1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:12,480 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of double Elvis Britney Spears, her 2 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: troubling family ties, her reign in tabloid hungry culture, and 3 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: her thirteen years as a conservati under her father Jamie. 4 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: Is a story that is so complex that we required 5 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,760 Speaker 1: two episodes to properly tell it. If you're just getting 6 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: hip to this now, I suggest you hip pause and 7 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: go back to the previous episode of Disgraceland, part one 8 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: of the Britney Spears Saga, where we discuss Britney's unstable 9 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:40,599 Speaker 1: childhood in Louisiana, her father's reckless drinking and anger issues, 10 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,559 Speaker 1: and the media fueled meltdown that placed her under his 11 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,920 Speaker 1: thumb in two thousand and eight. In this episode, we 12 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 1: get into the details of that conservatorship, an arrangement so 13 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: strict and so unfeeling that it left her without any 14 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: control of her career, loopy on lithium, and completely silenced 15 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: for the sake of seeing her sol and boyfriend. But 16 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: even during those thirteen years of submission and surveillance, Britney 17 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: Spears refused to stop making great music. Unlike that music 18 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: I played for you at the top of the show, 19 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: which wasn't great music. That was a preset loop for 20 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: my melotron called Neon Nightlife MK. One. I played you 21 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: that loop because I can't afford the rights to butter 22 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: by Bts. And why would I play you that specific 23 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: slice of smooth sidestep in cheese? Could I afford it? 24 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: Because that was the number one song in America on 25 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: June twenty third, twenty twenty one, And that was the Dave. 26 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,479 Speaker 1: Britney Spears was finally allowed to address the chord about 27 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 1: our conservatorship after more than a dozen years of suffering 28 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: in silence in this episode Lithium Submission, breaking the silence 29 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: in the long awaited emancipation of Britney Spears. I'm Jake 30 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: Brennan and this is Disgraceland. Britney Spears knew she would 31 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: have to be fast if she wanted to get away 32 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: with it. She thrust open the door to the local 33 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: burger jointed and held it open for her security guard. 34 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 1: Not one she hired. No, this was a stranger. A 35 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: stranger hired a trailer at all times, hired by her father, 36 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: her conservator. Six days into this conservative stick, and it 37 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: was already old. February sixth, two thousand and eight, Britney 38 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:56,799 Speaker 1: flashed a smile as she held the door. You could 39 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: call it Southern charm, but today it was a strategy. 40 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:03,679 Speaker 1: The guard entered the restaurant in front of her. Brittany 41 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: cautiously followed. The scent of grease and sizzling patties hit 42 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: her nose, her mouth watered after days in the hospital. 43 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: All this hearty real food made her knees weak, and 44 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:17,919 Speaker 1: then the presence of the guard we we nearby yanked 45 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: her back to reality. Remember what you're here to do? Focus? Oh, 46 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: you're right, So Brittany spun on her heel. She flung 47 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: the door back open and sprinted towards her car in 48 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: the parking lot. She tossed herself into the front seat 49 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: and threw that fucker in her verse, just like a 50 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: woman caught in a paparazzi chase, which, of course, is 51 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: inevitably what this little incident would turn into. She dialed 52 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: with her thumb on her clunky cellphone as she peeled 53 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: off towards the highway. Her former business manager, Howard Grossman, 54 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: answered her call for help, meaning about the Beverly Hills Hotel. 55 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: He said, asa. Brittany banged a U turn and steered 56 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: straight for the hotel, set did a handful of paparazzi 57 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: and spotted her flying solo on the road. She could 58 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: escape from hers squescurity, but she couldn't escape the onslaught 59 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: of snapshots. A few more perhaps piled onto the daisy 60 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: chain behind Britney's black Mercedes Bends, and then another few, 61 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: and then it was a dozen. By the time she 62 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: turned onto Sunset Boulevard, between fifteen and seventy five paparazzi 63 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: cars run on the hunt behind her. Brittany couldn't give 64 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: a shit, snap away, publish what you want. She had 65 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: business to tend to. Brittany was beyond caring about unflattering photos. 66 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: Now inside the Beverly Hills Hotel, she and Howard reconnected 67 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: over an urgent matter they could barely discuss earlier that week, 68 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: when she was confined to a hospital room at the 69 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:40,119 Speaker 1: UCLA Medical Center. Damn that fifty one to fifty hold. 70 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,719 Speaker 1: Brittany needed a lawyer, a good lawyer, someone who would 71 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,839 Speaker 1: help her navigate a term she didn't even know existed 72 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,600 Speaker 1: roughly a week ago. Brittany didn't want to end this 73 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: new conservatorship she had already accepted the situation. Instead, she 74 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 1: just wanted someone other than her father to be in charge. 75 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: Does this sound like the idea of someone with dementia symptoms? 76 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: As Brittany's father, Jamie Spears, had claimed in his conservatorship 77 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: paperwork only a few days prior, this is a mature, 78 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:11,840 Speaker 1: respectful request. Brittany wasn't asking for the conservatorship to end. 79 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: She just wanted someone else to be your metaphorical boss, 80 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:19,039 Speaker 1: someone she wasn't afraid of. She craved a little humanity. 81 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: She knew at this point a different conservator was her 82 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: last chance at a decent life. The timeline for her 83 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: new legal arrangement had been hurried along on purpose, and 84 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:32,600 Speaker 1: Brittany never even got the chance to balk. Under normal circumstances, 85 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:37,719 Speaker 1: potential conservatis had five days notice before conservatorship begins, allowing 86 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: them time to contest the arrangement or find their own lawyer, 87 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 1: but Brittany hadn't been granted any such time. Instead, Jamie Spears, 88 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: her dad, claimed the influence of Britney's quote unquote life 89 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: coach Sam Lutfi was such a threat that he needed 90 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: to take over immediately. Jamie didn't just file for the 91 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: temporary conservatorship over Brittany. He took it one one step further. 92 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: That same day, Jamie requested a restraining order against Sam. 93 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:07,679 Speaker 1: He didn't want to see that creep within two hundred 94 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 1: and fifty yards of Brittany or her homes, her children, 95 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:14,679 Speaker 1: or her cars, even her parents' homes. Brittany's mother, Lynn 96 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,600 Speaker 1: laid out the explanation in a lengthy breakdown of Sam's 97 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:21,200 Speaker 1: alleged sins. She claimed he drugged Brittany, cut her home 98 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:25,160 Speaker 1: phone lines, and disabled her cars, disposed of her phone chargers, 99 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: and basically Sam Leffy isolated in gas lit the hell 100 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,160 Speaker 1: out of Brittany. And Lynn even stated that Sam had 101 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: a plan to have Britney slip into a sleep induced 102 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,039 Speaker 1: coma so a doctor could give her drugs to heal 103 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: her brain. That's a quote, heal her brain for real. 104 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:44,119 Speaker 1: Sam already had two other strikes against them too. Prior 105 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,480 Speaker 1: to infecting Britney's life, courts granted two other people restraining 106 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,359 Speaker 1: orders against Sam. One was from an ex neighbor in 107 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: two thousand and four who Sam harassed and threatened, and 108 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: the other came from a former business associated who claimed 109 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: Sam off and harassed her with offensive facts as and emails, 110 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: plus fifteen to thirty telephone calls and hang ups every day. 111 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: All the claims suggested that Sam was indeed a bad, 112 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: bad man. The threat to Britney's sanity, even to her 113 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: life left from the pages of Jamie's court paperwork. The 114 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: judge granted the restraining order and the conservatorship on February first, 115 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight, waving Britney's right to a five 116 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 1: day notice. First they threw out her warning, and then 117 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: they threw out Britney's legal representative. One she chose because 118 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: once someone becomes a conservative, they don't have much choice 119 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 1: in anything, even if you're Britney spears now. While Brittany 120 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: completed her stay at the UCLA Medical Center earlier that week, 121 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: Poward connected her with an attorney named Adam streisand as 122 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: a cousin of Barbara. Adam spoke with Brittany about her 123 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: a strange relationship with her father and her desire to 124 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 1: have Jamie removed his conservator of her person and her estate. 125 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 1: He heard her plead, he understood her, and he agreed 126 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: to speak to the court on her behalf. In their conversation, 127 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,560 Speaker 1: it didn't matter the court didn't care. Adam tried to 128 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: explain he had information demonstrating that Jamie wasn't a healthy 129 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: fit as Britney's conservative, and the court turned around and 130 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: told him they possessed special information too, a medical report 131 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: stating that Brittany didn't have the capacity to retain counsel 132 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: and have an attorney client relationship. Instead, Incredibly, the court 133 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: appointed a lawyer on Britney's behalf, a man named Sam Ingham. 134 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: Sam said that he chatted with Brittany over the weekend too. 135 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 1: He claimed she didn't understand this conservatorship arrangement one bit, 136 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: And then again, maybe that's because his visit with Brittany 137 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,960 Speaker 1: at the hospital was unannounced and only lasted fifteen minutes. 138 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: The court rejected Adam's request and rejected him as Britney's lawyer. 139 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 1: Then they ejected him from the courtroom. Adam Streisan never 140 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 1: saw that medical report. If anything, the meeting had the 141 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: opposite effect on Britney's feet. The judge extended the temporary 142 00:08:56,160 --> 00:09:00,439 Speaker 1: conservatorship for an additional week through February fourteenth, pending another hearing. 143 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:03,839 Speaker 1: Britney's life and her forty million dollar estate remained in 144 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: Jamie's control for the indefinite future. She was trapped caged 145 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: in plain sight, one hundred percent on display like a 146 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 1: sideshow freak. But Brittany didn't do side shows. She took 147 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:21,080 Speaker 1: center stage. She played the role of the ringleader. Jamie 148 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: might have the power to approve who she worked with, 149 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:26,080 Speaker 1: but Brittany still called the shots as a lyricist, a singer, 150 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:29,559 Speaker 1: and a creator. The world still wanted a spectacle, and 151 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: Brittany would give them a spectacle all right. As the 152 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: tedium of life under the Conservative ship wore away at 153 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: her spirit in two thousand and eight, Britney colored her 154 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:41,079 Speaker 1: world with dashes of dazzling yellows, blues and reds. She 155 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: moved her remaining musical freedom into the big top. Ballooning 156 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:47,360 Speaker 1: inside her head. Britney Spears was about to bring the 157 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:52,440 Speaker 1: circus to town. Circus. Her sixth studio album dropped in 158 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 1: late November two thousand and eight and raked in more 159 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: than half a million US album sales in one week. 160 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: Her eye popping pop Bizarre went platinum in just two months, 161 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:03,559 Speaker 1: and the hype around the record was so huge that 162 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:06,440 Speaker 1: the lead single, Womanizers, shot from number ninety six to 163 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:08,679 Speaker 1: number one on the Billboard Hot one hundred in just 164 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: one week, and maybe Brittany was a hot mess at times, 165 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 1: but she was still Brittany. She tipped her top hat 166 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: to the absurdity of her long list of scandals with 167 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: a dirty little ditty called if You Seek Amy. The 168 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:23,079 Speaker 1: single casually explained how all the boys and girls in 169 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:25,680 Speaker 1: the club were begging to if You Seek Amy a 170 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: grammatical nightmare if you read it literally, a parental nightmare 171 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 1: if you read between the lines and heard Britney spelling 172 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:35,319 Speaker 1: fuck me on the radio. And when such vulgar verses 173 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: went to number nineteen on the Billboard Hot one hundred 174 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:40,719 Speaker 1: and remained on the chart for twenty weeks, it was 175 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 1: Brittany who had the lusty last laugh. She transformed tabloid 176 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: gossip into a veritable gold mine. The success of Circus 177 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,680 Speaker 1: eventually carried Brittany from country to country on a world tour, 178 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: proving not even Jamie could suppress her pop prowess. But 179 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: suppressing Britney's superstardom was never what Jamie wanted. Jamie wanted 180 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: Brittany to gain all the success in the world, and 181 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: he wanted his cut of it. Britney Spears pressed her 182 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:30,680 Speaker 1: palms to either side of the road case and hung 183 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 1: on for dear life. The case tilted, fumbled over bumps 184 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: and probably cables taped to the floor, and the vibration 185 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 1: made her stage heels clicked together. There's no place like home, 186 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:46,160 Speaker 1: she muttered to herself in the darkness. Sometimes Brittany reached 187 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: for the top of the box. Other times she gripped 188 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,439 Speaker 1: the chair her crew provided for her. But today she 189 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 1: blindly held her balance with her arms held out like 190 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:57,559 Speaker 1: she was ready to flap her wings and rock it 191 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: out of the case. In two thousand and nine, Britney 192 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 1: spears remained in high demand, such high demand that a 193 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:08,280 Speaker 1: large road case was required to safely escort her from 194 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,120 Speaker 1: backstage to beneath the stage inside arenas during her circus tour. 195 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: Before every show, Britney climbed into the case and perched 196 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: atop the small chair inside, held that pose for however 197 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: long it took the wheeler into the belly of the venue. 198 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: Limberg d answered that she was Britney could stay in the 199 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:30,199 Speaker 1: cramped position for a while as staff whisked away. The 200 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 1: fans that were wired into the road case provided some 201 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 1: much needed ventilation every night. Forty thousand audience members never 202 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: suspected a thing. Britney practiced this awkward to act for 203 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: months in a row. She wasn't claustrophobic. She knew that 204 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: showbiz meant frequent discomfort for the sake of a few 205 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: seconds of magic on stage. But tonight was different. Tonight 206 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 1: fear seized every nerve in Britney's body. The air that 207 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 1: filtered into the case smelt pungent, earthy, trashy, even like 208 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: a skunk out spooked in the backyard and sprayed the 209 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: family dog just like pot. The walls of the roadcase 210 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,240 Speaker 1: closed in on her and her hands went clammy. Brittany 211 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:17,200 Speaker 1: exhaled and clamped her mouth shut, pinched her nose between 212 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:20,079 Speaker 1: her fingers for as long as she could. She frantically 213 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: tried to watch fresh air inside of her free hand, 214 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:25,760 Speaker 1: and the case sank deeper under the stage as Britney's 215 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,280 Speaker 1: lungs pleaded for oxygen. The case had a row of 216 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 1: cables and shuddered. Britney gasped a big, old inhale of 217 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 1: fresh air shit. Finally, the case halted. Britney stylus opened 218 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: the door, and Brittany flew out like a bat out 219 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:43,199 Speaker 1: of hell. It smells like pot. It smells like pot, 220 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 1: Britney repeated herself for emphasis. The stage grew blinked at her. 221 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:49,960 Speaker 1: Of course it smelled like pot. It was a concert venue, 222 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: and who said pot anyways? Its grass weed. Marijuana fans 223 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:56,560 Speaker 1: snuck joints inside every night, and hell, catching a second 224 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:01,000 Speaker 1: hand high was part of most traditional concert experiences. Britney 225 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,920 Speaker 1: paced in a panic circle. Her mind and heart jittered 226 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: in unison while she contemplated the consequences. She couldn't breathe 227 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: in pot smoke, she'd fail her drug test and they 228 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 1: wouldn't let her see her boys. Her fearful voice cracked 229 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 1: as the tears started spilling, and the smell was down 230 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: here too. It wasn't safe, She wasn't safe. Brittany's face 231 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: crumpled in despair, and then she bolted. She tumbled under 232 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,520 Speaker 1: the innards of the stage, skidded around corners in her 233 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 1: stage heels, raced towards the sober safety of her dressing room, 234 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: and her stylus followed and out pursuit or she caught 235 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: up to Brittany. She spun her around and got serious. 236 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: There are forty thousand people out there waiting for you. 237 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:43,600 Speaker 1: She explained, chanting her name, ready to trip away when 238 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 1: she cracked her prop whip to see her prance, to 239 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,920 Speaker 1: see her strut around that stage, the show had to 240 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: go on. Brittany didn't care about the adoration of those 241 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 1: forty thousand people. She cared about two boys, Sean and Jaden, 242 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,960 Speaker 1: her sons. And if Britney failed to test from so 243 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: much as eating a poppy seed muffin or inhaling secondhand smoke, 244 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:07,480 Speaker 1: her time with her boys would be reduced from limited 245 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:11,480 Speaker 1: to zero. Then again, if Brittany didn't qute unquote behave 246 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: herself and act like a gracious little conservati, then that 247 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 1: caused trouble for her custody arrangement too. The public had 248 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 1: already forgotten about her conservators ship, let alone what that 249 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: word even meant. That was last year's news. But in 250 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 1: Britney's world, the conservatorship was nearly all she could think about. 251 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: It ruled her mind because it ruled her life for good. 252 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: As of October two thousand and eight, the conservatorship of 253 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: her person in her estate were legally permanent, permanent control, 254 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: permanent paranoia, a permanent nightmare. Brittany wasn't the ringleader of 255 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: this circus after all, She led out a shaky sigh 256 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 1: and surrendered. Members of her row crew escorted Brittany back 257 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,400 Speaker 1: to her designated spot under the stage, and then they 258 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: dismissed her wardrobe assistant. She had seen too much. She 259 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: always saw too much, Like the way Brittany picked like 260 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 1: a teenager with her father Jamie, over how often she 261 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,320 Speaker 1: could use her cell phone, how she couldn't have sushi 262 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: for dinner too nets in a row because it was 263 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 1: deemed too expensive. How she has denied new shoes at 264 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: the mall for the same reason. For the record, they 265 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: were a pair of sketchers. As Britney's permanent conservator, Jamie 266 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 1: now exercised more power than ever, the power to cancel 267 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: all her credit cards to pursue new professional opportunities for 268 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 1: Britney as long as Britney's medical team approved. Brittany, on 269 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: the other hand, didn't have the right to approve Jack 270 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: if her medical team Okaya considered the contract signed. Brittany 271 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: never bought Jamie that boat, but she did buy him 272 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: a new car under lease with her money against her will, 273 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:45,200 Speaker 1: of course, because Brittany no longer had any direct access 274 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,920 Speaker 1: to her finances, If Brittany desired anything, it had to 275 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 1: be approved first, clothes, food, anything, everything that she so 276 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: much as wanted one hundred dollars to purchase new books 277 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:57,680 Speaker 1: for her sons, she had a call and asked for it. 278 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:00,000 Speaker 1: It could be days before she heard back with an answer. 279 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:05,360 Speaker 1: The days for a mere one hundred dollars for books. 280 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:09,240 Speaker 1: For all this taxing work, Jamie Brittany's dad had Brittany 281 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:13,320 Speaker 1: caught him a sixteen thousand dollars paycheck every month straight 282 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 1: from Britney's bank account. He named his own price, of course, 283 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: and in return, he limited Britney's allowance of her own 284 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 1: money to eight thousand dollars a month, half of what 285 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 1: he paid himself. If anything was causing the Spears estate 286 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 1: to dwindle, it was Jamie's pricey paydays, not California rolls 287 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 1: two nights in a row. But the circus tour kept 288 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,639 Speaker 1: the cash flow consistent. After Jamie milk Britney's stamina for 289 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:41,199 Speaker 1: seventy tour dates worldwide, she returned home to California for 290 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,959 Speaker 1: so much needed R and R, which would be easy 291 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,440 Speaker 1: since Brittany was allowed to do little more than sing, 292 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 1: dance and earn revenue. No more days of Sam Lefty 293 00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 1: inviting paparazzi inside of the house. If anyone visited her home, 294 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:57,119 Speaker 1: Jamie knew about it. If Brittany wanted to take a 295 00:17:57,160 --> 00:17:59,480 Speaker 1: spin around the gated community on a golf cart with 296 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: her boyfriend friend, Jamie knew about that too. Even leaving 297 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:04,919 Speaker 1: the neighborhood for a quick bite to eat required a 298 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:07,959 Speaker 1: phone call for permission. It could be minutes until Brittany 299 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,120 Speaker 1: got a call back. It could be hours. And if 300 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:12,880 Speaker 1: you were craving that Hamburger right now, well, tough shit. 301 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: You probably couldn't afford it anyways, right. Brittany was used 302 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 1: to life under a microscope on the street, at least 303 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 1: not in her own house. Her reality had flipped inside 304 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:25,480 Speaker 1: out before the conservators ship. Her home was the only 305 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,400 Speaker 1: place where she could safely slip under the radar. Now, 306 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:32,000 Speaker 1: Brittany never left Jamie's radar. He hired a security team 307 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,200 Speaker 1: that made sure of it. Brittany knew that when security 308 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:37,719 Speaker 1: showed up every day with pills and an envelope, she 309 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,280 Speaker 1: had to take them immediately, right then and there, with 310 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:44,879 Speaker 1: the guard watching same routine every day. What she didn't 311 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:47,680 Speaker 1: know was that the same guards could view her texts, photos, 312 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:50,159 Speaker 1: and phone call history. All they had to do is 313 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: log into an iPad with the same eye Cloud name 314 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,199 Speaker 1: and password as Britney's phone, and boom, they had a 315 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: replica of her digital life in real time. She didn't 316 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:00,679 Speaker 1: know they were ordered to encrypt certain text messages and 317 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:04,800 Speaker 1: passed them along to Jamie in secret. Either. The grossest 318 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:07,640 Speaker 1: surveillance sin of them all came when the security team 319 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 1: hit a recording device and used it to capture more 320 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: than one hundred and eighty hours of audio without her 321 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 1: knowledge in her bedroom. Not all that different from someone 322 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:20,320 Speaker 1: asking if your a version or if your breasts are real? Visit. 323 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:24,200 Speaker 1: When Brittany was a child and things got rough at home, 324 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: at least she could run to her on trailer. Now 325 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:28,960 Speaker 1: she couldn't even leave the house without her father knowing 326 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,160 Speaker 1: precisely where she was headed. With extensive means of keeping 327 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: tabs on, her circus had enticed the masses once again, 328 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: and so at feed Fatal for twenty eleven album that 329 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: produced Holded It Against Me, Britney's fourth career number one 330 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: single on the Hot one hundred. It also marked a 331 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:50,000 Speaker 1: momentous occasion in her career Brittany now had number one 332 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: singles in three different decades. Her fame was on a 333 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,679 Speaker 1: rebound ricocheting offered tabloid rock Bottom earrow of two thousand 334 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: and six to two thousand and eight. But Brittany now 335 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 1: dwelled in a different rock Bottom, and this one didn't 336 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:05,280 Speaker 1: allow her any room to mess up so much as 337 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 1: Inhalo with We by Accident. Painfully ironic considering her dad 338 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:15,159 Speaker 1: Jamie's liquor laiden past, but Brittany endurted begrudgingly strictly as 339 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,679 Speaker 1: a mother who loved her sons. She knew they were 340 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: the only things still worth fighting for. But she also 341 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:23,440 Speaker 1: knew they'd given the choice between living like this or 342 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:26,680 Speaker 1: a life inside or a special road case, She'd pick 343 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:33,919 Speaker 1: the road case. We'll be right back after this word 344 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 1: were were. Britney Spears couldn't believe what she was hearing 345 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 1: from her spot on her therapist plush sofa. It sounded 346 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:51,359 Speaker 1: like a dream, like nothing was real, because nothing Doctor 347 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 1: Benson was saying was real. It was all eyes rotten 348 00:20:55,640 --> 00:21:00,239 Speaker 1: bullshit piped in from wildly unreliable sources who loved to 349 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:04,040 Speaker 1: stack the odds against her. Doctor Benson gobbled it up. 350 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,160 Speaker 1: He received quite a few calls in the past few days, 351 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: He explained, agitated ones. Calls from folks claiming that Brittany 352 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,520 Speaker 1: wasn't taking her medication, that she wasn't cooperating to everyone's 353 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: level of satisfaction during dance rehearsals. Bullshit. She cooperated just fine. 354 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:24,080 Speaker 1: She led those rehearsals, for fock's sake, led all sixteen dancers. Actually, 355 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:26,560 Speaker 1: the dance studio was the one room in her life 356 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:30,119 Speaker 1: where she could lead. Brittany knew what this was really about. 357 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,439 Speaker 1: This was about Las Vegas, about saying no to a 358 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,360 Speaker 1: second residency, because somehow two hundred and forty eight shows 359 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:41,240 Speaker 1: that the Axis Theater just hadn't been enough for Jamie Spears. 360 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 1: Britney's Fame Piece of Me review deposited three hundred and 361 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:47,680 Speaker 1: ten thousand dollars in the bank, and for each concert 362 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,919 Speaker 1: almost a million dollars a week for five years straight, 363 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty seven point seven million dollars in 364 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,880 Speaker 1: box office sales total. Jamie took home one point five 365 00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:59,520 Speaker 1: percent of that fortune, along with a cut of Britney's 366 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,960 Speaker 1: merchandise sales. That's two point one million dollars. If you're 367 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: counting in addition to his monthly salary of sixteen grand. 368 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,440 Speaker 1: Crunched the numbers, and over those five years, Jamie Spears 369 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,600 Speaker 1: raked in more than three million dollars skimmed off the 370 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:16,200 Speaker 1: top of Britney's payday. Of course, but Jamie wanted more. 371 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:19,040 Speaker 1: His entire team wanted more, and they had the legal 372 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: weaponry to insure it. Britney's co conservator, Andrew Wallatt again 373 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: that's the guy's real name, submitted a document praising Britney's 374 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 1: lucrative career under the conservatorship and called their arrangement a 375 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 1: quote unquote hybrid business model. In that same paperwork, he 376 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:36,160 Speaker 1: also happened to sneak in a request for a raise. 377 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:40,240 Speaker 1: Convenient Conservative ships were supposed to work for the Conservative 378 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 1: for the vulnerable party, but these days it seemed like 379 00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:47,040 Speaker 1: Britney was working for Jamie. And because Jamie could agree 380 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,639 Speaker 1: to business opportunities on Britney's behalf, he kept that sweet, 381 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:54,440 Speaker 1: sweet cash coming in. Regardless of what Brittany had to say, 382 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: not that she ever got the chance to say it. 383 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:59,480 Speaker 1: No one asked her if she needed to rehearse and 384 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:02,240 Speaker 1: perform on her birthday. Too bad if she had a 385 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,520 Speaker 1: fever of one hundred and two directly before performance, too bad, 386 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 1: And if she was forced to perform a mini tour 387 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,359 Speaker 1: directly after two hundred and forty eight shows and she 388 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 1: was tired, well, tough darts pout tart uranity. They called 389 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: it the Piece of Me Tour, a hastily branded extension 390 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:23,160 Speaker 1: of Britney's residency. The tour was set to jet from 391 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:26,399 Speaker 1: the US to Europe over thirty dates, bringing some Vegas 392 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 1: vava vun to the fat wallets who couldn't make it 393 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 1: to Nevada. Legally, Brittany couldn't even shoot the dates down. 394 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:37,120 Speaker 1: Her current management contract locked in her performance obligations. If 395 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:39,640 Speaker 1: Brittany were to back out, her own management team could 396 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:42,440 Speaker 1: sue her. So she took the Pice of Me Residency 397 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: on the road and performed until there were no more 398 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,960 Speaker 1: pieces of herself left to give away. The tour ended 399 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:51,680 Speaker 1: on October twenty first, twenty eighteen. The second Las Vegas 400 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:56,159 Speaker 1: residency was announced October twelfth, nine days earlier. They literally 401 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 1: announced it before Brittany could wrap up her first set 402 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: of shows for rest in between residencies or family time 403 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:07,320 Speaker 1: or health time of Grower family. By twenty nineteen. Britain 404 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,880 Speaker 1: was eager to bring more children into the Spear's household, 405 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,360 Speaker 1: but Jamie refused to let her see a doctor who 406 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:17,359 Speaker 1: could remove her iud. Jamie's control went that deep it 407 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 1: spread to the most intimate parts of her body. The 408 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:22,920 Speaker 1: only thing drowning out the maternal tic tick boom in 409 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 1: her mind was the rhythm of her razor sharp dance moves. 410 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:30,159 Speaker 1: Britney's body was long past the brink of exhaustion. She 411 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 1: needed a breather, a fucking break to get out of 412 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 1: the zone for a while before her limbs straight up 413 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 1: fell off her body. But Vegas was heating up again. 414 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:43,520 Speaker 1: Lady Gaga relocated her ludicrous pop to the strip. Bruno 415 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 1: mars A swath singing broad in the Big Bucks with 416 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,960 Speaker 1: his residency over at the Park Theater, Calvin Harris and 417 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:52,280 Speaker 1: the Chainsmoker's DJ through evenings of debauchery under million dollar 418 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: contracts with nightclubs. The Las Vegas residencies weren't just a 419 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: sad cash grab for has been so were too old 420 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,200 Speaker 1: to tour anymore longer a gig where old stars rot 421 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,840 Speaker 1: alongside the outdated hotels, paint peeling from their facade of 422 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 1: old grandeur wants, the gleaming highlights of American pop culture, 423 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 1: and now unkempt and underwhelming. No, Las Vegas was new again, 424 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:18,760 Speaker 1: and the desert was hot, so Britney's presence there had 425 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 1: to stay hot too. News of her second residency rock 426 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:25,919 Speaker 1: the pop community. Flashy new billboards graced the sleeves of 427 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:31,400 Speaker 1: the strip. Another concept came into focus, Brittany domination. Maybe 428 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 1: the name was the final straw domination more like dominated. 429 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 1: Britney was sick of the submission. Brittany said no to 430 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,320 Speaker 1: the name, to the residency, to the endless work without 431 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,400 Speaker 1: adequate rest. She said no to all of it. One 432 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:50,560 Speaker 1: little word, two little letters, one massive source of trouble. 433 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:56,120 Speaker 1: Someone or something had to quiet that trouble. Britney's therapists 434 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:02,960 Speaker 1: chose lithium. Then things in Britney's world to a halt, 435 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: and her legs hurt like hell. She stretched them from 436 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: the discomfort of the feign bed she was tucked into. 437 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,440 Speaker 1: She couldn't dance anymore, not here, and they wouldn't let her. 438 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:17,760 Speaker 1: For Brittany. They once met her father and the legal 439 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:21,160 Speaker 1: team beyond the conservatorship, but in recent weeks they had 440 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: swelled to include even more people, specifically the nurses of 441 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 1: the mental health facility where she was currently living. But 442 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,840 Speaker 1: despite their constant presence, no one at the facility could 443 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:34,800 Speaker 1: adequately explain why she was here. Britney traced the events 444 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,320 Speaker 1: again in her mind. She said no to the residency, 445 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: and the doctor put her on lithium and ripped her 446 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,840 Speaker 1: from the comfort of her regular medications. She devolved into 447 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:46,440 Speaker 1: a sleepy, slurring mess. She apparently failed a mental health 448 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,240 Speaker 1: test that she didn't even understand, and now she was 449 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:52,800 Speaker 1: here in a small facility in Beverly Hills for rehab. 450 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,919 Speaker 1: Rehab for what exactly. She was squeaky clean in every way, 451 00:26:57,359 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 1: as she looked drunk all at the time. It was 452 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 1: only because they were pumpeder full of lithium every day 453 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,240 Speaker 1: that kept her in a stupor, and the only benefit 454 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,240 Speaker 1: of the lithium loopiness was that it took the edge 455 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:09,919 Speaker 1: off her extreme lack of privacy. Nurses watched Brittany just 456 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:12,520 Speaker 1: like the paparazzi used to, except they were by her 457 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:14,680 Speaker 1: side at her new home twenty four hours a day. 458 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:18,440 Speaker 1: They watched her change fuck naked every morning. They peered 459 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,640 Speaker 1: at her from the hallways right through the empty doorframe 460 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:23,920 Speaker 1: to Britney's room where the doors should have been stretching 461 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:27,240 Speaker 1: her limbs in a rehearsal studio is obviously off the table. 462 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:31,760 Speaker 1: Brittany couldn't dance, but she could sure work long days 463 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:35,359 Speaker 1: eight am to six pm every day, no weekends off. 464 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,480 Speaker 1: Brittany didn't even know how that was legal. She might 465 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:41,080 Speaker 1: not have been performing anymore, but her body slumped into 466 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,679 Speaker 1: a new kind of exhaustion, her joints ached from sitting 467 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,080 Speaker 1: through meetings ten hours a day, seven days a week. 468 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:49,720 Speaker 1: Her schedule was new, but her dad Jamie, in the 469 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:52,720 Speaker 1: rehab facility, dangled the same damn carrot in front of her. 470 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:57,000 Speaker 1: Misbehave and you'll be missing your children, your honky boyfriend too. 471 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: So Britney obeyed Miss American dreams since she was seventeen. 472 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 1: Now lived a nine to five nightmare. And for this 473 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:10,800 Speaker 1: grand luxury of working ten hour days, seven days a week, 474 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:15,440 Speaker 1: Britney paid sixty thousand dollars every month, sixty thousand dollars 475 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,320 Speaker 1: to be in a rehabilitation program when there was nothing 476 00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: to rehabilitate except perhaps or perceived disobedience. As one final 477 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,480 Speaker 1: blow to Britney's freedom, Britty didn't even have a phone. 478 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 1: That's where Jamie Spears and the rest of the Unnecessary 479 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:34,280 Speaker 1: team messed up. Because if Britney didn't ever phone, she 480 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:37,439 Speaker 1: couldn't post to social media, and her Instagram and Twitter 481 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 1: accounts went radio silent for months. Fans noticed, and they talked, posted, 482 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,720 Speaker 1: stirred up new conversations about the conservatorship, relearned what the 483 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:52,080 Speaker 1: hell of conservatorship was. They learned a little empathy too, 484 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: something that was lacking in the ravenous tabloid culture of 485 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: two thousand and seven. In two thousand and eight, the 486 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 1: news exploded. Wait, servertorship was still a thing. Fans retweeted 487 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: every article, they theorized, started podcasts, made YouTube videos, They 488 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:12,880 Speaker 1: made a hashtag too free Brittany, and then they started 489 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:35,400 Speaker 1: a movement. The Private Investigator was lucky. The chant was 490 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:39,400 Speaker 1: so simple, What do we want free Brittany? When do 491 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:42,920 Speaker 1: we want it now? The p I yelled, along with 492 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: the small circus of fans gathered on the street. She 493 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,280 Speaker 1: marched in step with the real protesters, who carried signs 494 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:52,800 Speaker 1: that read Brittany is not your slave and free Brittany, bitch. 495 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 1: The mole might not have had a pithy slogan to 496 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,120 Speaker 1: parade around, but she had the fangirl look down to 497 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:02,040 Speaker 1: a science pink sunglass, an old Circus tour T shirt 498 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 1: and fishnets layered under short shorts. She wasn't there to 499 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:09,480 Speaker 1: spread awareness. She was there to collect information and chat 500 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:11,280 Speaker 1: it up with the fans. Hear what they were saying. 501 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:14,000 Speaker 1: Which aspects of the conservatives ship they were bringing up 502 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,200 Speaker 1: id them, which was easy if you swapped a few 503 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:21,720 Speaker 1: Instagram and Twitter follows. She played the role of advocate 504 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:24,840 Speaker 1: for hours, but when the megaphone finally went silent, the 505 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 1: PI went home and fed all the information directly to 506 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:31,720 Speaker 1: Britney Spears's dad, Jamie. Jamie claimed the secret research was 507 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:36,160 Speaker 1: conducted for Britney's own protection against the so called conspiracy theorists. 508 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:40,000 Speaker 1: It was, of course, for his own protection instead, what 509 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:43,440 Speaker 1: do these people want? Anyways? As far as Jamie was concerned, 510 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 1: fans had won their battle. Jamie stepped down as the 511 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: conservatorship of Britney's person in twenty nineteen. Problem solved, except 512 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:55,760 Speaker 1: he remained a conservator of her estate. Problem not solved. 513 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,400 Speaker 1: The conspiracy theorist, Jamie bitched about, weren't onto a conspiracy 514 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 1: at all. They just called together the Truth in Detail, 515 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:06,040 Speaker 1: and Britney's silence on social media in twenty nineteen was 516 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:08,880 Speaker 1: their tip off. Just over a year later, a petition 517 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:11,440 Speaker 1: to release Brittany for the Conservatorship and netted over one 518 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:15,000 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty four thousand signatures. The media was throwing 519 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,480 Speaker 1: around the word crazy and Britney spears in the same 520 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,760 Speaker 1: sentence again, But unlike two thousand and eight, it wasn't 521 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 1: that Brittany was crazy. It was that Brittany had been 522 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 1: locked in a troubling situation for more than a decade now, 523 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:32,560 Speaker 1: and that was bona fide, bad shit crazy. Jamie resorted 524 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:35,600 Speaker 1: to costly damage control and hired lawyers to advocate for 525 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:39,160 Speaker 1: the Conservatorship to news channels. Through on air interviews. They 526 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:43,400 Speaker 1: casually told newscasters about the supposedly great help the Conservatorship 527 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:46,720 Speaker 1: offered Brittany. The combined cost of all those lawyers good 528 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:49,680 Speaker 1: faith was five hundred and thirty thousand dollars, and they 529 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,520 Speaker 1: sent the build of Brittany. Of course, she literally forked 530 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: over half a million dollars for attorneys to work against 531 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:59,920 Speaker 1: her best interests. Jamie even arranged a special natural photo 532 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:03,360 Speaker 1: opportunity for the paparazzi. He made Brittany leave a public 533 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:06,600 Speaker 1: building without security alongside her boyfriend to show just how 534 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:10,760 Speaker 1: free and normal her life was. Jamie could call the news, 535 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 1: and he could call the courts, but for once, what 536 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: he couldn't control was his daughter's own voice, because in 537 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,520 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, the court granted her permission to speak 538 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 1: the next hearing. That's right, up until this point, Britney 539 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:28,920 Speaker 1: Spears herself was never a part of any of these conversations. 540 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:31,959 Speaker 1: An attorney had a request that she'd be able to speak. 541 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:38,320 Speaker 1: June twenty third, twenty twenty one, Brittany dialed in to 542 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:42,000 Speaker 1: make the phone call that would change her life. Everyone 543 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:45,080 Speaker 1: in the courtroom held their breath, and no papers rustled, 544 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:48,320 Speaker 1: no pens clicked, and the news outlets swarming outside and 545 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:52,520 Speaker 1: patiently pressed their earpieces waiting for the scoop. Fans gathered 546 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 1: around phones waiting for their Twitter update. For once, the 547 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: world paused their pop playlists and listened to what Brittany 548 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:00,960 Speaker 1: had to say about her well being, a courtesy offered 549 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:03,640 Speaker 1: over a decade too late, but better late than never. 550 00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:08,320 Speaker 1: Brittany found her written speech, and then she spilled it 551 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:12,680 Speaker 1: all the lithium, the lack of privacy, the IUD stuck 552 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:16,160 Speaker 1: inside her, the ten hour workdays, the carrot dangling in 553 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:18,640 Speaker 1: front of her children, and her maternal will to do 554 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,960 Speaker 1: anything to see them used to manipulate her into submission. 555 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 1: Every detail sounded another alarm, raised another red flag about 556 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:30,080 Speaker 1: her arrangement. But what shocked the court the most was 557 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:34,520 Speaker 1: Britney's polished presentation. She was lucid, just as lucid as 558 00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:36,960 Speaker 1: she had been in two thousand and eight, thirteen years ago, 559 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,960 Speaker 1: when she politely requested a different conservator from her father 560 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:43,840 Speaker 1: audit afternoon. When Brittany had every right to scream and shout, 561 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:47,320 Speaker 1: she calmly stated her case. This was a person who 562 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:50,200 Speaker 1: was capable of speaking for herself, of understanding just what 563 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:53,840 Speaker 1: she was being subject to. Within a month of the hearing, 564 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: the court finally permitted Brittany to choose her own lawyer. 565 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:01,480 Speaker 1: She hired Matthew Rosengard, Hollywood's litigated of choice for celebrities 566 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:05,680 Speaker 1: and major corporations. Matthew came to court with guns blazing. 567 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:08,960 Speaker 1: He brought a petition to remove Jamie from the Conservative ship. 568 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:12,120 Speaker 1: He brought documented proof that Britney's medical team supported a 569 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,960 Speaker 1: removal of Jamie. The most or least surprising of all, 570 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:20,399 Speaker 1: he brought paperwork accusing Jamie of extortion, claiming Jamie straight 571 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:23,360 Speaker 1: up asked Brittany for an additional two million dollars for 572 00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:28,440 Speaker 1: him to leave the Conservative Ship. It was over. Jamie 573 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:30,560 Speaker 1: raised his white flag and packed the last of his 574 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:35,120 Speaker 1: monthly sixteen thousand dollars paychecks into his suitcase. On September 575 00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:38,600 Speaker 1: twenty ninth, twenty twenty one, a judge suspended Jamie for 576 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:43,520 Speaker 1: the Conservatorship. Two months later, they suspended the Conservative Ship entirely. 577 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,680 Speaker 1: On November twelve, twenty twenty one, the court stated that 578 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,920 Speaker 1: after thirteen years, the Conservative Ship was no longer required 579 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:56,160 Speaker 1: funny phrasing when you considered that such a disgraceful order 580 00:34:56,280 --> 00:35:01,600 Speaker 1: was probably never required in the first place. 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