The Media Owes an Apology to Female Pop Stars
"Framing Britney Spears” is the newest installment of the New York Times Presents investigative docuseries, which tackles the legal challenges regarding Britney’s conservatorship and the continuing #FreeBritney movement that has exploded across social media.
The docuseries details not only the struggles of the conservatorship, but also the abuse that Britney suffered at the hands of the media which led to the introduction of a conservatorship in 2008.
In the early 2000s, Britney Spears was America’s pop-star and golden girl. In 2007, Spears had a very public mental breakdown which resulted in her shaving her head and being placed under a hold in a psychiatric hospital.
In 2008, she was placed into a conservatorship, or a legal concept in which a guardian/protector is appointed by a judge to manage the financial affairs and/or daily life of another due to physical or mental limitations. To this day, Britney remains in a conservatorship controlled by her father, Jamie Spears, and has no control over her finances, medical care, or personal decisions.
Now let’s take a dive into the media’s treatment of Britney in the early 2000s.
In 2003, Diane Sawyer shamed Britney Spears for the end of her relationship with Justin Timberlake. In a “Primetime” interview where Britney was 22 years old, Sawyer showed a clip of Kendel Ehrlich, the wife of then Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, saying that she would “shoot” Spears because she thought she was a poor role model.
Sawyer then went on to justify Ehrlich’s statement, using the way Britney dresses as her bolstering argument. Instead of the public eye reacting to Sawyer with rage, like they would today, they looked to Spears for remorse.
While there are plenty of heartbreaking paparazzi photos of Spears in the early 2000s, this is the one that stands out to me the most.
In 2006, during her second pregnancy, Spears was being hounded by hundreds of paparazzi and tried to hide in a cafe with her first born, Sean, hoping that the owner and those inside would be willing to help her.
They didn’t. Instead, they laughed and took more photos of her.
Let’s circle back to the conservatorship. In Britney’s situation, it begs the question of why she is deemed so unfit that her father has a legal right to handle her finances and medical decisions, yet she was somehow fit enough to have a Las Vegas residency for four years (2013-2017). To me, there is no possible way that these two can be mutually exclusive and exist at the same time.
If she’s well enough to host a four-year residency at Las Vegas, then she must be well enough to control her own financials and personal decision-making.
But to acknowledge the abuse that Britney Spears suffered at the hands of the media in the early 2000s is to acknowledge the abuse that also came to many other young pop stars of the time like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.
Paris Hilton was another household name in the early 2000s. She is perhaps unfortunately best known for starring in a sex tape that she made with her boyfriend, Rick Saloman, in 2000. The video, titled “1 Night in Paris”, was distributed without her consent, and later remade into an “official cut”, which includes commentary by Saloman.
The distribution of this sex-tape, and later re-edited version, led to Hilton being publicly slut-shamed by the media for years, and unfortunately, it has become one of her defining moments in the eyes of the public.
A video of Lindsay Lohan on Late Night with David Letterman from 2013 recently resurfaced and exploded across social media.
In the video, Letterman hounds Lohan about her time in rehab, rather than focusing on her career.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in rehab?” He asks. Lohan politely responds with the date in which she is set to check into a facility, and then the onslaught of questions begins.
“What are they rehab-ing? What is on their list? What are they going to work on when you walk through the door?” Letterman asks in quick succession, barely giving Lohan a chance to answer, even if she wanted to.
Lohan, looking uncomfortable, says that questions about rehab were not mentioned in the pre-interview and that she’d rather focus on what she loves in life.
Despite this, Letterman continues to ask her about the specifics of her rehab such as what she is going in for and if she is considering therapy.
Lohan responds with, “You can’t make a joke of it, that’s so mean. You can’t do that, it’s my show now.”
The docuseries details not only the struggles of the conservatorship, but also the abuse that Britney suffered at the hands of the media which led to the introduction of a conservatorship in 2008.
In the early 2000s, Britney Spears was America’s pop-star and golden girl. In 2007, Spears had a very public mental breakdown which resulted in her shaving her head and being placed under a hold in a psychiatric hospital.
In 2008, she was placed into a conservatorship, or a legal concept in which a guardian/protector is appointed by a judge to manage the financial affairs and/or daily life of another due to physical or mental limitations. To this day, Britney remains in a conservatorship controlled by her father, Jamie Spears, and has no control over her finances, medical care, or personal decisions.
Now let’s take a dive into the media’s treatment of Britney in the early 2000s.
In 2003, Diane Sawyer shamed Britney Spears for the end of her relationship with Justin Timberlake. In a “Primetime” interview where Britney was 22 years old, Sawyer showed a clip of Kendel Ehrlich, the wife of then Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, saying that she would “shoot” Spears because she thought she was a poor role model.
Sawyer then went on to justify Ehrlich’s statement, using the way Britney dresses as her bolstering argument. Instead of the public eye reacting to Sawyer with rage, like they would today, they looked to Spears for remorse.
While there are plenty of heartbreaking paparazzi photos of Spears in the early 2000s, this is the one that stands out to me the most.
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| Photo via @RafikGaga on Twitter |
In 2006, during her second pregnancy, Spears was being hounded by hundreds of paparazzi and tried to hide in a cafe with her first born, Sean, hoping that the owner and those inside would be willing to help her.
They didn’t. Instead, they laughed and took more photos of her.
Let’s circle back to the conservatorship. In Britney’s situation, it begs the question of why she is deemed so unfit that her father has a legal right to handle her finances and medical decisions, yet she was somehow fit enough to have a Las Vegas residency for four years (2013-2017). To me, there is no possible way that these two can be mutually exclusive and exist at the same time.
If she’s well enough to host a four-year residency at Las Vegas, then she must be well enough to control her own financials and personal decision-making.
But to acknowledge the abuse that Britney Spears suffered at the hands of the media in the early 2000s is to acknowledge the abuse that also came to many other young pop stars of the time like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.
Paris Hilton was another household name in the early 2000s. She is perhaps unfortunately best known for starring in a sex tape that she made with her boyfriend, Rick Saloman, in 2000. The video, titled “1 Night in Paris”, was distributed without her consent, and later remade into an “official cut”, which includes commentary by Saloman.
The distribution of this sex-tape, and later re-edited version, led to Hilton being publicly slut-shamed by the media for years, and unfortunately, it has become one of her defining moments in the eyes of the public.
A video of Lindsay Lohan on Late Night with David Letterman from 2013 recently resurfaced and exploded across social media.
In the video, Letterman hounds Lohan about her time in rehab, rather than focusing on her career.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in rehab?” He asks. Lohan politely responds with the date in which she is set to check into a facility, and then the onslaught of questions begins.
“What are they rehab-ing? What is on their list? What are they going to work on when you walk through the door?” Letterman asks in quick succession, barely giving Lohan a chance to answer, even if she wanted to.
Lohan, looking uncomfortable, says that questions about rehab were not mentioned in the pre-interview and that she’d rather focus on what she loves in life.
Despite this, Letterman continues to ask her about the specifics of her rehab such as what she is going in for and if she is considering therapy.
Lohan responds with, “You can’t make a joke of it, that’s so mean. You can’t do that, it’s my show now.”
You can view the video on Twitter below:
This Lindsay Lohan interview on David Letterman in 2013 is horrifying to watch now. pic.twitter.com/lZxKVvbVB0
— ππ«ππ² πππ²π₯π¨π« (@treytylor) February 13, 2021
Uncomfortable doesn’t even begin to describe the way I felt when re-watching the video, and I can’t imagine how or why anyone thought it was funny in 2013. I wish I could personally praise Lindsay Lohan for the maturity and control she exercised during Letterman’s completely inappropriate and unprofessional behavior.
Though the media has come a long way in scrutinizing the behavior of female stars, we are still far from where we ought to be, and further growth doesn’t necessarily make up for previous wrongdoings.
As such, the media owes a genuine apology to Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and many, many more.
Though the media has come a long way in scrutinizing the behavior of female stars, we are still far from where we ought to be, and further growth doesn’t necessarily make up for previous wrongdoings.
As such, the media owes a genuine apology to Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and many, many more.
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