The #FreeBritney thing was started last week, when Britney Spears’ biggest fans heard a conspiracy that Britney was being held against her will at a mental health facility after her dad and her doctors basically forced her onto some kind of medication. Yesterday, TMZ came out with a report about what’s really going on, and it sounded like something straight from Jamie Spears, who is still Britney’s conservator. The basic gist is that Britney’s medication regimen got screwed up – and Britney maybe went off her meds – and that her doctors are still trying to find the balance. That didn’t stop Britney’s supporters from picketing outside of her mental health facility this week, chanting “Free Britney!”
Well, Britney heard about all of this. And she decided to speak directly to her fans. She posted this video to Instagram (above). She posted this written message with the video:
I wanted to say hi, because things that are being said have just gotten out of control!!! Wow!!! There’s rumors, death threats to my family and my team, and just so many things crazy things being said. I am trying to take a moment for myself, but everything that’s happening is just making it harder for me.
Don’t believe everything you read and hear. These fake emails everywhere were crafted by Sam Lutfi years ago… I did not write them. He was pretending to be me and communicating with my team with a fake email address. My situation is unique, but I promise I’m doing what’s best at this moment 🌸🌸🌸 You may not know this about me, but I am strong, and stand up for what I want! Your love and dedication is amazing, but what I need right now is a little bit of privacy to deal with all the hard things that life is throwing my way. If you could do that, I would be forever grateful. Love you
I’m going back and forth on all of this – on one side, I think there are so many decisions which are made FOR Britney, not WITH Britney and that sucks. On the other side, we truly don’t know what’s going on with her and what her doctors are doing and saying, and we can only hope that everyone in her life has her best interests at heart, and beyond that, it’s none of our business. I’m choosing to believe Britney – that people need to chill, basically.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Instagram.
I’d believe it more if in the video she didn’t look like she was on hour 27 of a bender.
This.
What is wrong with either of you? Why would anyone say such a thing about someone dealing with a mental health crisis? And why would anyone else agree with that comment? That’s disgusting. I imagine you both think you’d look incredibly hot while undergoing a medication adjustment at a mental health facility…
Mental illness is tough. She’s probably suffering from side effects to the new cocktail, don’t judge until you’ve been in her shoes.
This is gross.
jeez, cut the woman a break, will you?
she got (what seems like) a pretty severe mental illness that she’s trying to address, her father is very sick, and she’s doing the best she can.
I hope you never have to deal with what she is dealing with right now but, if you do, I sure hope people are more sympathetic to your appearance than you’re being to Spears.
and other than the heavy, slightly-smeared eye make up, she doesn’t really look that bad.
Mental illness can be really rough not only on your mind but also on your body.
I don’t know if the TMZ story about her medication losing efficiency is true (and I don’t need to know because it’s none of my business), but it rings true to me. I went through a similar process, trying to find the right meds for myself, weaning off and starting another, rinse and repeat.
The process was very long and painful and honestly, those years made me look at least 10 years older than I am. I probably look like I’m on hour 27 of a bender on a daily basis but I don’t really care. At least I’m alive and slowly getting better. That’s something you can’t take for granted when you’re mentally ill.
What a disgusting comment. I’m sure you’re one of those who thinks people with a mental illness should just “get over it”, yes?
I actually put more faith in what she said because of how she looked.
It just seemed plain honest…
Meds can get screwed up easily. Your body adjusts… hormones… foods… a random new med you think wouldn’t have any effect.
She posted a workout video a while ago (as she often does) kidding about her stress making her lose 5lbs.
Unless someone posted for her, seemed like a rational on-the-mend video and post to me.
I am not a Brittany fan, per se, but mental illness is so dismissed. I’m on her side
I hope she is getting all the help and support she needs – she looks really stressed and anxious in that video. She also needs to tell her mother to stop fanning these flames by liking the conspiracy comments on her instagram.
And yeah we and the media need to leave her alone to get healthy.
Exactly – where’s the leave Britney alone dude?
Everyone made fun of that guy, but damn if he wasn’t right.
Leave her alone. She deserves privacy, especially when dealing with medical issues. I feel terrible for her that in the midst of dealing with a lot of stuff, she had to also come out and update the public.
Noooo. The “Leave Britney Alone” guy was terrible. Using her plight to get attention for himself. After his video blew up, he’d wear skirts without underwear and flash the paparazzi. He was kind of mocking her situation and it was super creepy and gross.
i think he tried a singing career but he does porn now
Her mother is a pill hard to swallow, isn’t she?!
I completely believe that she was checked in due to personal matters and medication being off. She couldn’t handle the show while her dad was sick. And while dealing with the scare of her dad’s health she was off of her medical and physical routine. One of those things can cause plenty of instability, she had both. She was checked in to get care and oversight to get her back on track. I can’t imagine going through that and having people outside protesting that you need to be “freed”
I agree with you. Unfortunately it happens a lot with meds. People’s brain chemistry change and if you’re like me and you have to take medications they loose effectiveness so the dosage has to change. Her condition is so severe it takes some time to get the right “cocktail” down. She’s so fortunate that she has the finances to get into a facility and get this care that she needs. Most people with her condition just end up on the streets.
“we truly don’t know what’s going on with her and what her doctors are doing and saying, and we can only hope that everyone in her life has her best interests at heart, and beyond that, it’s none of our business.” This!!!!!!.
Hopefully Britney will be ok.
IDK, the bits from TMZ about her meds losing efficacy and having to go through the process of weaning her off them before trying a new cocktail rings (possibly) true to me. I had that discussion with my shrink 10 days ago. IF that’s the case, and I had the money for it, I’d check into a center too.
Same here. My psychiatrist and I think one of my meds (for bipolar disorder) is losing efficacy and I want to wean off it and try something else. But the withdrawal symptoms are so awful it will take months of titrating down before I can try something else.
Oh wow… I didn’t realize changing meds up was *that* complicated. Thanks for sharing.
Her “fans” are not helping at all with the #freeritney thing, she owes us no explanation, it’s her private life.
I can’t with people now talking to Sam Lufti and taking his word, a man who abused her.
Exactly this. Don’t call yourself a fan and trot out Lufti shit. That guy is a serial abuser. How awful.
I wish people would leave Britany alone.
Clearly she has been up well for YEARS.
Death Threats to her family?What is that about?Who threatens Britney Spears??
as you said, the threats are to her FAMILY, not britney herself. fans think her family (her dad specifically) is holding her against her will. which… she’s under a conservatorship, they can do that, that’s what it means.
It’s a sad statement about fanatical celebrity culture that you she actually had to take time for her wellness regimen to address this issue. Like she needs the stress.
So true. Fandom at its most toxic.
My co-worker said people picketing in West Hollywood had her name spelled wrong on their posters (“Brittany”). If they are a big enough “fans” to protest, you’d think they’d at least know her name! But that’s just it, I don’t think the people being dramatic actually care about her wellbeing.
My dad has severe mental illness and when his meds need to be adjusted, he sometimes needs to undergo inpatient treatment so he (and others) will be safe while everything stabilizes. It happens. Even after being stable for several years, sometimes medication needs to be changed up because it stops working. He’s been in mental hospitals at least a dozen times in my lifetime. Thankfully if someone has resources and support, there are fewer barriers to get them into treatment.
Rooting for you Britney!!!
Her eyes have the haunted look of someone struggling with mental illness. I have seen this look in my own eyes when I am going through a bad period of anxiety and depression. It breaks my damn heart. I will always have a soft spot for Britney and I hope she can get back on track and feeling better soon.
@ChillyWilly I too – you’re not alone. Sometimes it’s hard to even meet your own gaze; you don’t want to face the reality of yourself, or what your self is having to face. I hope you’re doing better now, or that there’s some glimmer of… Something, at least. I do understand how hard the battle is. Couple that with new meds… I was put on 9 different SSRIs in a seven month period. None of them worked, save sertraline (initially, save the head sweats, insomnia/night terrors, sensation of deep lethargy and flatlining). I’m now on low dose diazepam as an when needed for C-PTSD/anxiety/agoraphobia/depression.
And that is why the comment/s at the top of this page are unforgivable.
Unless you have had a true dark night of the soul, are having your brain chemistry tinkered with – the essence of yourself – such comments re benders and the like are utterly inappropriate. So what, she’s suffering acutely, her hysterical fan base are making it worse, and she’s supposed to “dress up all pretty”? She is required to project an Insta-image of polished perfection when living Hell? No. No. And no, again.
I think there are so many decisions which are made FOR Britney, not WITH Britney and that sucks.
While I agree it sucks I do think it’s necessary important decisions are made for her otherwise there would be no need for a conservatorship. Due to her illness she can’t be trusted to make healthy decisions for herself. I do hope the decisions being made are in her best interest with the thought that she is still a human being, no matter what ails her. I think her dad does have her best interest at heart otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten her this far. The way she was going in 2007 she wasn’t going to survive much longer so he’s kept her alive and as healthy as possible.
Her fans do my head in with this crap.
You know her toxic fans are saying she’s blinking SOS while she’s talking? Meanwhile, they still buy up anything she puts out to fuel the cycle. I wish people would respect her words and leave her be. There are definitely some odd things going on, but the fans working things up into a frenzy does not help her. The bullying that comes from social media fan culture is out of hand. Not just from Britney’s base, but Minaj, Grande, Bieber, Beyonce, Cardi, etc. It’s gross that these celebs encourage it, but Britney is actually saying STOP!
She went on a pap stroll for yogurt. Her team needs to stop and let her rest. Her fans need to get a grip. There is a chance that she is really mentally unstable. If you suddently free her from her c-ship, she may not survive it. The fans know nothing about her actual medical condition. No one knows if her diagnosis is really bipolar or something else. If her fans want to help her, they should have the court assign an independent party to evualate her situation to make sure everything that is happening is in her best interests.
It’s so sad that she felt that she had to do this. Jaimie Lynn also had a fired up defense of her and It was just so gross that she had to. I can’t imagine what i’d do if it was my sister! All of this looks like a family trying desperately to care for one another, and in particular, one who has a serious disease. If you love britney, leave her the F alone.
I don’t know much about Jamie Lynn, but if it were MY sister? you better believe I’d be on the warpath to protect her. Good for JL.
She said the thing i was most hoping SOMEONE would say – “where were you 10 years ago” when her dad got her the help she so obviously needed.
This. She’s grown up seeing her sister go through hell being in the public eye (in addition to going through misogynistic crap on her own). That can’t be easy.
I used to judge people on how put together they were – its only logical, so I thought. Now I’m not so sure. In the past, I’ve overdone it on the eyeliner or done my hair weird because I cared, but didn’t really care at the same time and it results in a frazzled look, but it has nothing to do with where I’m at psychologically.
It says more about all women that we feel the need to be totally made up and totally in control at all times.
Britney is an artist before she is a product. Have you seen a painter at work in their studio? Its a glorious chaotic mess!
Part of her is always going to be free and imaginative. Maybe that terrible thick eyeliner is her way of playing with her image. I’ve been there.
Sometimes there is a playfulness at play when you don’t look ‘perfect’, not an actual imperfection.
I do think she’s bored and being worked too hard though. Can’t she just do endorsements at this point? Or how about saving the bees or whales? There’s too much plastic in the ocean, Britney. Do “they” let her read the internet? That’s the question.
While I do side-eye the decision to continuously perform since her breakdown (meaning I suspect she’s being pressured to do that). I do think she has a serious mental health issue and needs heavy duty meds as well as treatment. I’m a mental health professional who has worked in inpatient settings and it’s completely illegal and unethical to medicate someone who doesn’t need those meds. Also, you can’t force someone into treatment unless they have either threatened to harm themselves or others or are gravely disabled (unable to take care of their basic daily living). That’s actually a high bar to meet and a lot of people slip through the cracks in getting the help they need based on this criteria.
I’ve seen people with severe mental illness stop taking their medications and their loved ones be powerless to do anything about that until the person becomes a suicidal or homicidal risk. To suggest that Britney’s team is forcing her into treatment and being forced to take meds, because she just wants to be free and her team doesn’t like, it is asinine.
A doctor could lose his license real quick and a facility could be closed down if they were forcing someone who wasn’t gravely disabled to do these things. Everyone involved with her likely has a lengthy history of her mental health issues and know just how gravely ill she is. What we’ve seen in public is alarming but we likely don’t even know half of the picture.
I cannot imagine the stress and strain the #freebritney movement is having on her and her family when they’re all likely just trying to get her the help she needs. It’s unfortunate that her dad had to release confidential information as to why she’s in treatment just to get people to back off.
I’m a fan of Britney and my heart hurts for her. I just want to see her happy and healthy too. But she will never be the Britney fans want her to be again and I think we all have to accept that. Some people seem to think that if she could just get out from under this conservetorship she’d be that Britney again when the reality is she would likely decompensate pretty quickly again.
The video and comment that went along with it did absolutely nothing to sway my opinion that her team is taking advantage of her. She is (or was at the time of the posting) in a mental health facility working on getting better, so why would her team derail her progress by letting her know about the #freebritney movement? That’s something that can wait until she finishes her treatment.
Never mind that the video message was vague and didn’t actually address any of the rumours specifically. The ig caption on the other hand… wow! Had anyone actually heard about those emails until the post? I hadn’t. Why would these “fake” emails that only a few extreme fans knew about be her number one priority? I’m not saying they are real… but you should look them up because they are wild.
I believe she has a lot of mental health issues that she needs to work through, but I don’t see any reason why she can’t have control over her own life. If she really does need this conservatorship this badly, then why has she been working steadily for the past 10 years? How can she be expected to pull off the performances that she does, yet not she isn’t allowed to make simple decisions for herself?