by Meriah Nichols
I first saw Britney Spears on a jumbotron video screen, taking Tokyo by storm with her bouncy pop music and sexy school uniforms. Britney was like a tsunami wave, coming out of seeming nowhere, and peaking to submerge us all in her catchy tunes.
Over the years, Britney spun out massive hit after massive hit and was the reigning bubblegum virgin pop princess archetype of the US. Then all the sudden, in a highly visible, stunningly public way, she had a mental breakdown that sparked a paparazzi feeding frenzy complete with video footage transmitted worldwide of the bubblegum pop princess sitting on gas station curbs with makeup streaking down her face and a shaved head. She lost custody of her two young sons, and eventually she lost custody over her own self.
Britney Spears was placed in a legal guardianship (over her physical self) and conservatorship (over her finances), both with her father, Jamie Spears, and in the case of the conservatorship, also with a private fiduciary. That means her father was given full control of her finances and personal affairs. Legal guardianships and conservatorships are set up to protect people who are experiencing incapacitation and who might make choices that would cause harm to themselves or others. These legal relationships are set up, at least in theory, as a form of protection.
Unfortunately, legal guardianships frequently come with other, more thorny but less reported on issues also baked in. When you put one person in control over another, it’s like building a stage that abuse can waltz right on to. Removing bona-fide safeguards and protective measures, is like actively inviting abuse into the arena. This has been a routine problem of often horrific, if not draconian, guardianship practices that remain common in the elder and disabled communities.
It was a problem for Britney Spears as well. Over the 13 years her father had control via guardianship, she testified to a complete loss of control over her life. In June 2021, Britney testified to abuse, being forced to take medication, perform and tour and have an IUD in place.
The #FreeBritney Movement
The #FreeBritney movement has been unfolding over the past few years, started by Britney’s fans. A documentary by the New York Times, Framing Britney Spears, fueled further light not only on what was happening with Britney Spears, but also on the concept of guardianship in and of itself. Britney Spears apparently did not even know that she had a right to appeal her guardianship. It took her years to find representation, get a hearing, have her case reviewed, testify, and then finally, on November 13th 2021, gain her freedom.
This case has a happy ending: the bubblegum pop princess – now older, and wiser in ways she probably never imagined — was freed from captivity. There are hundreds and thousands of others who are in guardianships, including similarly high profile cases of Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols and pop artist Peter Max, often without just cause and/or the same kinds of recourse that Britney found.
Thankfully the media attention that Britney’s guardianship received in the #FreeBritney movement continues to spotlight these issues, as well as the abuse that often occurs in the guardianship systems and that the activists who so vociferously championed Britney’s freedom don’t give up on the larger fight. There is hope that the spotlight will illuminate change that is deeply needed, long awaited, and urgently overdue.
Meriah Hudson Nichols is originally from a sheep ranch in Cloverdale, California, but grew up in countries around the Pacific Basin. She studied education, human resource development, training, and project management and spent over twenty years in careers with connections with her degrees. As a deaf woman, mother of a child with Down syndrome and daughter of a woman with fibromyalgia, she is passionate about disability rights, education and employment. In her spare time she writes, takes photos, paints and travels.