Framing Britney Spears Sequel Premiering On FX And Hulu
After the success of the Emmy-nominated special "The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears," FX and Hulu have announced that a sequel titled "Controlling Britney Spears" will be airing tonight.
The initial documentary explores the media abuse the pop star endured and attempts to understand the conservatorship she's been in under her father, Jamie Spears, since 2008. The episode combines the NYT's reporting on the case with interviews from Spears' former associates, lawyers, pop culture reporters, a former paparazzo, and dedicated fans involved in the #FreeBritney movement.
While "Framing Britney Spears" expanded public consciousness of her troubling situation and forced people to reckon with the idea that even someone as wealthy and famous as Spears cannot get out of a conservatorship, the pop star wasn't a fan.
"I didn't watch the documentary but from what I did see of it I was embarrassed by the light they put me in," Spears wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post, adding that she had "cried for two weeks" after its release. The renewed interest in her case may benefit concerned fans and others trapped in abusive conservatorships, but it comes at the cost of once again dragging her private life into the open.
With the surprise announcement of "Controlling Britney Spears" just four days before the release of the highly-anticipated Netflix documentary "Britney vs. Spears," plus the next court hearing scheduled for September 29, all eyes are on this case.
What is Controlling Britney Spears about?
An article from the New York Times explains that their upcoming "Controlling Britney Spears" documentary "reveals a portrait of an intense surveillance apparatus that monitored every move the pop star made" and includes exclusive interviews with sources directly connected to the case.
According to an official press release, it will feature "new allegations from insiders with intimate knowledge of Britney's daily life inside the conservatorship" (via TVLine). Director Samantha Stark also noted the June court hearing in which Britney Spears publicly addressed her frustrations with the conservatorship for the first time.
"She said she felt abused under the conservatorship and questioned whether the judge thought she was lying. Britney's speech motivated the people in this film to seek us out to share their stories — at great risk to themselves — because they felt compelled to back up what Britney was saying with evidence they had or moments they witnessed," said Stark (via TVLine).
"Britney's situation raises a lot of important questions about the conservatorship system at large and whether it is working properly," said producer Liz Day. "We felt that it was in the public interest to examine that."
"Controlling Britney Spears" airs on FX and Hulu tonight at 10/9c.