Britney Spears Conspiracy Theories: Disturbing Rumors About What's Really Going On With Troubled Pop Star
#FreeBritney?
Tinseltown / Shutterstock Britney Spears is all grown up. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it's all good news for the embattled singer.
While Spears' social media presence is spotty at best, her recent Instagram posts have not only sparked a lot of discussion online — with many commenters posting concern over her mental health and competency — but also started rumors about what's really going on with the seemingly troubled pop star. Unlike many other pop stars — who fall out of the public's grace from time to time, usually over some bone-headed move or another — Spears is universally beloved, so many of the comments made about her state of mind are rooted in deep and genuine concern for her well-being.
Here's what we know about Britney Spears' conspiracy theories and rumors about what's really going on with her.
Her conservatorship has been extended — but her father is no longe her conservator.
In September 2019, Jamie Spears — Britney Spears' father and long-time conservator — stepped down from the role he's had since 2008, citing his declining health. The elder Spears had previously petitioned the court to have him step down from the role but he didn't formally step down until that time. However, right after the elder Spears stepped down from the role, Britney Spears' longtime care manager, Jodi Montgomery, stepped in and she's held the role ever since. In May 2020, Judge Brenda Penny extended Montgomery's conservatorship over Britney Spears until at least August of 2020. The decision by Judge Penny came without a hearing because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and there's some suggestion that it came in part due to Britney Spears admitting that she "accidentally" set fire to her home gym, which theh singer revealed in a bizarre Instagram posting, which you can view below.
Britney has been posting bizarre Instagram videos for a while.
In one of the stranger posts dated July 3, 2020, Britney Spears posted a video to her Instagram account wherein she shared a bouquet of flowers from "her florist." Spears said that she just "had to share" that the flowers were "all different colors" (and they were cute, for what it's worth). But that wasn't what got people talking. It was the fact that Britney Spears seemed to pop in and out of frame, making jerking movements and looking somewhat out of it.
TikTok user Mars Monroe had a lot to say.
In a TikTok response video that went viral — garnering over 7 million views in 2 days, as of this writing — popular user Mars Monroe listed a litany of disturbing claims about why Spears was under conservatorship. He said that the video was Spears' "cry for help." He then went on to say that Spears has "no rights" under the conservatorship, that she's on a heavy dose of anti-psychotic medication so she can be "submissive to her handlers," and cannot do anything without the permission of her conservator. You can check out his video with the startling allegations below.
Are any of Monroe's claims factual?
While it's true that there have been several rumors to this extent that have circulated about the nature of Spears' conservatorship, none of Monroe's claims have ever been substantiated by anyone close to Spears. And while it's true that Britney Spears wasn't a fan of the conservatorship she'd been placed under since 2008 when it first happened, she's still on it to this day, despite the various #FreeBritney petitions that have circulated through the years.
What actually is a conservatorship?
Conservatorship is a term used to describe someone who can make decisions for someone else — specifically, about their finances and their health care — when they no longer physically can do so. Conservators are usually appointed to people who suffer from serious illnesses, such as Alzheimer's, and who therefore can no longer make their own decisions. But nowhere in the description of "conservator" do we see anything about the conservatee "having no rights" nor do we see that the conservatee "cannot do anything without the permission of the conservator," as Monore claims in his Tik-Tok video.
What does Britney Spears' conservatorship entail?
The reason Britney Spears was placed under conservatorship in the first place: In 2008, she suffered a series of severe mental breakdowns (remember the head-shaving incident? Remember the time she smashed a paparazzo's car with an umbrella?), and thus, was placed under conservatorship by a judge, who granted it to her dad, Jamie Spears, at the time.
Under Britney Spears' conservatorship, Jamie Spears merely had control over Britney Spears' estate, her professional assets, and some of her personal assets. Despite Mars Monroe's claims that Britney Spears has no control over her life, sources close to the "Baby One More Time" singer say that the exact opposite is true: thanks to the conservatorship, Britney Spears has a better grasp of her financial and legal responsibilities and she's very involved in all the business decisions she makes. What's more, Britney Spears' conservatorship isn't "unilateral" — Jamie Spears, in fact, had to petition the court to extend the conservatorship to other states, and it doesn't even apply in all states.
Britney Spears is worth millions, and her smart decisions under the conservatorship played a very big role in all of that.
Because she's under conservatorship, all of Britney Spears' transactions have to be recorded with the court. In 2019, it was revealed that she was worth nearly $60 million dollars. Of that amount, she spent $400,000 on living expenses, $66,000 on household supplies, and $1.1 million in legal fees related to the conservatorship. And, despite the critics' claims that Britney Spears' conservator has unlimited access to her money, that is not the case — of the $1.1 million in legal fees related to the conservatorship, Britney Spears' conservator only took home about $100,000 for the year for the trouble. That's a far cry from "complete access to her millions" and it certainly doesn't seem like Spears is suffering — financially, at least — under the conservatorship.
And what's more, there's another added benefit to the conservatorship: it keeps toxic people away from Britney Spears. Remember Sam Lufti? Well, it turns out he was responsible for a lot of the bad decisions she made in the past, and was even stealing money from her at one point. While Britney Spears was unable to make a sound decision regarding him when she was in the throes of her mental breakdowns, under her conservatorship, she was able to obtain a restraining order from Lufti in 2009 and 2019. Spears is currently dating Sam Asghari, though yet another social media rumor, which is unsubstantiated, is that he is her keeper and is being paid to watch over her.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, publicist, and photographer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, People, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, BET.com, and more.