‘We love you Britney!’ Mariah Carey and Halsey lead support for Britney Spears after conservatorship hearing
‘This is going to change the way people feel about Britney and her conservatorship’
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Your support makes all the difference.The entertainment world erupted with support for Britney Spears after the singer gave her 20-minute testimony at a special public hearing on Wednesday.
“This is a watershed moment,” said ABC anchor Chris Connelly. “This is going to change the way people feel about Britney and her conservatorship.”
Stars like Mariah Carey and Halsey chimed in. “We love you Britney!!! Stay strong,” wrote Carey on Twitter.
“We love you SO MUCH,” wrote singer Tinashe, who was a featured artist on Spears’s 2016 single “Slumber Party”.
“Bless Britney and I hope with my whole heart she is awarded freedom from this abusive system,” wrote Halsey. “She deserves it more than anything. I admire her courage speaking up for herself today.”
“Oldest trick in the playbook of the patriarchy: declare a woman mad and gain control of her assets/property. Been happening for centuries,” wrote Liz Phair, adding, “Anyone saying she ‘seems unbalanced,’ please show me the equivalent conservatorships for male entertainers/athletes exhibiting erratic behavior. Where are all the MOMS controlling their grown son’s millions for a decade.”
“No one should be treated like this. Stay strong Queen!! You deserve better,” wrote Khloe Kardashian.
The pop star, 39, spoke directly to Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny today (23 June) about the conservatorship, which has controlled her money and affairs since 2008. It was the first time in open court in 13 years of the conservatorship.
Spears, who took part remotely, asked for the hearing so she could address the court directly.
“I am not happy, I can’t sleep. I’m so angry, it’s insane. And I’m depressed,” Spears said directly and angrily.
“The last time I spoke to you [the judge] … made me feel like I was dead. I am telling you again because I am not lying … so maybe you can understand the depth and the degree and the damages … I deserve changes.”
One day before Spears appeared in court, a New York Times report emerged claiming that the singer had previously denounced the conservatorship as “oppressive and controlling”, pushing back against it “earlier and more often” than previously known.
It also unveiled court documents from 2016 claiming that Jamie had extreme “control” over her life, restricting everything from “whom she dated to the colour of her kitchen cabinets”.
At the end of the singer’s statement, Judge Penny said: “I’m sensitive to everything you’ve said ... it takes a lot of courage.”
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