If you’re looking for trouble [Applause] [Music] right in my face, it’s Britney, [ __ ] [Music] Wherever I go, I’m a celebrity. I’m a celebrity. Sorry. What do you think it’ll take to get the paparazzi to leave you alone? I don’t know. Is that one of your biggest wishes? Yeah. It’s okay. I would like for them to sleep.
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And yes, you can watch RuPaul’s Drag Race. So check it out and click the link below. And seriously, thank you all so much for all the support on part one of our series. We are both super passionate about this channel and knowing that so many of you are enjoying our uploads means the world to us. In the early 2000s, paparazzi were much more prevalent than they are today.
With Facebook barely getting its roots in the ground and Instagram not being around at all, celebrities weren’t sharing their every waking moment with us. So, a celebrity’s fans only glimpse at their lifestyle was if they signed to a reality TV show or through the lens of a paparazzi. Now, in recent years, we haven’t seen as many paparazzi, and that’s partially due to a lot of paparazzi laws that were introduced in 2010, including the anti-poparazzi bill that prevented paparazzi from interfering with a celebrity’s vehicle
and personal life. And that’s partially because of the way Britney Spears was treated in 2007 and 2008. After her divorce with Kevin, she began drinking a lot more and started hanging out with the socialite crowd in Beverly Hills. And the paparazzi were on the prowl wherever she went. Whether she was at Starbucks or the club, paparazzi were capturing her every move.
And Britney’s relationship with them was complicated to say the least. Why would they let you win? Britney, what do you think? I don’t really care. I mean, I could go to my house. Yeah. Yeah. Britney, you tell them. Britney, you tell them. I’m not saying anything. I just want to All right. All right. All right. We love you guys.
We love you, too. I don’t need to do the extra video. It’s all over your feet. Party at my house. All right, let’s go. Let’s go. Come on, BABY. Can I get one beef up your appetite? I want number two. No, no, I want a number three. I can’t see, sir. Hey, guys. Hey, move. No, I want a number three. Hi, Britney. Number three.
What kind of soda? What kind of soda, Britney? What kind of what? Soda. Soda. Soda. Soda. Soda. Coke. Coke. Coke. with coke with coke. Large large. They hassled Britney and harassed her no matter where she went and tried to catch her at her absolute worst moments. There was even a period of time in the early 2000s after Britney’s fear showed more than she wanted to in an incident with a paparazzi where paparazzi would intentionally try and take low shots while she was getting out of cars to try and take a photo up her skirt. Britney
was even in a brief relationship with the paparazzi in 2008. The intimate photos on a hotel balcony, kissing, holding hands, shopping for a pregnancy test. There’s been speculation Adam courted Britney to get good shots and sell the pictures. An accusation he denies. No, never. It was already hard to live her life dayto-day being one of the biggest pop stars on Earth.
But companies like X17 and TMZ made it even harder as their tactics became even more intense. Look at that. That’s art right there. You see it on the street. You see? Yes. Art. It’s not about me, baby. Don’t get when I get your shot. Get your shot. Nice. Let her go. Let her go, guys. Move. We’re standing in front of the street dog home. You stupid move.
Hey guys, come on guys. I want you to get mad. I just don’t want to go. I shut up. What are you looking for? My car. Your what? Memory card. Your memory card. Look for it over here. Shine the light on the floor. Can someone look find her memory card? Memory card. Anybody that was over here just shine the light on the floor.
You sure it’s not in there? I think he found it. Britney got it. There you go. Thanks. Watch your back. Look out, guys. Look out. Look out, guys. You’re welcome. You like us again, Britney? Thank you, Britney. I just don’t like it when you get in my way of my pictures. Okay. Sorry about that, Britney. Person just like you.
Why don’t you take one right now? Can you take a picture of us, Britney? Take care. Is everything good, Britney? work. Says here guys right there. Restroom’s over here. Britney looking for the restroom. Come on, guys. I told you. They should have harassed you like that, Britney. Let’s go. You have kids.
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[Music] neighborhood. As if all of Britney’s privacy being removed wasn’t enough, tragedy struck in early 2007 when Britney’s aunt Sandra, who she was very close to, passed away at the age of 59. And just a few weeks later, Britney’s ex-boyfriend, Isaac Cohen, exploited Britney Spears by sharing extremely intimate details of Britney being insecure during intercourse. Britney had no privacy.
every square inch of her body and every second of her life was publicly broadcast and exploited for as much money as possible. She’d go to get vitamins and 40 men would block her exit and blind her with flashes while asking her super invasive questions. Then those paparazzi would sell the photos and get extremely high prices for them from tabloids and news organizations like E and OK magazine.
One of the most notorious paparazzi, Mel Boozad, was quoted saying, “If I get a picture of Britney and her baby, I’ll be able to buy a house in those hills.” At this point, Britney had no one she could trust. After people she had been intimate and vulnerable with had betrayed her, she was extremely paranoid and completely alone.
All during one of the hardest times of her life as Britney was currently dealing with paparazzi stalking her, tabloids, and her ex-boyfriend exploiting her, all amidst a very public custody battle for her children. And what happened next was unfortunately inevitable. You look nice, Britney. Where are you going? I don’t want to go there.
Why are you crying? Britney, you okay? Are you okay, Britney? You should go home with me. Do you need to talk to someone? Britney, why you crying? Britney, I’m sitting for lunch and I’m having a nice time with my dog. [Music] So, with nowhere to turn and the paparazzi becoming increasingly more invasive, things took an extremely dark turn.
All eyes were on Britney, and she became much more lethargic in public. As Britney gets closer to her breaking point, Felicia Kulada, Britney’s assistant of nearly a decade, quit working for Britney and expressed her concern for her close friend, saying, “I loved being with Britney for the past 10 years. I cherish all the incredible opportunities that came my way through my job with Britney, and I am crushed, saddened, heartsick by the way her life is unfolding.
We are doing everything in our power to get help for Britney and all of our power to not pad the bottom. So, when she does indeed hit rock bottom, she’ll stand up and walk away from this whole fiasco, a new, confident, changed, career-driven Britney like we all loved. There’s just so much you can do to help a person. I don’t dare want to be an enabler, and I cannot love her enough for the both of us.
I cannot convince her in any way to love herself. All I can do is be a friend, someone that loved her for many years unconditionally, and to pray that what I have decided is the most and best I can do for my friend. I cannot save her from herself, nor can I commit her to any type of treatment program against her wishes and will.
I’m throwing my hands up and realizing that I am helpless. And on February 15th, 2007, Britney checked herself into the rehab facility, Crossroads Center in Tigua. But she checked out 24 hours later and was spotted flying back to Los Angeles. And just 2 days later, Britney Spears’s public spiral began. Easy, easy. Make a hole. Back all the way up, guys.
Come on, guys. Back up. Back up. Back up, please. Back up, please. What’s wrong? How about that? He had his is new. Is it closed? Back off, guys. You sure about that? He had Britney. I love you, Britney. All these guys are jackasses. Oh, yeah. So, now we’re going to beat your ass, homie. I like to see that.
It started with Britney being spotted at Esther’s hair cutting studio. The studio was closed, but they opened it just for Britney. I don’t know what’s going on, guys. He’s a bodyguard also. Okay. Oh my god. What’s going on? Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. [Music] 7200 somebody. Britney told the owner she wanted to have her head shaved, but the owner, Esther Tnazi, refused.
and instead gave Britney the tools to do it herself. According to Access Hollywood, as Britney held the tool up to her head, she said, “Mom’s going to kill me.” And began shortening her hair with scissors before buzzing it off with electric shears. They asked why she wanted to shave her head.
And she said, “I don’t want anyone touching me. I’m tired of everybody touching me.” But, you know, she never said anything about being sick and tired of people touching her, and that’s why she was doing it. I think maybe the braids were on too tight. She had a lot of extensions in her hair. So, um, she shaved off the whole thing all by herself.
And all I basically did was, um, go in there and even it out for her. When we were done, she just walked out the back door. And of course, the paparazzi were all over the place. In the back, Ben. [Music] Sorry. Sorry. Sorry, Britney. why she’s going to drive. The paparazzi had already been following Britney when she escaped to the hair salon.
So, there were tons of them stationed outside of the hair studio, and they captured every second of it. Hollywood sweetheart Britney Spears had just shaven her head in front of hundreds of paparazzi, and this was only the beginning. Sometimes it can get kind of lonely. You’re guarded. You know, you have to be that way, otherwise you get taken advantage of and get in situations like I did the past year.
I had totally lost my way. I lost focus. I lost myself. I had that type of nature within me that wanted to rebel out. I never wanted to become one of those prisoner people. I always wanted to feel free and get in my car and go and not let people make me feel like I had to stay in my home. When you look back at the whole shaving of the head thing and all the rest of it, what provoked you to do that? like I was going through so much artificial stuff with my kids and with Kevin and all that stuff at the time and he just
left me and I was devastated, you know, and um people thought that it was me like uh going crazy and stuff like that, but people shave their heads all the time, you know, but I mean I was going through a lot, but it was just kind of like me just feeling a form of a little bit of rebellion or feeling free or, you know, shedding stuff that had happened, you know.
Why did you not tell anyone that’s what you were doing? Huh? Why did you not tell anyone that’s what you were doing? I don’t think it was anyone’s business really. Britney left the salon completely bald and led paparazzi to a Sherman Oaks tattoo parlor called Body and Soul. It was a pretty slow night just like every other.
And I remember hearing this insane roaring sound outside that was coming from seeming far away. Let her walk. Let her walk. Um, and it got closer and closer and it I didn’t know what it was. I wasn’t sure what was happening. If there was a riot outside and then the flashes came home, guys. The door opened slowly and a hooded figure walked in the door.
I still didn’t know who it was, what it what was happening. It was all happened so quickly. And then I realized it was Britney Spears. The first tattoo that she got was lips that someone else’s girlfriend had done and the other one was a small uh cross. Now, this started an even more intensive media frenzy.
Nothing like we had seen before. Hi, Britney. Love you. How you like your hair, Britney? [Music] Did I tell you? [Applause] Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. We love you. And the tabloids had a heyday. Dozens of headlines calling Britney crazy and making fun of her popped up everywhere. As erratic as Britney Spears’s behavior has been lately, this this really I think caught everyone off guard.
Kelly Clarkson was at the Daytona 500 this weekend, this is her reaction as she learns the shocking news. Kelly Britney Spears has shaved her head. Okay. Are y’all kidding? Cuz somebody just TOLD ME THAT OUT there and I think that’s a joke. Is that a style that you would ever consider for yourself? She has not sh Are you for real? Absolutely.
Wow. Wow. A stunned and speechless Kelly Clarkson. The owner of the salon even sold her hair and began offering the Britney buzz cut. Britney explained that this was simply an act of rebellion. She had been under the control of her parents, a record label, and under the microscope of the tabloids for her entire life, and she just wanted to be free.
However, freedom was not what Britney obtained on February 17th. Following the night’s events, Britney was admitted to Sinai Medical Center. Then, for two days, Britney went silent, but the media didn’t. They continued to ruthlessly rip Britney apart. Tabloids like The Sun and The Inquirer having some of the most tasteless headlines of them all.
And merely 2 days after shaving her head, Britney is briefly seen in a short blonde wig partying at the Roxy Club. But just 24 hours later, Britney is checked herself back into rehab at Promis’ Residential Treatment Center in Malibu. Rehab is supposed to be a private time where people suffering from addiction can recover and be attended to properly.
It is more than just a medical recoup. It is also heavily centered around mental health and privacy. However, Britney wasn’t even allowed that basic human right as the paparazzi somehow obtained a photo of her on the private premises. Britney is past rock bottom at this point with nowhere to turn and no one she can trust. She was allegedly upset at how far the paparazzi had gone yet again.
and she left the rehab facility only to head straight to the law office of Tarlo and Burke. Burke had previously represented Reese Witherspoon in a case against the paparazzi, which may be why Britney was there. Around this time, we begin to see a narrative form amongst those who are supposedly looking after Britney’s best interests.
Her father spoke to Fox saying Britney is a sick little girl who they’re just trying to take care of. The same day Britney went to the law office, Kevin Federline scheduled an emergency custody hearing for February 22nd. Britney caught wind of this and allegedly wanted to talk it out with Kevin. She headed out to San Fernando Valley where Kevin lived to discuss this with him.
However, as she was heading towards Kevin’s house, the paparazzi were tipped off on where she was and they immediately began following and harassing her. Britney needed to speak to Kevin in private as it was concerning her children. But she couldn’t even do that without the paparazzi targeting her, selling the photos, and exploiting her for millions.
Britney had had enough. gotten shots. Please guys, don’t cause please please guys don’t do this. Hey, that’s the reason we have Sorry for calling. Oh, wow. She did that, too. After this incident, Britney allegedly spoke with Kevin, her mom, and Larry Rudolph, her manager, where they told her she needed to complete an entire treatment at Promis’ rehab facility. If
not, Kevin would take full custody of the kids. Britney agreed to go back to rehab, and the emergency custody hearing was then cancelled. On February 27th, just 6 days after Britney had her meeting with Kevin, there was a leak from Promis’ rehab facility, alleging that Britney was struggling with postpartum depression and feeling like she’s lost total control.
This made headlines across the globe. Britney’s personal life was once again blasted for the public to see, and they were not kind. However, on March 21st, one month after her meeting with Kevin, Britney completed the rehab program at Promis’ rehab facility. No matter what Britney did, she couldn’t trust the people around her.
In her darkest hour, no one was there to help console her. As she is battling for the right to be a mother, all the public does is mock and degrade her. No matter what Britney did, no matter what step she took towards a healthier life, the media exploited her and drained her name for every penny that it was worth.
And she had just had enough. Um, no, like I just really like want to talk and just say like how nice our world is. Like it is so nice. Like I’m going to cry right now cuz like our world is so nice. No, it really is because like oh my god like the other day I saw like this magazine and I looked at it and it said like I was pregnant and like I went up to my mom and I was like oh my god like my mom knew like she was right.
Like always believe everything you read everybody like because I am I really am pregnant. And then like I went to um like um this person and they saw like on the USA Today like that you know like I was drinking a lot and it was so true. It was so true. And then like it was just so weird because like then after that like everybody like you know just always believe what you read because like and all my management they totally knew what they were doing when they sent me to rehab.
Like totally like they totally knew what they were doing. Like it’s just so weird how great and nice our world is. And like after this, nobody’s going to talk about this because our world is so nice. So that’s all I wanted to say. So, okay, bye. In April of 2007, Britney fired her longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, alleging that he forced her into rehab.
However, Britney’s father, Jamie Spears, would come to Larry Rudolph’s defense, stating that if Britney loses her children, it is no fault but her own. He went from saying she’s a sick little girl who needs help to just three months later defending Larry Rudolph very publicly against his own daughter. Britney replied saying that she was praying for her father as they’ve never had a good relationship.
Around this time, Britney began isolating herself from friends and family, not knowing who she could trust. This is the time period that she met Sam Luty at a club and they were instantaneously best friends. With Britney firing her management team and no longer trusting her family, she had to create her own support bubble.
Sam and Ally, who was her cousin and assistant, would be just that for Britney. And for the rest of the year, the three of them would be inseparable. No, I’m just kidding. Britney, do you want us to sing a birthday song for you? the backup song. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear. Happy birthday to you.
In May of 2007, Britney surprised all of her fans by doing a set of live shows at the House of Blues in a few major cities. The media would rip these performances to shreds and would continue to speculate every detail about Britney’s mental health. She could not catch a break from the media. Britney felt she needed to humanize herself in an open letter to her fans.
Britney opened up in this letter like she hadn’t done before about what was going on with her this year. She started off talking about the tabloids, saying, “I used to be angry at the tabloids for printing horrible things about me, but now I try to just be numb to what I see.” She went on to discuss her experience at rehab.
And this paragraph’s really important because she does mention her manager, Larry Rudolph, saying, “I had a manager from a long time ago come in and try to direct me and my life after I got my divorce. I was so overwhelmed. I think that I was in a little shock, too.” In the next paragraph, Britney talks about being financially taken advantage of, saying, “This letter is not to place blame on anyone.
Although I do see the world with a completely different set of eyes now, being in that vulnerable state and taken to dinners and parties with friends and finding out later you paid for everything was a huge learning lesson for me.” Britney continued to open up, saying, “I feel like some of the people in my life made more of some issues than was necessary.
I also feel like they knew I was beginning to use my brain for a change and cut some ties. So, they wanted to be in more control of my life than me. Now, here’s what’s interesting about this letter. If you look it up on major media sites such as People, they cut out every part where Britney talks about the media’s portrayal of her, people trying to control her and use her.
And you have to click to expand the article to actually see the unedited letter. This is just another example of the narrative being manipulated and Britney’s obvious warnings about her situation being hidden and ignored. Exactly one month after the letter was published, Britney was spotted delivering another letter to her mother.
Allegedly, this letter contained orders telling Lynn’s fears to stay away from Britney’s children. Lyn, how you doing? Why is it that uh Britney served you? A love letter. A love letter. What did the love letter say? [Music] If you call this a serving, you know. Yeah. Why are the Why are the rumors then? Why are they saying, you know, she’s going to serve you? There’s always rumors.
There’s always rumors, huh? There’s always rumors of rumors. Let’s clear them up. I mean, she did not serve me. She did not serve you. She did not. So, how’s your mom? You think everything’s going to be okay with her? I’m praying for her right now. She gets all the help she needs. And do you think she needs to go to rehab? I don’t know.
I don’t Are you going to try and make up with her or You know what? In time, who knows what’ll happen. Really? Are you going to go to Kenwood? Huh? You going to go to Kenwood? What’s Oh, or where I’m from? Yeah. Um I don’t know. I like it here. Britney, can I give you this? I love you guys. Love you, too. Thank you. It’s important to note that at this time Lynn was allegedly shopping around a tell all on Britney and was working with Britney’s fired manager Larry Rudolph, someone who Britney strongly felt like was untrustworthy. There was a lot happening
in July of 2007, more than the media and public knew at the time and something we’re going to dive into later. Britney was making headlines yet again when she sent a tongue-in-cheek handwritten apology to X17. Dear X17, I want to apologize for the past incident with the umbrella.
I was preparing a character for a possible movie role where the husband doesn’t play his part, so they swap places. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the part. I’m sorry I got all carried away with my role. Britney, also this month, her assistant set up a tell all with Okay Magazine to dispel rumors and talk openly about reaching her breaking point.
However, given everything Britney was going through publicly and behind closed doors, she just was not ready for this kind of interview, and it was a total disaster. She was blasted for eating fried chicken and wiping the grease on a loner designer dress and walking out before they could get any usable photos. As July came to a close, Britney’s divorce to Kevin Federline would become finalized.
They would, however, go on to have a very public custody battle in the months to follow. During this time, Britney also hired Jeff Quantin as her new manager, and things were looking much more positive for her life. The next few months, while they would be brutal, would have several pop culture defining moments and would change Britney’s career forever.
Although she hit a parked car trying to escape paparazzi and got charged with a hit and run, August held a lot of positive news for Britney as well as rumors of a surprise VMA performance were swirling. This was major. This would be the first televised award show performance since Britney shaved her head and Jeff Quantinet’s first major project managing Britney Spears.
There was a lot writing on this one performance. And with Britney in a very public custody battle, she wasn’t in the best headsp space to be doing something this intensive at the time. The media began labeling this as Britney’s big comeback. And when the night of the blonde hair who sang and did pop records, and now it’s this girl with blonde hair who sang and did pop records, had two kids.
Y’all, you know what I mean? Like, we all know her story. And it’s it’s a at times unfortunate, but at the same time it’s interesting. When it came time for Britney to go on stage, she performed Give Me More, the first single off her new album. And Britney’s fans were elated that she was back, but she unsurprisingly drew a lot of criticism as well, with people unfairly body shaming her and making fun of her for months after the performance.
Britney was suddenly the laughingstock of the music industry. That’s not really fat at all, but compared to the other girls, she looks big. She looks like the fat Elvis walking around the stage doing things she used to do but doing it really poorly. This performance was particularly painful for Britney Spears because she had really set herself up for it.
She wanted to open the MTV Awards. She wanted to make a splash. She wanted to show everyone that she could do it. And it this has just made things worse for Britney. We actually did a flash poll on us.com immediately afterward asking is Britney back and 81% said no. It was, you know, as everyone’s talking about, it was stiff. It was flat.
She She needed about a 100 hours more practice before this thing was ready for prime time, let alone to open the MTD Video Music Awards, right? You know, and forget, you know, appearance because people have made uh comments about her not being in peak shape. She looked downright out of it. I mean, this is somebody who perhaps you may have questioned whether or not she had the best voice in the world.
She was known for being an entertainer and and for being able to dance. And she’s literally being directed and shuffled around the stage. Britney seemed nervous, the MTV Music Awards, and at times so out of it that you wondered if she knew where she was or if she knew the words to her own song. My take.
How did the people around her allow this to happen last night? She has a manager, a record label, a lot to lose. Why didn’t someone say, “Hey, you’re not ready to perform. What does she pay these people to do?” Her eyes were open, her lips were moving. She remained conscious. the entire time. It was the greatest impression of an office worker embarrassing themselves at a holiday party I have ever seen.
Five stars, Britney. Bravo. Bravo. In in in Chris Angel’s original piece, uh it involved a lot of mirrors. And when uh Britney was rehearsing it, she kept stopping the song and saying, “Who hired the fat girl?” Extra claimed that she was seen texting somebody immediately after her performances.
Any any guesses on the nature of the text, Joel? and and the recipient of the text. Well, I’m not sure, but I think we can rule out dietician, personal trainer, psychologist, uh clothing stylist, makeup artist, nanny. I can keep going. Uh actual musician, uh songwriter. Stop me at any time. Personal bleacher, lingerie writer. I think there was so much hype about her big comeback at the VMAs that no one wanted to let her back out.
It’s just so sad that no one said get in front of a mirror and practice or learn your lyrics and learn your dance moves. I love her and I was devastated. AP said she looked bler and unprepared, which you know is me most nights. USA Today called it truly forgettable. The always unkind. New York Post jiggled like jello and good old TMZ.
com headlined with RIP Britney’s career 1998 2007. Perez Hilton, one of the most prominent gossip bloggers and a large critic of Britney Spears at the time, wrote a scalding open letter saying, “Dear Britney, you we are insulted, offended, and disgusted by your performance at the VMAs. Are youing serious? What you did was disrespectful to your few remaining fans, and it was disrespectful to MTV.
You didn’t even try. You should have just cancelled, [ __ ] Your performance was beyond pathetic. The old Britney Spears, who was at one point a long time ago truly great, would be embarrassed by your lack of professionalism and utterly appearance at the VMAs. Where was Chris Angel? Where was the magic? And by magic, we don’t mean any tricks or illusions. You seemed dead on stage.
You have lost that spark and shine that used to ooze out of you. We all know you lip-sync, but you couldn’t even do that well at the VMAs. And you barely danced. You couldn’t even get good hair extensions. You have no one to blame for your failure but you. There was no way you were going to be good.
You were out partying every night before the BMAS for three days in a row until almost sunrise. You were probably still drunk or high during your performance. You almost tripped a few times, you mess. No bull excuse that you or your camp will come up with can make up for how pathetic your performance was. A true professional will deliver no matter what. Let’s repeat that.
It’s worth repeating. A true professional will deliver no matter what. What you did was inexcusable. This performance went down as one of the most iconic moments in the Video Music Awards history, and it became infamous. Britney’s fans also began to come out of the woodwork and defend Britney from the ruthless attacks by the media.
And this is where we get one of the most viral videos of the early 2000s. Do we really want to see a 25-year-old woman leave behind two children and die? Have we learned nothing from Anna Nicole Smith? Not breathing and she’s not responsive, just 39 years old. And I know it’s hard to see Britney Spears as a human being, but trust me, she is. She’s a person.
She’s like you or I. And I don’t know about you, but I know that I would be pretty shaken up right now. Whatever the case of her, whatever the cause of her performance was, I don’t care. All I care about is Britney’s well-being. And Britney, all I want is for you to get well. That’s all I want. The world needs to know that Britney still has her fans.
Britney needs to know that she still has her fans. And how dare anyone out there make fun of Britney. We’re not going to pass up a chance to work with Ginger Fox. She’s a huge star. She was till she hopped on the psycho train and crashed into Hasbin Island. Pinterest manager said that she’s gotten some, you know, mental help and now she’s ready to make a big comeback.
She looks okay from a distance. Just marching around the stage like an idiot. Did she shave into her arms? I don’t think she shaved INTO HER ARMS. HAS ANYBODY SEEN MY BABY? HI EVERYBODY. I MAY HAVE LOST A FOOT TO DIABETES, but I’m still sexy, y’all. Now, I’M GOING TO DANCE for you. [Music] Excuse me, Mrs.
Spears, but your kids are here and they brought you a squirrel. My boys? Really? Send them in. It’s okay. My kids are here. I feel better now. WE DID IT, GUYS. I TOLD YOU THAT WOULD WORK. YEAH. ALL RIGHT. ALL RIGHT. You mean it was just a joke? My kids ain’t here. All right, daddy. Just flash to your crotch or something. I got a better idea.
You do? Yeah. No. Get me a drink, [ __ ] I sort of see you. I think I took too many Xanax. [Music] That’s Britney, [ __ ] [Music] And so you just expect me to be free. After all she’s been through, she lost her aunt. And these are for you, Aunt Sandra. She went through a divorce. She had two kids. Her husband turned out to be a user, a cheater, and now she’s going through a custody battle.
Perez Hilton talked about professionalism and said if Britney was a professional, she would have pulled it off no matter what. Speaking of professionalism, when is it professional to publicly bash someone who’s going through a hard time? LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE. PLEASE. Even Chris Crocker was ridiculed for defending Britney Spears and became a celebrity on their own.
It was so popular to dislike Britney’s fears at the time that her supporters were being ridiculed as well for just standing up for her, even though they were on the right side of history. Only 11 days after Britney shocked the world with Gibney Moore, her manager Jeff dropped her, saying the current circumstances prevented him from doing his job.
And merely a few weeks later, the court ruled that Britney could only have monitored visits with her kids. But she appealed and was able to get one night a week. When Britney left custody court, the paparazzi caused yet another car accident. A sheriff was holding back the paparazzi when Britney accidentally ran over her foot trying to get away.
And unfortunately, just a few weeks later, the court ruled that Britney could no longer drive her kids around due to the dangers of the paparazzi. They had taken everything from her. Her privacy, her serenity, and now the right to drive her children. This was a really big deal to Britney as being a mother was a huge part of her identity.
She just wanted to raise her children in peace. The entertainment industry had stripped her of everything and continued to ruthlessly manipulate and abuse Britney every chance they got. And this all came to a head in the fall when Britney was gearing up to release the most influential and experimental album of her career. [Music] How’s your new album, Britney? I heard it’s going to be a hit.
Think it’s funny. What? [Music] In July of 2006, Britney began work on one of her most unique and successful projects. It would be a new album with a completely different sound. She began production of Blackout by recording Radar the day after she filed for divorce from Kevin Federline and recorded the rest of the album among some of her darkest moments.
You know, it was also a dark period in her life, but what was it like being in the studio with Britney Spears? You know, it was it was it was awesome in the beginning and she was the sweetest, most happiest thing. And um so it was just it was uh it was difficult to see her go through the transition cuz we were there through the transition and things got a little bit rough.
Britney, your single’s doing incredibly well. Are you happy? Yeah. You know, it’s number one, right? Number one ring. After Give Me More hit number one, they moved the release up 2 weeks. But this album had one of the most non-traditional press runs ever cuz it’d be real funny if she were like, “Just kidding.
” Well, it it’d be it’d be funny up until kid number two cuz I mean, think about it. She She’s done no press for her album, which I love the album. But yeah, I do. But she’s done no press. She’s getting so much press off of all this other stuff. Britney only did one interview about the album with Ryan Serest today.
The album’s been out for a day or so. What will you do for the rest of the week? Do you have to uh do appearances? Will you promote the album? What are you going to be doing? This is it. This is it. All this is the promotion. I promoted on on air with Ryan Ser. I don’t need to promote anymore. All right. So, well then let’s cover all of our bases this morning.
What about piece of me is uh it’s kind of about your image in the media and the paparazzi swarming and everyone always on your case. What was the message you wanted to convey with that song? Um just you know like wherever you go and stuff like that there’s a lot of people who like you know want to ask questions and like you know they just um you know sometimes you you know you don’t know their intentions and stuff like that.
So it’s just kind of a cute way of putting it out there you know like you want a piece of me and like in a you know cool cute clever way. So, but it’s, you know, it’s it’s a it’s a cute song. I like it. On the day Blackout was released, court commissioner Scott Gordon ruled that Britney can visit her sons three times a week with a monitor and would need to submit to drug and alcohol testing.
As Britney’s custody battle had been so public, Ryan Serest saw the opportunity to get the exclusive. But as he continued to press Britney about her children, the interview took, well, an awkward turn. Well, you you’ve obviously been aware of the conversation about your kids and and obviously all of the things that you’ve been doing to um you know, go to court.
You have the the court dates. You’ve had the reports of the parenting coaches and and everything that’s been going on and covered. How do you respond to those who criticize you as a mom? Um, like I said, you know, people say what they want and you know, do what they do and uh, and you know, it’s sad, you know, how people how people how cruel our world can be, but at the end of the day, like I said, you know, you just got to know in your heart that you know, you’re doing the best that you can and you know, that’s basically it.
And do you feel like you’re doing everything you can for your kids? Wait, what? Do you feel like you’re doing everything you can for your kids? Oh, glad. Yeah. Yeah. And how often will you see them? Um, oh, we we aren’t. Um, that’s like all in the court and like stuff like that. My lawyers do know all that stuff.
Let’s talk about phone stuff. Okay. Sam, what do you want to talk about? All right. So, we’re live. It’s 9:23 right now. Uh, Britney Spears house is linked up live here. This is uh Ally, her friend. Her friend Sam and Britney. Hey Ally, ask Britney what she wants to say to her fans because a lot of them are listening right now that have bought this album.
You know what? She just ran into the other room. I know she just wanted to say thanks to them and you know, hold on. She really appreciates everything and them supporting her through everything. Does she want to say? Yeah. See if you can find her. Oh, she’s in the shower. Um do you want to try Do you want to try us back um in a little while? Yeah, we’ll call you back cuz I I think you should let her say something to her fans. That’d be great.
Absolutely. Okay, cool. Thanks so much, Ry. Call in 10. But even with no promotion and no press runs, Blackout received some of the best reviews from critics in her career. It may have been one of her darkest years, but she made an album that was ahead of its time, changing pop music yet again. And with entire songs dedicated to the media like Piece of Me, the album is a time capsule for the year 2007.
2007 was Britney’s last year as a free woman, and it was full of nothing but struggle, heartache, and abuse at the hands of the media. Britney Spears had been so controlled for the first 25 years of her life that reaching her breaking point was inevitable. And over a decade later, this time period is still affecting almost every aspect of her life.
To quote Perez Hilton, who ruthlessly ripped her to shreds, “Looking back now, it really does seem like Britney is lucky to still be alive.” Britney had thought she had hit rock bottom, but little did she know, the fears she expressed in May about people trying to take control of her life would come true. In the past few years, we have learned even more about why Britney isolated herself and was so paranoid about the people she thought she could trust.
In an alleged leaked email from July of 2007, we see Britney contacting her lawyer, Gary Stifleman, stating a woman named Lou Taylor had been stalking her. Britney was concerned as Lou Taylor had alleged plans to visit her drunk father in Kentwood, Louisiana. Britney stated, “I don’t care about him, but she could easily find my mother and hurt her.
” I had like people in my life that were that were just bad people. You know, you do something wrong and you learn from it and you move on, but it’s like I’m having to pay for it for a really long time. If I wasn’t under the strengths that I’m under right now, feel so liberated and feel like myself. [Music] limo. Sorry boy, I got to go out.
My publicist calling me. Yeah, our sex tape is on TMZ.
