Britney Spears ‘Embarrassed’ by Documentary

Pop superstar Britney Spears shared a post on her Instagram page where she addressed the Framing Britney Spears documentary for the first time and revealed that she felt “embarrassed” by it. 

Framing Britney Spears is produced by The New York Times and offers an in-depth look into Spears’ stardom, conservatorship, and her relationship with her father and current conservator, Jamie Spears. The documentary aired in early February and quickly became hotly discussed in the mainstream media. 

In the one-minute video Spears posted on her account, she dances to “Crazy” by Aerosmith, while the caption reads that she did not watch the documentary but cried for two weeks after its release. The singer shared the feeling that her life in the spotlight has always been judged and speculated. “It takes a lot of strength to TRUST the universe with your real vulnerability cause I’ve always been so judged… insulted… and embarrassed by the media… and I still am till this day.” The artist concluded her post with, “I’m not here to be perfect … perfect is boring … I’m here to pass on kindness.” 

Back in February, Spears shared a tweet that did not directly address the documentary itself but urged her audience to remember, “no matter what we think we know about a person’s life, it is nothing compared to the actual person living behind the lens”. 

The singer, as well as other members of her family, do not appear in the documentary. The film is the first substantial journalistic investigation that re-examines the treatment of Spears’ popstar persona by the media throughout her career and explains what conservatorship is and the way it has worked for Spears for the past 11 years. After its release, there was an outpour of support for the star among numerous celebrities, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Hayley Williams, and Courtney Love. Justin Timberlake, Spears’ former boyfriend, even shared a Notes app apology to the artist, as well as to Janet Jackson, acknowledging him benefitting from the old sexist system of the music industry that allowed his career to take off while the women implicated in scandals with him, and sometimes even generated with his own actions, were left to suffer the consequences. 

Spears still remains under the conservatorship of her father, which she continues to legally contest. The latest update of the artist’s legal battle came out several days earlier than the abovementioned Instagram post. On March 25, Spears’ attorney filed a petition to remove Jamie Spears as the conservator. The petition appears to not have been resolved yet.