Britney Spears: ‘I’m here to be an advocate for people with real disabilities’

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Britney Spears has been enjoying her newfound freedom for months already, but last Friday marked the formalized end of her 13-year conservatorship. Britney now has the freedom to have an ATM card, drive herself to the nail salon, get married and determine which medical treatments are right for her. Britney also has a better understanding now of what a big deal all of this was, and how she fought for herself and won, and other people fought for her too. Britney posted a video on her Instagram where she spoke about what her life will be like now and how hard it is to think about all of the other people who are living in terrible, damaging and controlling situations:

What is she going to do now that the conservatorship is over: She’s “just grateful honestly for each day” and for “being able to have the keys to my car, being able to be independent and feel like a woman and owning a ATM card, seeing cash for the first time, [and] being able to buy candles. But I’m not here to be a victim. I lived with victims my whole life as a child, that’s why I got out of my house. And I worked for 20 years and worked my ass off.”

The caption on the IG post: “I might as well do a hint of my thoughts on the gram before I go and set things square on @Oprah… I mean who knows … I do know how embarrassing is to share the fact I’ve never seen cash or wasn’t able to drive my car …. but honestly it still blows my mind every day I wake up how my family and the conservatorship were able to do what they did to me … it was demoralizing and degrading !!!! I’m not even mentioning all the bad things they did to me which they should all be in jail for … yes including my church going mother !!!! I’m used to keeping peace for the family and keeping my mouth shut … but not this time … I have NOT FORGOTTEN and I hope they can look up tonight and know EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN !!!!

She wants to be an advocate for people with disabilities: “I’m here to be an advocate for people with real disabilities and real illnesses. I’m a very strong woman, so I can only imagine what the system has done to those people. So hopefully my story will make an impact and make some changes in the corrupt system.”

On the Free Britney people: “You guys rock. My voice was muted and threatened for so long and I wasn’t able to speak up or say anything and because of you guys and the awareness of kind of knowing what was going on, and delivering that news to the public for so long, you gave awareness to all of them. Because of you I honestly think you guys saved my life, in a way. 100 percent.”

[From People]

Re: Lynne Spears, Brit’s mom – Page Six says that Britney has refused to see Lynne, even though Lynne has been trying to cozy up to her and make amends. Which I think is fine – Britney knows who is to blame for this debacle, and she clearly blames both of her parents. Britney’s lawyer blames them too, and who knows, maybe there will be criminal charges at some point. I think it’s far more likely that Britney’s lawyer (Mathew Rosengart) is going to bury Jamie Spears in litigation and lawsuits and comb through Jamie’s finances (and probably Lynne’s too) with a fine-toothed comb. Also: I hope Oprah does interview her!

Photos courtesy of Britney’s Instagram.

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19 Responses to “Britney Spears: ‘I’m here to be an advocate for people with real disabilities’”

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  1. Andrew's Nemesis says:

    It would be absolutely brilliant if she could be interviewed by Oprah and use her newfound freedom to advocate for all those who have been silenced by the system, who have no public voice. I think she has it in her to create remarkable change.

    • Anners says:

      I love that the first thing Britney wants to do after gaining her freedom is to help others who were similarly abused. She is wonderful! And has the potential to be a powerful voice for good. I wish her all the very best.

      • Andrew's Nemesis says:

        Absolutely, Anners – it shows what a truly decent human being she is. I’m just so delighted for her.

      • DuchessL says:

        I see Britney was always a sweetheart. What a shame this happened. Who would have know that britney would be a voice for the disabled. This interview Oprah will not pass on.

  2. MarcelMarcel says:

    I hope she does an interview with Oprah too!

    I’m so glad Britney is using her celebrity & newfound freedom to advocate for others mistreated by the system. I can’t wait to see what she does next! Even if it’s disappearing & deciding to have a quiet life. She should never have had to endure this abuse & conservatorship. I’m so glad she escaped it.

    Hopefully her situation helps us reexamine our biases towards people who are struggling. That way we could provide better support to people when they need it.

    It’s just so wonderful to see Britney free! I hope she finds whatever justice she needs to help her heal from what has happened.

  3. Jules says:

    Good for her! She’s not taking the victim narrative, which only perpetuates victimhood and gives power to the abuser. Wishing her the best.

  4. Case says:

    I’m so happy for her and thrilled that she’d like to use this experience to be a voice for people in similar situations. If this can happen to Britney Spears for 13 years, it can happen to anyone.

  5. Bettyrose says:

    I’m genuinely interested to see what Britney does next. That’s a sentence I couldn’t have imagined saying about her 20 years ago, but given what she’s endured and survived, if she does turn this into real advocacy that would be absolutely amazing.

  6. JD says:

    Her lawyer should absolutely draw out Jamie’s spending history with Britney’s money, if for no other reason then to have Jamie actually pay for his own lawyer fees on this.

  7. Lola says:

    Burn it all down Britney. Make them all pay for what they’ve done.

  8. Plums says:

    I really respect her desire to help others trapped in similar abusive circumstances that don’t have the benefit of a global movement shining a light and trying to help them. But now that she is no longer a victim in need of rescue and a symbol that people can feel good about rallying support around, I hope she doesn’t suffer too much backlash from those who never actually wanted to deal with the reality of her as a person.

  9. Lola says:

    Also, conservatorships are a thing that should not even exist for anyone in its current form. It should never be possible to completely strip all the legal and civil rights of a human being just because they are deemed mentally ill or disabled. The justification “it’s being done for their own good” is too easy to twist and warp and use to justify abuse, and it attracts evil people. I think the general public assumes that now that insane asylums are no longer a thing, it’s no longer possible to totally strip the civil rights of mentally ill people. Or claim that a woman was mentally ill in order to strip her of her rights. Apparently not! It’s still perfectly legal to do in America and we can’t have it.

  10. Lexistential says:

    Britney as an advocate would be so, so momentous. She is in an amazing position to mobilize and pursue change for people who really need it! Go Britney! I am here for her to do this!

  11. yokoohno says:

    It’s honestly shocking that when you become disabled, there’s a ton of ppl who suddenly don’t feel you deserve choices or personhood anymore. I’m still shocked by the behaviour of some friends and family. I’m lucky that my husband protects me, but without that I don’t know where I’d be. I’d love if Britney could help with advocacy, but first I hope she continues to just take some time to herself and enjoy her freedom.

    Also, just to add, to see those troglodytes bleat about “muh freedum” about masks and vaccines when so many people are *actually* not free – ugh. I wish long covid on those people.

  12. molly says:

    I don’t think Britney going on Oprah right now will have the outcome she (or we) thinks it will. She’s far better off continuing to make homemade videos directly to her instagram fans cheering her on from her backyard.

    She *should* get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to appearance and articulation because she’s lived a lifetime of trauma and she’s just now learning to live and speak independently, but she will not get it.

    She would need serious media training in addition to a makeover in clothes, hair, and makeup before she sits in Oprah’s garden and compares favorably to Meghan or Adele. I know Britney has fantastic lawyers, but I’m not sure about a publicist. A good one wouldn’t put her in front of the world if it’s just a longer, more visible version of what she’s doing on instagram now.

    I’d love to see her do a sit down some day where she’s sharp, vengeful, and names names to burns it all down, but today ain’t the day.

  13. lucy2 says:

    She really is strong. I can’t imagine enduring so many years of that, plus all the hardship she went through leading up to it. I hope she’s able to set up a wonderful, trustworthy team to help her transition through and make her dreams a reality, especially her efforts to help others.

  14. Otaku fairy says:

    It’s good that she’s able to see the difference between allowing victimhood to define her and everything she may do in life, and being quiet about her experience. Abusers definitely benefit from the latter being presented as the former. Contrary to conservative myth, it’s not something most women (and lgbt people, and poc) just enjoy being seen as at all. People try to avoid it at great cost. She’s sharing her story, but also looking at ways she can help other people, and that’s awesome.

  15. aggie says:

    I’m so happy for her. I’m so happy that she can communicate publicly unimpeded. There’s been so much speculation, including here, about her capacity and condition, that was encouraged and promoted by her family and “team” and used to strip her of her civil and human rights. I’m sure I’m not the only person with a mental illness or other disability here that is chilled by how easy it is to have those rights removed under that justification. I hope we can all reflect upon and learn from this experience, and how relatively easy it is for bad actors to convince the public and legal authorities that such dehumanization and subjugation is warranted and for someone’s own good.

    For her to commit to advocating for those in conservatorships that are less resourced or advantageously situated really speaks to her character and maturity. Again, something for all of us to reflect upon in considering how she’s been treated by the public.

  16. JanetDR says:

    I’m glad that she felt the love so many of us have for her. I couldn’t be more delighted about her plan, but mostly I want her to relax and see what living for herself feels like for a bit.