The New York Times is digging into the #FreeBritney movement with the latest installment of its FX documentary, The New York Times Presents, titled Framing Britney Spears. The pop star’s tumultuous career is the subject of the newest episode in the Times series, which aims to deconstruct her rise to fame and public breakdown that resulted in her current conservatorship, per TV Line.
As any true Britney fan knows, the singer has been living in her current situation since 2008, under which her father, Jamie Spears, controls her everyday life, career, and estate. Framing Britney Spears comes just a few years after the Times published a story about Spears’ conservatorship titled “Is Britney Spears Ready to Stand on Her Own?”, which detailed her tightly controlled lifestyle.
“Her most mundane purchases, from a drink at Starbucks to a song on iTunes, are tracked in court documents as part of the plan to safeguard the great fortune she has earned but does not ultimately control,” the Times report explained. Since then, Spears has fought for changes to her conservatorship in court, specifically requesting for her father to be removed from the role of conservator.
Framing Britney Spears promises to dig into Spears’ conservatorship, charting a path from her rise as a “global phenomenon”to her downfall, which was treated as “a cruel national sport.” The upcoming documentary features those close with Spears, including her lawyers, who “reassess her career as she battles her father in court over who should control her life.”
In today’s newly released trailer, Spears is introduced as a “focused” girl who came “from strength.” So, it was even more jarring when she began to unravel before the eyes of the public. “How we treated her was disgusting,” one interview subject says, referring to the obsessive media coverage of Spears’ meltdown in 2007 and 2008. While Framing Britney Spears touches on the pop icon’s rise to stardom, it sets a sharper focus on her legal struggle. “She accepted the conservatorship was going to happen, but she didn’t want her father to be a conservator,” one subject in the trailer explains, while another adds, “When there’s that amount of money to be made, you have to question the motives of everyone.”
The New York Times Presents, which first premiered on FX in July, has previously covered topics like the coronavirus pandemic in New York City and the killing of Breonna Taylor. The upcoming Spears episode marks the sixth installment in the series, which is currently in its first season.
Framing Britney Spears premieres on FX and FX on Hulu on Friday, Feb. 5 at 10/9c. Watch the full trailer in the video above.
The post The New York Times’ ‘Framing Britney Spears’ Doc Examines the Pop Star’s Infamous Conservatorship appeared first on Decider.
