Britney Spears made a series of shocking comments during her testimony about the state of her life under her conservatorship. Many of us knew things weren’t right, but we didn’t know how bad it was. It was hard to hear Britney lay out the conditions under which she’d been living all these years. One of the comments that was highlighted was a statement Britney made about her friend, Paris Hilton. It was in reference to Paris’ testimony against her Provo Canyon School in Utah in which she said she was abused. Britney said that she hadn’t believed the story and because of her initial disbelief, she didn’t want to speak up on her own issues because she thought no one would believe her. What Britney said was:
To be honest with you, the Paris Hilton story on what they did to her at that school, I didn’t believe any of it. I’m sorry.
Mainly I didn’t want to say it openly because I honestly don’t think anyone would believe me. I’m an outsider and I’ll just be honest, I didn’t believe it and maybe I’m wrong and that’s why I didn’t want to say any of this to anybody to the public because I thought people would make fun of me or laugh at me and say, she’s lying, she’s got everything, she’s Britney Spears. I’m not lying. I just want my life back.
I think most people understood what Britney was trying to say. Paris herself expressed sentiments similar to Britney, that she stopped telling her story for so long because people didn’t believe her. It’s one of the reasons we advocate for believing victims. But the soundbite became an issue in no small part because Andy Cohen can’t stay away from pitting women against each other. When Kathy and Nicky Hilton were on his show, he brought Britney’s comments up. Kathy almost took the bait, but Nicky stopped the nonsense by jumping in immediately with, “You should know we believe her. Free Britney!” Kathy supported Britney by saying she was “such a sweet girl” and “a good girl.”
Now, Paris herself responded and she came out in full support of Britney. Speaking on her own podcast, Paris said she thinks people twisted Britney’s words and that she wants Britney to be free.
On her podcast, Hilton assured guests Gigi Gorgeous and Nats Getty that she knew the “Everytime” singer “didn’t mean it in that way.”
“She meant when she saw it, she couldn’t even believe it,” she added, referring to her own alleged abuse she endured at boarding school as a teenager. “What she said was, when people hear that, they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s Britney Spears’ [or] ‘It’s Paris Hilton. They have these perfect lives. Who is gonna believe [them]? I didn’t even believe Paris — who’s gonna believe me?’ ”
Calling any backlash “a misunderstanding on the media’s part,” Hilton said Spears was just using the former reality star’s experience “as an example.”
“Dealing with it as a teenager was hard but I can’t imagine, still, as an adult, after working your entire life,” she continued of Spears’ conservatorship. “She’s built a huge empire; she’s a legend, she’s an icon, she’s a mother. She’s amazing and she has these people controlling her money, her life.”
Hilton also said during the podcast that she was “proud of” her friend “for speaking up and using her voice,” captioning a snippet from the episode on Instagram, “I will always support and love Britney. She is so kind and sweet, and she deserves her freedom. I’ve been saying #FreeBritney for a long time, and I will keep saying it until she is free.”
“We all need to use our voices to protect victims of abuse,” the star added. “She is so incredibly brave and an inspiration for speaking her truth. I know personally how hard it is to come forward to tell your story, and so I hope Britney knows that she is so loved and supported by the world right now.”
Paris publicly supported Britney last September on Cohen’s radio show, Radio Andy, when she said, “I just love her so much. I feel like if you are an adult, you should be able to live your life and not be controlled.” Paris went on to explain she understands being controlled and can empathize with Britney’s plight. Like I said, I never took Britney’s comments any other way and I assumed Paris knew how she meant them. But the public show of support is good. The focus needs to be on getting Britney fair representation in her own life, not whatever misdirection the press is stirring up. I hope all these messages are finding their way back to Britney.
Photo credit: Avalon Red and Getty Images
Andy Cohen is gross. He’s made a livelihood out of pitting women against each other & lifting horrible women up. Particularly racist white women. Which makes considering how racist he is bts….
He only has a livelihood because other women eat that crap up (I’ve never watch any episodes of real housewives in my life)
Yes i agree and considering how many have legal issues due to not being as wealthy as they claim & living beyond their means on a show that glorifies wealth- how is this series of shows not advocating for that behavior?
Came here to say the exact same thing. He is a true misogynist. The ugly way in which he has set women against each other in all of his Real Housewives franchises speaks to who he is.
+1000
AC is a loathsome opportunist. The obvious glee he takes in orchestrating drama and destructive relationships among women is pathological.
Never thought I would get emotional about a Paris and Britney story. But here we are. Class acts, both of them, right now.
I was thinking same. Good for them for speaking up and not letting it stay in the shadows.
Yes!
It’s been some people in the media that’s twisted Britney’s statement to cause drama. I’m glad Paris was able to see through it, because even though Britney had a tough time getting the point across, it was still very clear what she meant.
Yep. Anything involving women gets made into a competition, including trauma, and that’s already started a little bit with Britney’s experience. It’s the usual media drama for some, and an obvious af CYA move for others. But it’s not working. Other women’s experiences with misogyny and abuse are still being heard, as they should be, and it’s not preventing Britney from getting attention either.
That’s nice Paris. Now go back and be quiet like the good homophobic racist you are.
This post is about Britney and the abuse she’s suffering. Interesting that you are trying to change the subject.
This post is about Paris Hilton, a vile homophobic racist who is trying very hard to rebrand herself for the generation who doesn’t know anything about her.
Thank you, Lara. You see what Paris is doing. You have not forgotten, neither have I, who she really is.
This too.
Yup. Lots of vile people are trying to rebrand themselves by clout chasing off Britney’s abusive conservatorship.
I haven’t forgotten that Paris is a racist.
I fear thats part of this too but both can be true here-paris trying to rewrite history and andy cohen was trying to pit these women against each other to start shit
100% Lara!! Paris begging for attention
I cannot stand Paris Hilton. She is a racist, vile person. I loathe that there is a generation that knows nothing about her and thinks she is this amazing woman.
Same here.
Same. I’ve never liked her anyway, but she’s one of the ones who has been a real struggle the more that comes out about her. Her comments about Weinstein and Trump were gross enough and make these statements about believing victims hypocritical. But several months ago an article came out exposing her racism too. It’s just one of those situations where it’s clear that the way someone was treated is not ok and should be taken seriously, and it’s also true that they’ve shown themselves to be a shit human being. Much like Chrissy Teigan, she still hasn’t apologized.
I honestly didn’t remember she and Britney being good friends.
Paris swooped in when Britney was at her lowest point, clearly going through episodes of something and stumbling around near the paparazzi almost every night. She brought Lindsay Lohan into it too (remember the pictures of the three of them in a car?) and they were probably all doing drugs. They would go out to clubs, with Britney looking zonked out, while her kids were at home. Paris would purposely vulture these young women who were spiraling cause she mostly looked good in comparison.
Brit went out on nights her ex had the kids due to custody agreement
Paris said they werent with Lindsay, (story is from paris so take it with a grain of salt as she has badmouthed lindsay for years) she saw them and hopped in their two seat car to get in the pic the paparazzi were shooting to get attention herself. Its why lindsay is in the front seat awkwardly in britney’s seat with her.
They were in a car with no backseat for a reason, it was only britney and paris which was why lindsay hopped in the front and not the backseat. makes sense as its an odd picture
I remember that too – whenever some young woman star was hitting rock bottom, Paris was there. Britney, Lindsey, Mischa Barton, Nicole Richie, probably more.
They were party friends and Paris loves/loved to collect more friends more famous than she is/was. Look at her ‘feud’ with Lilo – who benefited from that the most?
May I join in and add my 0.02?
Paris, you’re a horrible person & you cannot run around town screwing people over, and then expect them to forget what a horrible person you were, just because you had a documentary out detailing your own experiences with abuse.
Many of were abused. And many of us didn’t treat people the way you allegedly treated many people in your periphery who were extremely vulnerable & needed a true friend who would shield and protect them from harm, instead of doing the opposite of that.
A real friend who loves her friends keeps their mouth shut and doesn’t use her friend’s platform for her own purposes, because if they were still friends, the friend would already know how you feel and when your friend happens to be a very well known celebrity, you know to AVOID the subject on your podcast, because AGAIN, that’s what an actual true and good friend does.
So happy Brit sees things as they are. That’s the only way because kn the end you have protect yourself and be your own best friend.
#lessonslearned. #teambrit #therapyworks #urgonnabeokbrit.
#😘