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Jamie Lynn Spears Defends Britney, Refuses to Speak About Her Sister’s Mental Health as #FreeBritney Movement Recirculates

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  • #FreeBritney is popping up on social media again as fans rally behind Britney Spears ahead of a hearing reportedly set for Wednesday over the future of her conservatorship. 
  • The singer has been under a conservatorship for 12 years, which gave her father and an attorney control over her finances, health, and essentially her daily life.
  • After both stepped down last year, her care manager Jodi Montgomery temporarily took over, with the conservatorship set to end on August 22. 
  • In recent weeks, fans have been sharing a petition asking for Congress to intervene and release her from the conservatorship. 
  • Others have turned to her younger sister Jamie Lynn for answers, but she said she has no right to speak about Britney’s mental health and will not speak out just to clarify things to the public “when the person it pertains to does not want that to happen.”

Britney’s Conservatorship

The #FreeBritney movement is popping up all over social media again as fans rally behind singer Britney Spears ahead of her conservatorship hearing reportedly set for Wednesday.

If you haven’t been keeping up with Britney over the last several years, you might not know that she actually has very little control of her own life. In fact, that’s been the case for about 12 years because she was placed under a conservatorship in 2008 after she was put on an involuntary psychiatric hold.

Conservatorships are court-orders and are mainly used when someone is in a coma, suffering from dementia, or has another serious illness that makes them incapable of making judgments. At the time, a court placed her under the conservatorship of her dad Jamie and an attorney named Andrew Wallet. This meant they had control over her estate and needed to sign off on every decision in her life, from business to health, finances, and even marriage.

But it’s not just big decisions. This conservatorship impacts her daily routine. A 2016 New York Times article reported, “Her most mundane purchases, from a drink at Starbucks to a song on iTunes, are tracked in court documents as part of the plan to safeguard the great fortune she has earned but does not ultimately control.

Fans have taken a huge issue with this because they think it gives her father and Wallet too much control over her life and the ability to abuse her finances  Some think she’s mentally fit enough to be in control herself, others think she isn’t getting the right care she needs and is being exploited. 

In general, thoughts on this situation vary, but most want to see her released from conservatorship. Still, there’s not a lot we know about the inner workings of her situation or her health, and she has continued to live this way for years. 

#FreeBritney Movement 

Flash forward to 2019, when the #FreeBritney movement really took off online. In January of that year, fans were surprised when Britney canceled her second Vegas residency, saying she needed to spend time with her father and help him recover from surgery. 

Fans were suspicious, especially after she pretty much went off the grid. There were no public sightings of her and she stopped posting on Instagram. 

Then in March of that year, Wallet resigned as a co-conservator, handing sole control off to her father, which concerned people. In early April, reports said Britney had checked into a mental health facility. A few days later, she posted a quote to Instagram and captioned it, “We all need to take time for a little ‘me time.’ :)”

Fans thought it didn’t match her typical posting style and began speculating that something wasn’t right. Later that month, the podcast Britney’s Gram said it received a voicemail from a paralegal source that claimed it worked for an attorney on Britney’s case. That source claimed Britney was placed in a facility against her will by Jamie. They claimed that during her Vegas residency rehearsals, he learned she was refusing to take her medications and told her she could either take them, meet with a doctor for a new type of medication, or cancel the Vegas shows. When she refused the first two options, he allegedly chose the latter and blamed it on his health. 

However, around the same time, the Blast cited a source that said the singer “would be dead” if she had not checked in. Still, the movement picked up steam at this point, with fans even holding a protest outside West Hollywood City Hall in April. 

All the concerns prompted Britney to make a post telling fans she was doing well and would return soon. That really didn’t convince people though because many assume her social media is monitored. 

Eventually, she did finish treatment and return to her regular type of Instagram content. Ever since, people have been trying to look for clues in her posts or secret signals that show she’s in distress. However, that seems to have also sparked both concerns based in reality as well as a bunch of wild conspiracy theories.

Then in September, Jamie filed a request to temporarily relieve himself of the role for “personal health reasons.” At this point, Britney’s care manager Jodi Montgomery took over, and because of the coronavirus pandemic, that temporary conservatorship was extended in April of this year until August 22.

What’s Happening Now and Jamie Lynn’s Response

All of that brings us to the most recent resurgence of the #FreeBritney movement. In recent weeks, fans have pushed around a petition asking Congress to intervene on her half, which already has well over 100,000 signatures. According to reports, Britney is has a court hearing Wednesday where many hope her conservatorship will be ended. That’s why you’re seeing the hashtag all over the internet.

Aside from that, there’s not a lot we know right now and we’ll have to wait and see what comes next. However, during this latest wave of concern, many have turned to Britney’s younger sister Jamie Lynn for answers.

Earlier this week, Jamie Lynn reshared tweets from celebrities discussing mental illness and condemning those joking about it, including one from Hasley. Those tweets were presumably in relation to jokes and discussions about Kanye West’s recent behavior. 

In the caption, Jamie Lynn wrote, “If you deal with mental illness or care for someone dealing with mental illness, then you know how important it is to respect the situation with privacy for the person, and the family trying to protect their loved ones, no matter how it may appear to the public, and as the public we must learn to do the same.”

However, one user commented back, “How about your sisters OBVIOUS mental illness? Why don’t you speak on that?” To that, she responded, “You have no right to assume anything about my sister, and I have NO right to speak about HER health and personal matters. She is a strong, badass, unstoppable woman, and that’s the only thing that is OBVIOUS.”

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Preach @jamielynnspears. #CommentsByCelebs

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According to People magazine, another follower demanded that Jamie Lynn and her family “clarify all these assumptions.” In response, she allegedly said, “I would never speak out just to clarify things to the public, when the person it pertains to does not want that to happen.”

“I’d rather take all the hate, then speak about someone elses personal matter, that they want to keep private.”

So with that, many are reminding each other online to have some compassion when sharing concerns for Britney.

See what others are saying: (Cosmopolitan) (Fox News) (EOnline)

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Max to Agrees to “Properly” Credit Writers and Directors After Facing Backlash For Lumping Them in As “Creators”

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The company said the credits were laid out incorrectly due to “an oversight in the technical transition from HBO Max to Max.”


After film and television writers slammed Max for crediting all writers, producers, and directors as general “creators” on its platform, the company said it will be adjusting its credits display.

“We agree that the talent behind the content on Max deserve their work to be properly recognized,” the streaming service said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. 

Max — the new rebrand of HBO Max that incorporates Discovery content — launched on Tuesday to much criticism. Amid glitches and app-switching confusion, the biggest backlash it faced was over the choice to lump creative roles into one credit section called “creators.” As one viral tweet noted, if a user were to select the film “Raging Bull,” the service’s display would not specifically credit Martin Scorsese as the director, rather, his name would be included at random with half a dozen other people, including writers and producers. 

The decision was condemned by many in the industry who argued it minimizes writers and directors by not properly giving them credit where it is due. Especially amid the ongoing writers’ strike, and with directors and actors starting negotiations with studios, some took it as a slap in the face. 

“The studios don’t want anyone to know our names,” writer Christina Strain tweeted. “It’s easier to pay us nothing if we’re faceless.”

“Another move from studios to diminish the role of writers, directors, actors and other craftspeople. Miss me wit this nonsense,” Jorge Rivera, the Vice-Chair of the Writers Guild’s Latinx Writers Committee, added. 

In a statement, Directors Guild President Lesli Linka Glatter said that Warner Bros. Discovery’s choice to “collapse” these roles into one credit “while we are in negotiations with them is a grave insult to our members and our union.”

“The DGA will not stand for it,” Glatter continued.

WGA West President Meredith Stiehm claimed the move was “a credits violation,” as well as an insult “to the artists that make the films and TV shows that make their corporation billions.”

On Wednesday, Max said it would rework its crediting. 

“We will correct the credits, which were altered due to an oversight in the technical transition from HBO Max to Max and we apologize for this mistake,” the platform said.

See what others are saying: (Gizmodo) (The Hollywood Reporter) (The Los Angeles Times)

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A Quarter of Young British Men Support Andrew Tate’s Thoughts on Women

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U.K. residents at large, however, do not view him favorably.


Even under house arrest in Romania, misogynist influencer Andrew Tate still holds substantial sway over young men. 

According to data from YouGov that was obtained by The Independent, 26% of U.K. men between 18 and 29 years old who know of Tate agree with his views on women. That figure was largely the same for men between 30 and 39, as 28% agreed with Tate’s opinions on the subject. 

Men in their 30s were slightly more likely to agree with Tate on his thoughts about masculinity. Three out of ten supported those views, compared to just a quarter of men 18 to 29.

Those statistics only include the thoughts of men who have heard of Tate, but per YouGov, most have. In the 18 to 29 group, 93% were familiar with him, and 86% of men in their 30s knew of him. 

The U.K. at large was less aware of Tate, with just 63% of British adults having heard of him. Of that group, only 6% held a positive view of him. 

Tate has faced substantial backlash for his sexist rhetoric over the years. In the past, he said that men should have “authority” over their wives or girlfriends, and that women should “bear some responsibility” for being raped. He was previously banned from Twitter over his extremist views on women but has since been allowed back on the platform. 

He is currently being investigated in Romania for organized crime and human trafficking. He was arrested and held in custody in December but was released to house arrest earlier this year. No formal charges have been filed against him yet and he has maintained his innocence. 

Tate currently boasts a Twitter following of 6.7 million. It has grown significantly since he was enveloped in legal controversy, and many of his supporters have demanded his release. 

See what others are saying: (The Independent) (Glamour U.K.)

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Involved in “Near Catastrophic” Paparazzi Chase

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“While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” a spokesperson for the couple said.


“Aggressive” Paparazzi Chase Couple in New York

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were involved in a “near catastrophic” paparazzi car chase Tuesday night in New York City, according to a spokesperson for the couple.

In a statement, the spokesperson described the photographers as “highly aggressive.”

“While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” the statement added.

“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” it continued. 

Details of the incident are still emerging, but BBC News reported that there are claims the chase involved roughly six cars driving recklessly by running red lights, driving on the sidewalk, carrying out blocking moves, going backward on a one-way road, and taking pictures while driving. 

The chase happened after Harry and Meghan were leaving the Women of Vision Awards with Meghan’s mother, Doria. They did not want photographers to learn where they were staying and attempted to avoid them in what turned into a 75-minute chase on a main road in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. They eventually ducked into a New York Police Department Precinct to hide out before getting into a different vehicle.

The NYPD released a statement confirming that they assisted in protecting the couple as “numerous photographers” hindered their transport. Officials said they made it to their destination and there were no collisions, injuries, or arrests. 

The couple’s spokesperson is asking the public to not share or post footage of the incident. 

“Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all in involved,” the spokesperson said. 

Memories of Princess Diana

The chase evokes the brutal press hounding Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, was subjected to throughout her life. The paparazzi’s obsession with her ultimately resulted in her death in 1997, when she was killed in a car crash after being chased by photographers in Paris. 

Since marrying Meghan and later bowing out of the Royal Family, Harry has made it explicitly clear that he fears those events could happen again. Meghan has been the subject of endless tabloid scrutiny, enduring racism and harassment from the press. Part of the reason they left the Royal Family was to keep their family protected from such attacks.

Mayor Eric Adams brought up Diana’s tragic passing while speaking about Tuesday night’s chase. 

“I don’t think there’s many of us who don’t recall how [Harry’s] mom died,” Adams said while speaking to reporters. “And it would be horrific to lose an innocent bystander during a chase like this and something to have happened to them as well…I think that was a bit reckless and irresponsible.” 

Adams also questioned whether or not he believes a chase could go on for two hours in a city as congested as New York, but noted that even a 10-minute chase would be dangerous. He said he will be briefed on the exact timeline and details later. 

See what others are saying: (BBC News) (Associated Press) (Yahoo News)

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