Is Britney Spears Being Held Against Her Will? New Details On The #FreeBritney Theory That She's Being Forced Into A Mental Facility
Do we need to #FreeBritney?
s_bukley / Shutterstock On April 3rd, 2019, Britney Spears had checked herself into a mental health facility. Her fans collectively groaned, hoping that the shaved head, barefoot, umbrella-wielding Spears of 2007 wasn't making a comeback.
At the time, Spears attributed her mental health break to her dad's ongoing illness. This all came after Spears announced an indefinite hiatus from her Las Vegas residency, so that she could tend to her father Jamie Spears' health.
A #FreeBritney hashtag surfaced shortly after that, lending credence to the conspiracy theory that Spears was being held against her will at a mental health institution and that she had also been there far longer than had been reported.
Is Britney Spears being held against her will?
Tess Barker and Barbara Gray are Los Angeles-based comediennes that host a weekly podcast called Britney's Gram. The podcast offers funny dissections of Britney's IG posts.
However, on Tuesday, April 16th, 2019, Barker and Gray did what they called "a special emergency episode" called #FreeBritney.
Since then, the #FreeBritney movement has only grown and continues to keep growing. There's even been a petition created that over 100,000 people have signed. Fans continue to be puzzled and concerned about Spears' Instagram posts, often describing them as "bizarre."
In September 2019, Jamie Spears stepped down from his role as his daughter's conservator, and Jodi Montgomery was appointed as her new conservator.
Is Britney Spears being held against her will? Let's examine the evidence and theories.
Spears has had a conservator since 2008.
The hour-long #FreeBritney episode examines Spears ongoing conservatorship. She has been under the conservatorship since early 2008, after she shaved her head and was admitted to UCLA Medical on a 5150 (5150 is the penal code for involuntary commitment to a mental hospital or ward in California.)
Since that time, Spears has made one heck of a comeback, and fans wonder why she is still under a conservatorship.
Typically, a conservatorship is put in place for the elderly and mentally ill. Under her conservatorship, Spears is not allowed to make any financial or business decisions on her own.
Spears was being admitted to the mental health facility while her medications were changed. Even under a conservatorship, a conservator cannot force the subject to take medications or force them into a mental health facility.
What is the theory about Spears being held against her will?
On January 4th, 2019, Spears posted a #FBF photo of her with her parents, and a long caption that announced the cancellation of her Domination Las Vegas residency.
“A couple of months ago, my father was hospitalized and almost died... I had to make the difficult decision to put my full focus and energy on my family at this time. I hope you all can understand,” she said.
Three days later, on January 7th, she was spotted at an In-N-Out drive-through with her boyfriend, Sam Asghari. Under the guidelines of her conservatorship, she is not allowed to drive. Once those images hit the media, Spears stopped posting on social media. Also, paparazzi shots stopped.
Then, on April 3rd, 2019, right before she announced she was checking into the mental health facility, she posted a motivational quote on her Instagram that said, "We all need to take time for a little me time." On the #FreeBritney podcast, Gray made it clear that she felt the motivational quote was out of the ordinary.
An anonymous source has claimed to know more.
Things get weirder. An anonymous source called the podcast hotline for Barker and Gray and left them a voicemail.
A man's voice yold the comediennes that they were "onto something." How does he know? He claimed to have formerly been "a paralegal for an attorney that worked on Spears conservatorship."
The source claims that Jamie Spears found out that Britney wasn't taking her meds, and he was the one that cancelled her Domination residency and told her to blame it on his illness. They also claim that Spears checked into the mental health facility in mid-January 2019 and that the 30-day stay is a lie.
The source claimed that Spears wanted to do the residency, but was stopped from doing it under the conservatorship.
Barker and Gray believed that Spears wanted to do the second Las Vegas residency because it gave her something to do. Under her conservatorship, she is not allowed to interact with the public.
The anonymous source claimed that Spears' employment was being "used as blackmail to get her to take drugs she didn't want to take."
On April 22nd, 2019, fans of the 38-year-old singer gathered outside of the West Hollywood City Hall demanding Spears' release. The event was streamed live on YouTube.
She was spotted out and about in Los Angeles.
Since allegedly entering treatment, Spears had been spotted out and about in Los Angeles on a number of occasions.
She got her roots and extensions done at a hair salon. She spent time with Asghari on Easter. She was seen in Santa Monica with her bodyguard and assistant grabbing frozen yogurt.
Typically, when patients are in a mental health facility, they're encouraged to keep up their routines.
Spears has responded to the #FreeBritney movement.
In April 2019, Britney took to Instagra to respond to the #FreeBritney movement and rumors that she was being held against her will.
She posted a video and captioned it: "I wanted to say hi, because things that are being said have just gotten out of control!!! Wow!!! There’s rumors, death threats to my family and my team, and just so many things crazy things being said. I am trying to take a moment for myself, but everything that’s happening is just making it harder for me.
Don’t believe everything you read and hear. These fake emails everywhere were crafted by Sam Lutfi years ago... I did not write them. He was pretending to be me and communicating with my team with a fake email address. My situation is unique, but I promise I’m doing what’s best at this moment. You may not know this about me, but I am strong, and stand up for what I want!
Your love and dedication is amazing, but what I need right now is a little bit of privacy to deal with all the hard things that life is throwing my way. If you could do that, I would be forever grateful. Love you."
Spears just recently responded once again to the movement.
On Instagram, she posted, "I get how some people might not like my posts or even understand them, but this is Me being happy ….. this is Me being authentic and as real as it gets !!!!! I want to inspire people to do the same and just be themselves without pleasing others ….. that’s the key to happiness."
The singer had mostly been referencing the concern and confusion surrounding her recent social media posts, which had caused the #FreeBritney hashtag to start trending again.
However, Spears took to Instagram mainly to assure her fans that they shouldn't be concerned about her and that, in her posts, she's just being herself.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted in April 2019 and was updated with the latest information.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.