Madonna calls for Britney Spears’ freedom and compares her conservatorship to slavery
‘Give this woman her life back. Slavery was abolished so long ago!’ singer wrote
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Madonna has sided with Britney Spears in her conservatorship battle while comparing the 39-year-old singer’s situation to that of slavery.
On 24 June, Spears gave her first public statement about her legal guardianship in the form of an explosive courtroom testimony.
The “Toxic” singer claimed that her court-ordered arrangement refused to allow her to remove her birth control device and was preventing her from marrying boyfriend Sam Asghari, with Spears asking for the “abusive” conservatorship to come to an end.
Writing on her Instagram Story on Thursday (8 July), Madonna, who collaborated with Spears on the 2003 track “Me Against the Music”, shared a photo of herself in a “Britney Spears” t-shirt.
“Give this woman her life back,” the “Open Your Heart” singer wrote. “Slavery was abolished so long ago! Death to the greedy patriarchy that has been doing this to women for centuries.
“This is a violation of human rights! Britney we coming to get you out of jail!”
The Free Britney movement’s most tangible conception dates back to January 2009, on a blog post on Spears fansite Breathe Heavy.
The site’s founder, Jordan Miller, was in college at the time when he wrote, “Open your eyes! Free Britney!” on a post alleging Spears’ father took her cellphone.
Two months and many critical posts later, Miller says he received a letter from Jamie Spears, threatening legal action over copyright infringement if he did not close his website (Miller had published Spears lyrics without permission).
“I felt censored,” Miller toldThe Independent. “In my opinion, it’s not about lyrics. It’s because I was speaking out about an injustice, and they didn’t like that, and they wanted to control everything about Britney, including entities that they didn’t technically own.”
Since then, many fans and celebrities have shown support towards the “Toxic” singer’s situation.
This week, Paris Hilton showed her support for Spears. She wrote: “She is so incredibly brave and an inspiration for speaking her truth.”
Other supportive stars include Cher, Miley Cyrus, and Mariah Carey.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments