For one brief, beautiful moment in history, the social media sleuths were right. When Britney Spears’ fans began to decode strange messaging in her quirky Instagram posts, it became clear that the formerly maligned popstar was living under the control of her abusive father by way of a particularly oppressive conservatorship. This resulted in a nation-wide movement to liberate Britney from her family and, by extension, the predatory industry that has exploited her for over two decades. But, well-intentioned as #FreeBritney was, did the movement have unintended consequences? Discussions include: the 2000s as the dark ages for popular culture, Vegas residencies as the death rattle for celebrity music careers, and the ongoing question of “agency” that seems to follows Britney Spears throughout her lifetime. Digressions include: Maia’s irrational fear of Babe the pig and a chat about the emojis that define us. 

(NOTE: We refer in this episode to Cara Cunningham as Chris Crocker, which is her dead name.)

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Intro and outro song by our talent friend Ian Mills:

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SOURCES:

“Britney Spears conservatorship dispute”, Wikipedia.

Natalie Finn, “Jamie Spears Squashes Britney Fansite” ENews (2009).

The Associated Press, “Who is Sam Lutfi?” Los Angeles Times (2008).

Ronan Farrow and Jia Tolentino, “Britney Spears’s Conservatorship Nightmare”  The New Yorker (2021).

"Framing Britney Spears" documentary

"Controlling Britney Spears" documentary

Julia Jacobs, “‘Sorry Britney’: Media Is Criticized for Past Coverage, and Some Own Up”  The New York Times (2021).

Toyin Owoseje, “Britney says she ‘cried for two weeks’ after ‘Framing Britney Spears’ documentary” CNN (2021).

Sandra Song, “Inside #FreeBritney: A Stan Movement to Help Their Pop Savior” Paper Magazine (2021).

Jeevan Ravindran, “‘You guys saved my life,’ Britney Spears tells #FreeBritney movement” CNN (2021).

Ronan Farrow and Jia Tolentino, “How Britney Spears Got Free, and What Comes Next” The New Yorker (2021).

Rebecca Jennings, “‘Where Is Britney Spears?’ After her conservatorship ended, some of her fandom latched on to a new theory: What if she had never been freed at all?” Vulture (2023).

Caity Weaver, “When Britney Spears Posts on Instagram, a Thousand Conspiracies Flower” The New York Times (2019).

EJ Dickson, “Matt Gaetz, QAnon Followers, and the GOP are Exploiting the #FreeBritney Movement” Rolling Stone (2021). 

Morgan Sungm “On Tiktok, #FreeBritney conspiracy theories run deep.” Mashable (2021). 

Britney's Gram podcast.