The New York Times Presents

What do we want? Free Britney!

When do we want it?

Now! What do we want?

Free Britney! When do we want it?

Now! What do we want?

‐ This is "Free Britney 102," where we explore issues

related to the Free Britney movement.

The Free Britney movement is advocating

for the end of Britney Spears' conservatorship.

‐ I need everyone who is scrolling right now

to stop and watch this video.

‐ Britney Spears needs our help.

Since 2008, she has been under something called

a legal conservatorship by her father.

Now, a conservatorship literally

gives someone else the control of your life.

They decide what you can and can't do,

and it's usually used for elderly people

who don't have the necessary brain function.

‐ But a functioning woman that's been working nonstop,

it just‐‐ it doesn't make any sense.

‐ Dear Britney, my name is Elizabeth Denon,

and I'm 29 years old.

‐ My name is James Miller,

and I'm from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

‐ My name is Jasmine. I'm 28,

and I am a Scorpio from New Jersey.

‐ Dear Britney. ‐ Dear Britney.

‐ Dear Britney. ‐ I'm so nervous.

I'm, like, sweating.

‐ Your whole situation is consuming me now.

I can't believe that it's just been this long

and I didn't know.

When I first started, I didn't know

what I was doing, but every day you learn more,

and you gain more wisdom from that.

‐ Why is she still in this?

Why is her dad making all of her decisions?

I am where I am today‐‐

it's because I do have control.

You know, you have to.

Otherwise you get sucked in by people.

‐ I have always viewed the situation as something that

I don't think would have ever happened to a man in America.

Trust me, there are days that I have‐‐

I struggle with myself.

‐ I am familiar with the lawyers on the case.

They care deeply for Britney.

‐ I trust the system.

I believe the law is aimed

at actually protecting the conservatee.

There are things out there that have been said

about me that aren't completely true.

‐ We stand up for you, Britney Spears,

and we won't stop until you reach freedom.

There's a lot that people don't know about me

that I want them to know.

Growing up, I struggled with

anxiety and depression, and Britney Spears is the one

who made it okay to struggle with those things.

She gave me permission to be myself

growing up as a gay boy in suburban Virginia,

and Britney gave me the power to be who I am.

She even shaved her hair off.

Hey, I shaved my hair off too

because I didn't want nobody touching me.

And they still didn't get it.

Britney is in the midst of a legal battle right now.

She's been in a conservatorship

for the past 12 years.

‐ Free Britney! ‐ Justice for Britney.

‐ There's been a lot of speculation as to whether

this is in Britney's best interests,

and is this good for her? Is this what she wants?

‐ All right, so today

we have a conservatorship hearing for Britney Spears.

Apparently, conservator of the estate is Jamie Spears.

Boo!

Jamie out! Jamie out!

Her dad has been in charge of her money

for the last 12 years,

and a few months ago Britney's lawyer said

Britney wants someone else to be in charge of her money

and wants Jamie, her father, to step down.

Britney's father so far has refused to step down.

‐ But this time it just feels different.

I'm so excited.

‐ I feel‐‐ I feel really hopeful.

‐ Hey, guys, it's Megan.

The judge has not made any decisions yet,

but we did wanna give you a quick update.

Britney has told Ingham on multiple occasions

that she's scared of her father and that she refuses to work

until he is no longer in control of her career.

To understand where Britney is now,

we should understand how she got here.

‐ Okay.

These are letters to me from the fans.

So if I got this many, you can imagine‐‐

oh, the ones that Britney got would fill up the entire room,

would fill up the entire room.

Yeah. Sorry.

That was pretty cool.

You know, I don't know that I ever really had any definition

on what I was supposed to do with Britney.

For a long time they called me her chaperone,

and then at one point

they wanted to call me her partner,

and we didn't think that sounded right.

I definitely was not her mother,

and I wasn't her big sister, so we settled on assistant.

I wanna give you a tour of my tiny, little home.

Britney's mother helped decorate

because she's so proud of her sweet baby.

50,000 in Austria.

This is 5 million at this point.

These are more.

This is the first one I got, y'all.

This is when "...Baby One More Time"

was a multi‐platinum album.

You have to sell a million copies in the United States

for an album to be platinum.

It can go platinum many, many, many times.

This is 11 million copies.

To be honest, I didn't then,

nor do I now understand what a conservatorship is,

especially for somebody Britney's age

and somebody capable of so much

that I know firsthand she's capable of.

She was a small‐town girl from Kentwood, Louisiana.

Can you describe Kentwood, Louisiana?

Just a tiny, sleepy little town,

very hospitable and humble, unpretentious.

We are who we are.

We're not wealthy,

but we're wealthy in many other ways.

We are definitely in‐‐right in the middle of the Bible Belt.

Britney sang in the choir.

She grew up going to church every Sunday.

So I've known her since she was five.

You know, by then we all knew her talent

was just extraordinary.

I will say the one reason that I agreed to do the interview

is so we could remind people

of why they fell in love with her in the first place.

‐ From Kentwood, Louisiana,

here is ten‐year‐old Britney Spears.

‐ If you think about her coming from such a small town,

you know, she clawed her way into the industry

right from the beginning.

‐ I noticed last week you have the most adorable, pretty eyes.

Do you have a boyfriend? ‐ No, sir.

‐ Why not? ‐ They're mean.

‐ Boyfriends? You mean all boys are mean?

I'm not mean. How about me?

‐ Well, it depends.

Of all the things that she could be asked about,

because what else could we possibly talk to a woman

or a girl about?

There's so much more to her that everybody's missing.

Her parents reached out to me by letter,

and the letter said something like,

"We have no idea what to do with this child.

Help us. What do we do?"

I replied and said,

"Well, I would love to meet her in person."

They took the train from Louisiana to New York

'cause I don't think they could afford to fly.

Her parents were working people.

Her mom was just so sweet, so proud of her daughter,

and her dad too was very proud of‐‐proud of Britney,

and he was more concerned with the financial aspect of it.

How was he gonna be able to make this happen?

Could he make it happen?

But I know he wanted to make it happen for her.

And we came up with a plan.

Lynne and Britney would come to New York for a period of time.

Britney could study voice in New York,

and study dance in New York,

and do some acting and audition.

She was a funny, sweet, wonderful little girl.

I‐I loved her. I love her still.

Jamie visited from time to time

and was anxious to see this time be worthwhile

so that he could justify the money

that it was costing to do this.

‐ There was a time where you were struggling to really

make ends meet, and you saved all the money

you could to get singing lessons for Britney.

How did you manage to do all of that?

‐ It was really hard.

A lot of times we would rob from Peter to pay Paul.

You know, it was really hard.

All this led to

"The Mickey Mouse Club" audition,

and she nailed it.

‐ We've got a girl that enters a strange dimension

of sight and sound as she crosses over

into the Teenage Zone.

‐ Britney just loved it, and when it ended,