Jamie Lynn Spears has broken her silence for the first time since the New York Times: Framing Britney documentary dropped on Feb. 5 on FX and Hulu. In it, the doc reviewed the extremely harsh treatment Britney Spears, 39, received at the hands of the media, from accusations of not being a good role model for girls as a young performer, to coverage mocking her very public 2007 breakdown where she shaved her head and ended up hospitalized in a psychiatric ward. Jamie Lynn is reminding the media to “do better” as several news outlets and websites have already apologized for the brutal way they handled a young woman’s personal crisis, just because she was a world famous pop superstar.
“Dear Media, try not to repeat the mistakes of your past. Look where that got us. Do better,” Jamie Lynn, 29, wrote in a Feb. 12 Instagram story. “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind, always.” In a second post, she also said that she “loves” Britney very much. The brutal and unsympathetic treatment by some media outlets towards Britney during her mental health crisis was so cruel, especially by today’s standards.
As a result of Britney’s hospitalization on a 5150 hold in Jan. 2008 when she was just 26, the pop star lost custody of her two sons and was put under a conservatorship run by her father Jamie Spears, 68. He was given control over her finances, estate, career and medical decisions. She’s still under that conservatorship 13 years later, even though conservatorships are usually meant for someone experiencing age-related disabilities.
Britney Spears and sister Jamie Lynn attend Easter Sunday church services in Louisiana in 2013. Photo credit: SplashNews.
Britney had a huge comeback and proved to be highly productive following her crisis years in 2007 and early 2008. She went on to release four new studio albums since 2008 and do two world tours, one in 2009 in support of her Circus album and another in 2011 after she released Femme Fatale. After that, Britney settled into a successful four year Las Vegas residency at the Axis at Planet Hollywood from 2013-2017.
So many of her fans have launched a #FreeBritney movement, to get her out from under her dad’s control, especially over the last several years since she stopped performing. Britney’s lawyer Samuel D. Ingham III warned in a Nov. 2020 hearing that “My client has informed me that she is afraid of her father. She will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career.”
Britney Spears performs at the 102.7 KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball on Dec. 2, 2016. Photo credit: MEGA.
There was a hearing in the conservatorship case on Feb. 11, 2021 where a judge ruled that Jamie Spears will remain as co-conservator of Britney’s estate, despite her ongoing attempts to have her father removed from the role. Fans held a #FreeBritney rally outside the courthouse, and another one online. Jamie Lynn claims that while she “loves” her sister, she was not in attendance.
In another Feb. 12 IG stories post, Jamie Lynn clarified, “A few media outlets ran a story about me attending a virtual rally yesterday. In fact someone represented themselves as me without my knowledge. I love my sister very much, but I was not aware of a rally, nor was I in attendance for a virtual rally.”