In case you missed it, the New York Times released the second part of their Britney Spears documentary, called Controlling Britney Spears.
FX & The @NYTimes Presents: #ControllingBritneySpears starts now on FX, streaming on @Hulu.
While Framing Britney Spears gave an introduction to the 13-year conservatorship she's been under and focused more on the overall mistreatment of Britney, Controlling Britney Spears is more about Britney's life under the conservatorship.
“She was kept very very isolated. Her manager when I first came on said, ‘Be careful, don’t get too close. People have a way of disappearing.’” -Dan George, Promotional Tour Manager, The Circus Tour, 2008-2009 #ControllingBritneySpears #NYTPresents
It was thoroughly and completely devastating.
The new documentary focuses on a security company called Black Box Security that was hired to watch over Britney. The documentary claims that the security crew were recording private conversations in her room without her knowledge and surveilling her phone by using the iCloud and a remote iPad.
“Working at Black Box, I saw so much. I’m not a law expert, so I can’t speak to the legality of everything. But ethically, it was just one big mess.” -Alex Vlasov, Executive Assistant; Operations and Cybersecurity Manager, 2012-2021 #ControllingBritneySpears
Which, obviously, is disgusting and highly illegal.
But the part that really, truly broke me were two interviews with former BFFs of Britney.
The two people are Britney's former assistant, Felicia, and former wardrobe stylist, Tish Yates.
I can’t stop thinking about the end of the film & how emotional It made me. I want to send ALL the love I have to Fe & Tish. I can’t even put into how words how beautiful & brave both of you are. I can’t wait until you both get to see Britney again. I KNOW it’ll be soon. 💕🥺💕
The first story is from Felicia Culotta, otherwise known by fans simply as "Fe."
Fe was Britney's personal assistant since the beginning. We love Fe. Fe is family. As someone who has met Fe multiple times over the years, she is genuinely one of the nicest, sweetest human beings.
In Controlling Britney Spears, Fe talks about being rehired as Britney's personal assistant for her 2008 Circus tour.
Things got real weird, real fast for Fe. Eventually, it was like she wasn't allowed to be by Britney's side.
“I didn’t want to do anything more than assist her […] then it slowly became where I wasn’t allowed to be by her side and wasn’t allowed to have a conversation without having other people present, which was very odd.” -Felicia Culotta #ControllingBritneySpears #NYTPresents
Fe says Britney's team tried to prevent her from going on the European leg of the tour. She refused, went, and promised to stay away from Britney. Britney's father told her "Britney doesn't want you there. She never wanted you on this tour."
"Britney said she doesn't want you there. She never wanted you on this tour. Britney said if she ever sees you, she's not going on stage." - Jamie Spears to Felicia during the Circus tour #freebritney #ControllingBritneySpears
This sounded weird, especially to Fe. But she went along anyway and did her best to avoid Britney.
Things came to a head when she had an accidental run-in with Britney on the absolute last date of the tour. Fe was in the tour office and Britney walked in and screamed "Fe, where have you been?!" She sprinted across the room and flung herself in Fe's arms, overjoyed to see her.
The fact that they were trying to turn Britney and Fe against each other makes me so mad bc they knew how much Brit and Fe love each other and how close they used to be :(( #ControllingBritneySpears #FreeBritney
Fe says she felt Britney's father, Jamie, was trying to pit the two of them against each other, which is another example of Britney being isolated from anyone she knew and loved. It's pure evil.
The other part of the documentary that wrecked me was this anecdote from her former wardrobe stylist, Tish Yates. Tish was Britney's head of wardrobe for most of her Piece of Me residency in Vegas.
“I’ve never spoken about what we witnessed. It’s been hard to come forward knowing there are people in her management that could stop me from making a living. But this is important.” -Tish Yates, Britney’s Head of Wardrobe, 2008-2010, 2013-2018 #ControllingBritneySpears
In the doc, Tish says Britney is known for memorizing phone numbers.
She told a story about a Tiffany's necklace she got for her.
Tish Yates' message to Britney Spears absolutely broke my heart. I really hope her and Felicia will be able to come back in Britney Spears' life once the conservatorship is over. #ControllingBritneySpears #FreeBritney
At the end of the Piece of Me tour, Tish bought Britney this necklace with her phone number engraved on the back so she could call her in case she ever needed help.
This woman bought Britney a Tiffany’s necklace so that she could secretly pass along her phone number bc she was concerned for her saftey #FreeBritney #ControllingBritneySpears
It's so, so dark.
"I KNOW SHE MEMORIZES PHONE NUMBERS ... SO I GAVE HER A NECKLACE WITH MY PHONE NUMBER ON IT [WHEN I WAS LET GO]" HEARTBREAKING #TISHYATES #CONTROLLINGBRITNEYSPEARS #FREEBRITNEY
Like, this isn't some made-up movie. This is real life.
ULTIMATELY, while all of this information is so dark, there is some light. The thing that really got me was the message Fe had for Britney:
I’m not crying, you are #ControllingBritneySpears
"Hang in there. Your voice is coming back. You are louder and prouder than I've seen you in a very long time."
In response to the doc, Britney's lawyer filed papers saying Britney's dad crossed "unfathomable lines."
NEW: Britney Spears' lawyer Mathew Rosengart files new paperwork Monday in response to "Controlling Britney Spears" doc. "Mr. Spears has crossed unfathomable lines," he writes, referring to claims dad Jamie & cohorts “secretly captured audio recordings from (Britney's) bedroom."
And Britney's next court hearing is on Wednesday.
THEY MOVED THE HEARING FROM DECEMBER TO SEPTEMBER 29!! big day in court for Britney! SAVE THE DATE! 💖💖 #FreeBritney #BritneySpears
Honestly, I just really hope Fe and Tish can have a reunion with Britney someday soon. I know it's coming.
