of past-their-prime strippers in Vegas. Such a joke.
At least Brit Brit has the money to retire and live a comfortable life.
Written by her people for $500 Alex.
its amazing to watch that matt lauer interview, then watch her “interview” in the MTV special. http://ow.ly/4rj1R She seems drugged in the MTV one. No life or animation at all. All of her answers are very rote.
The other really interesting thing about the MTV special, is how well she dances in the rehearsals vs the live show. The live show she is either drugged…or she can’t handle those high heels.
I bet she chooses not to do live interviews. She’s Britney, bitch, and doesn’t have to do interviews if she doesn’t want to. I wouldn’t if I were her, everything she does is critiqued and criticized to the nth degree.
She always looks so sad. I wish her the best. I don’t think that the status quo is quite working for her. And I really really have a hard time believing that she reads her kids bedtime stories. Isn’t Fancy Nancy sort of a trend right now? Someone did their research.
I’m sure unscripted Britney sounds like Bill the Cat so this was definitely written by her people. I don’t like the part about her saying that her bf is her’s sons’ hero. Especially when they live with their father.
Quitoxic, working is good for people, instead of sitting at home day after day. She has had two years off, save going in and recording vocals when she started worked on an album. She seems in a happy, healthy relationship and has back half custody of her children. She said in a radio interview recently she loves recording new music. She has her life back but will always have to be on meds if she’s bipolar. It doesn’t mean she can’t be a productive member of society. Does everybody on here think bipolar people should just sit home? She’s obviously healthier. The conservatorship has all but ended, save still some overseeing of her financial affairs.
Working is good for people.
Quote — “I really want Britney to be happy and content in her life. I just get the feeling that she’d rather be doing something else instead of touring and putting out another album. It’s all she knows though, and she has a lot of people on the payroll depending on her.”
I agree. I don’t think this ‘comeback’ was something she came up with. I can’t imagine what kind of pressure it would be after everything she’s been through personally… & like you point out, she has a lot of people on payroll that do depend on her, or they don’t have a job. I know I’d feel guilty not doing anything….
It’s pretty obvious to me that Brit wants to be a mom. She wants to take care of her boys & go to sports games, ect. I can’t imagine a more important worthwhile job than that. I wish she wasn’t pushed into this.
But I don’t blame her for not doing the interviews (directly or period), if that’s something she has a lot of trouble with. Some probably find it annoying & disingenuous, but her sanity is more important.
@Sluggo – “Why not “sing” instead of “put my voice on”? Hmmm …”
I figured it was like saying “I have to approve of everything I put my name on.” Which means she’s not going to be part of something she doesn’t like, & won’t risk her reputation on something she doesn’t.
anon33 perhaps in some cosmic sort of way its better that the three J’s aren’t with us; I simply can’t imagine Jimi as a 60something in today’s pop culture/music scene – he would be turned into a caricature of his early greatness – look at it this way, as pathetic as Brittney spears is now – what will she be like at 40 or 45? still singing teeny bopper songs!
Nothing about the syntax or word choice is Britney Spears, here. No way.
Also, this is a lot of words to say basically nothing. Blah.
Anyone else think it was tacky of them to ask about her boyfriend’s “parenting style?” Considering that he is not even a step parent? The kids DO have an involved father here. If the genders were reversed, I could see a lot of people flipping out over the impropriey of the question. At best, it’s odd.
@elizabeth-yes, when they let Tom loose on the world, he let the crazy bulb shine. I doubt Brit is any crazier than half of the people in the biz, so controlling her image now seems like a good plan. Supposedly, she has been having tutors in money management coming to her house to teach her how to deal with all of the cash, so I think she may be doing rather well.
@Zelda – “Anyone else think it was tacky of them to ask about her boyfriend’s “parenting style?” Considering that he is not even a step parent? The kids DO have an involved father here. If the genders were reversed, I could see a lot of people flipping out over the impropriey of the question. At best, it’s odd.”
I agree, it wasn’t a good question to ask. They do have a father who wants to be part of their lives (even given his many flaws), so at this point, their mother’s boyfriend should not be doing anything even approaching ‘parenting’. You’re right that if the genders were reversed *coughLEANNcough*, everything would be all up in arms over it.
I also wasn’t sure what to think about this: “Jason is just amazing with the boys. They look up to him so much – they adore him. He’s their hero.” – Again…. should she have really said that Jason was their hero, as opposed to their actual dad? I don’t necessarily think she meant anything by it, but it was a bit careless.
Man, I watched that Hit Me One More Time song and I got admit, I was a bit choked. Chick could DANCE! I sorta forgot. Poor thing.
I just read an article yesterday done be a British reporter, ya all should do a post on it or look it up. The article confirmed all suspicions that Britney does not do anything herself, everything is conducted by a handler and is very edited. Any appearance that is scheduled and is deemed too much of a relaxed environment (Ellen D’s show)will not be done according to this reporter, because Britney is too unstable to hold a 30 second conversation.
I guess she is even more mentally unstable than she was during her big fallout, but she is in such a controlled environment and back then she wasn’t, that everyone around her is able to regulate her every move.
I think you’re right celebitchy, Britney does not want to perform anymore, but the people on her payroll could care less. She is not living for herself anymore, only at the expense of the greedy people in her life.
here’s the link to that article, it’s from the sun:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3502996/Zombie-Britney-Spears-is-still-on-brink-say-pals.html
I agree with your assessment CB, and it’s so sad. I wish people would just let her retire and hang out with her boys. With all the money she’s made over the years, you would think she could afford that. It’s really unfortunate that so many people in her life seem to see her as a cash cow instead of a person.
I know this is probably the last thing she should be doing, but does anyone else kind of wish she’d write a tell all book about her life some day? I would be interested to her side of her story. Her unedited, unhandled, and unpolished side of her story. I imagine it would be quite the book! It’s too bad she doesn’t seem coherent enough to really tell her side of the story.
@jover I find it just a teeny bit disturbing that you would rather see your favorite musicians dead than to see them get help and become “caricatures” of themselves. I like music by actual musicians too. But, I feel you took things a little too far there.
I wish she would retire, I really do. I can’t stand hearing her baby-stripper voice on the radio. People talk about her talent, but I have never heard any of it, ever. As for dancing… I guess she could, but if having choreography shoved down my throat were my fulltime job, I bet I could dance like her too. It’s not ballet, for Christ’s sake.
I am so, so sick of goddamn Britney Spears.
I look past the makeup / mask and just see the sad and sometimes empty eyes. Britney only ever really smiles, beams and seems genuinely happy when she’s with her boys. She may have a lot of support, but most of these people in her life are also on her payroll.
@Hotpockets, your link to the Sun article doesn’t really make sense. The article called her a zombie being lead around. LOL I see photos all the time of Britney out and about in California, with and without her children. She’s walking all by her little self in airports, not being “led around.” She and her boyfriend went to Madonna’s Oscar party. She’s goes on vacations with and without her children and photographs show her looking pretty normal to me. Do I think having to be on meds affects her? yes. From what I’ve read many bipolar people hate them because though they regulate their moods and keep them from the lows, they keep them from their manic highs, also, which they miss, and, especially, creative people miss. And many feel like their emotions are under water.
But she’s, clearly, not being led around like a zombie. It’s the Sun, which is sued all the time for fake stories. I do think she will never be like she was. I feel for her. Bipolar is a lifelong illness, but, managed, people work in all walks of life. There’s an actor on a soap opera, and he talked about the hell he went through with it and realized he has to stay on his meds to control it. I listened to Britney on a U.K. radio show a week or so ago, and she was very engaging.
@HotPockets – Isn’t that what happened to Michael Jackson? Handlers controlling him within an inch of his life until they took that last inch too. Not that I feel sorry for Britney. Dumb, uneducated trash does not inspire my sympathies, especially when there are true talents out there who deserve a chance.
I’m surprised how many people seem to blame Britney for the fact that other talented artists aren’t signed. She (nor her career) has any affect over that whatsoever.
She’s not hurting anyone, so there’s no justification for people being so nasty towards her.
@ Hakura — part of the nastiness revolves around the fact that she and so many others without real vocal talent or creative input into their songs (writing, playing instruments), essentially solidified the belief that not having actual chops to establish a career and blow up worldwide doesn’t matter; all one needs is a cute face, a couple dance steps, and a few studio folks to work magic on their vocals to downplay the fact that they never really belonged in the studio in the first place. Why is it that people like Kesha, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Ashanti, etc. have all been criticized roundly for not having any vocal talent, yet they’ve all had wide success as “singers”? What happened to being able to establish yourself as a bona fide artist based on real, musical merit? These days it’s okay to slap on a pair of booty shorts, throw cleavage everywhere, and strut around a stage lip-syncing, and you’re considered a “singer”.
Britney may have once had the dance moves (no comment about where she stands now), but be honest, has anyone ever listened to one of her records and thought, “Wow, this girl can SING!”? No! It’s such an affront to the music industry. Yes, I agree with you that her being signed to a record label isn’t to blame for other, talented artists still struggling to be heard, but it’s a real slap in the face to those who are genuine about their art, who can actually stand in front of a microphone and bring the house down without being autotuned into vocal oblivion. She is NOT talented (vocally or lyrically), yet she’s one of the biggest stars in the world all because people don’t demand more from artists. No record exec who ever heard her “sing” a capella ever thought she would make the label millions because people would be blown away by her talent — all she had to offer was the willingness to play up the underage sex-kitten role, and there ya go.
How about baseball players who can’t hit the ball? Quarterbacks who can’t pitch a football more than 10 yards? Basketball players who can’t dribble? Authors who are barely literate? Would anyone give any of these people a pass or say they only need to be able to fake it with a very marginal level of talent? No way! So why should anything that Britney ever done be considered actual music? She is NOT a true artist, she has NO talent, and I’m totally with everyone else who says they wish she’d just go away.
That’s our justification for being so nasty toward her. She’s such a joke.
@Hakura #35
I didn’t even quite notice that comment (I think I started ignoring her lame answers by that point in the interview) Because yeah, that is a really inappropriate answer. Especially considering that their father took care of those boys after she had them taken out of her custody for unfit parenting. And now she has the nerve to talk about how her new boyfriend is their “hero”?
Tacky.
I think she’s a really sweet girl and it seems clear that she doesn’t want to be doing what she’s doing – she’d rather be off living in a cute house with her kids and her high school sweetheart (I don’t think she’s ever got over Justin).
Slight aside – I quite enjoy Britney’s stage gear, it’s always quite fun glitzy. But can’t they even find someone who can make a glitzy leotard with a built-in bra?! It’s a stage custume, ffs! It’s so tacky to see the top of her bra and have those two straps showing!
#45 (glowkey): It’s not the fault of Britney and her ilk that they have become “stars” (deserving or not). It’s the fault of the people who buy the act and the premise hook, line, and sinker and toss their money into the coffers of these manufactured pop princes and princesses. Feed the machine and the machine continues to spit out product.
This is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for news attention. It doesn’t “sound” like Britney? It’s not casual enough? So whoever Kaiser is that thinks that it was like someone was trying to sound like Britney but was just slightly off that is all your have? LOL. I’m so sick of everyone having an opinion about Britney and thinking everyone else is interested to hear it.
I’ve watched interviews before the famous meltdown in which Britney still could not hold simple conversations or function. It is clear that she is on medication, but I think it goes deeper than that. She has all these people manipulating her, upon being overly medicated.
As a society we see too many celebrities who have mental breakdowns, overdoses, drug problems, and even normal people suffer from all of this, but there is just something very tragic going on with Britney. I always think about these other famous women, Marilyn Monroe, Anna Nicole Smith, Judy Garland and how the industry and the people around them destroyed and exploited their lives, I see Britney’s life as a patten of theirs.
@glowkey,
Thank you! Very well said and true, I certainly feel that way and know many others who feel that way too.
@Hakura,
Are you on the Britney payroll????
Do you really need to comment on everyone who does not like Britney? I see you have a need to stand up against any commenter who does not like her and try and I do mean try to make excuses for her so that everyone else will buy into that crap.
She is a fake and always has been! Get over it.
We have a right to state our opinion any way we want to no matter what you think or feel is just or unjust.
@Truth – I’m not going to dignify anymore of your comments with a response. And if you don’t like it? You can just bite me. Grow up.
@GlowKey – I agree with Liana that Britney herself is being held responsible for the state of the music industry today, which isn’t really fair. There have been plenty of singers over the years who did mindless bubblegum pop music, but many still look back on it fondly, & actually enjoyed the songs.
Everyone’s opinions on what they like to listen to, or what they find to be ‘entertainment’, is different. There’s nothing wrong with liking her, or not liking her. I just think she gets the brunt of people’s annoyance at the music industry, when the industry itself has been most focused on image & profit for quite some time. Long before Britney, anyway.
I happen to love all kinds of music. Something doesn’t become ‘not music‘ simply because you don’t enjoy it. Do they overdo it? Of course. Do I think Britney really wants this ‘comeback’? No, I really don’t. I just can’t understand why the nastiness is directed toward her as a person, as opposed to just her career.
We’ll never agree in this, but that’s life. It won’t do any good to go back & forth when we all already know where we stand.
@Hakura,
Umm, you just did sweety, KISSES!
It not only doesn’t sound like Britney, it doesn’t sound like ~anyone.~ They could at least TRY to make her seem human.
I agree with Celebitchy — she wants to move on with her life, become something other than a teen dream queen, and she can’t. Her new music has none of the spark that her stuff from even a few years ago had. She’s going through motions. On the bright side, kids and recovery have given her a nice, zaftig but smooth physique. So hopefully she can at least influence young girls THAT way, if no longer doing them any favors by actually inspiring them with her “art.”
poor little puppet girl…
Just wait till Omnicorp builds Robocop. Crime will really plummet.