Britney Spears says she is 'embarrassed' by new documentary

Britney Spears has finally broken her silence over the hugely popular Framing Britney Spears documentary (watch now on Crave). It’s been almost two months since the Hulu documentary became yet another massive pop culture moment in Spears’ career and according to the pop star, it’s not one she wishes to be associated with in any way.

On Tuesday evening, Spears posted a video of herself dancing to Aerosmith’s “Crazy” along with a lengthy caption that included her first public reference to Framing Britney Spears. “My life has always been very speculated, watched and judged,” writes Spears. “I have been exposed performing my whole life in front of people. It takes a lot of strength to trust the universe with your real vulnerability cause I’ve always been so judged, insulted, embarrassed by the media and I still am to this day.”

Spears continued, saying she has not yet watched all of Framing Britney Spears, but “from what I did see of it I was embarrassed by the light they put me in. I cried for two weeks and well, I still cry sometimes.” Continuing, the popstar wrote “I do what I can in my own spirituality with myself to try and keep my own joy, love, and happiness.”

Spears’ supporters quickly flooded the comments section for her latest post, with many arguing that the note was not written by the singer but by her team, who hope to distance the star from the doc. Others defended the film, saying it gave validity to the #FreeBritney cause.

Released on February 5 through the docuseries program The New York Times Presents, the two-hour documentary provides a snapshot of Spears’ private life and career, starting with her upbringing in Louisiana and culminating with the ongoing conservatorship over Spears by her father, Jamie Spears. The documentary highlighted how Spears was sexualized by the media while still a teenager and often asked sexist questions by interviewers, including one clip featuring a young Spears being interviewed by Diane Sawyer.

Spears’ relationship with former boyfriend Justin Timberlake was also examined in the documentary, including Timberlake’s willingness to contribute to the negative narrative surrounding Spears following their split. After the release of the doc, an outcry from fans finally forced Timberlake to issue a public apology to both Spears and Janet Jackson, two women he spent years admonishing in the press.

The bulk of the second half of the documentary focused on Spears’ 2008 mental breakdown and public health crisis, which culminated in the highly publicized image of the pop singer shaving her head and attacking a paparazzi’s car with an umbrella. While the media’s handling of mental health issues has since improved, at the time, Spears was publicly shamed and ridiculed for her behaviour, which her mother Lynn Spears said may have in part been brought on by postpartum depression. The erratic behaviour, which included Spears driving with her infant son on her lap and later locking her children in a closet with her, led to the singer being placed under a conservatorship overseen by her father, Jamie Spears.

Featuring several interviews by members of the #FreeBritney movement, the conservatorship and the question of whether it remains necessary was examined in the documentary. Since the film’s release, Spears’ legal team has requested that the elder Spears be completely removed from his role as conservator and replaced by Jodi Montgomery. Following health issues in 2019, Jamie Spears stepped down as his daughter’s sole conservator, opting instead to only oversee her finances and estate along with Bessemer Trust Company. Montgomery has been acting as the conservator of Spears’ person, something the popstar hopes to make all-encompassing and permanent in a hearing scheduled for April 27.

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