Skip to main content

New top story from Time: Here’s What We Learned From Three New Britney Spears Documentaries, From Secret Surveillance to #FreeBritney Infiltrators

https://ift.tt/3m9avBb

A flurry of new documentaries centered on Britney Spears and her court-ordered conservatorship have shed more light on the immense hardship that Britney has faced over the course of the 13-year legal arrangement.

The three specials—FX and the New York Times’ Controlling Britney Spears, CNN’s Toxic: Britney SpearsBattle for Freedom and Netflix’s Britney Vs Spears—were all released in the week leading up to Britney’s highly anticipated Sept. 29 court date, a hearing at which Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny is expected to address Britney’s petitions to remove her father, Jamie Spears, as conservator and terminate the conservatorship as well as Jamie’s own unexpected petition to end the arrangement.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Attention surrounding the hearing and the fan-driven #FreeBritney movement has continued to ramp up in recent days as reports of shocking new details regarding Britney’s case, as alleged by the documentaries, have spread. These bombshells range from allegations that a security firm hired by Jamie bugged Britney’s home, including her bedroom, in order to monitor her private conversations, to claims that Britney pushed for years early in the conservatorship to be allowed to retain counsel outside of her court-appointed lawyer, Samuel D. Ingham III.

The three documentaries have arrived amid ongoing fallout from Britney’s explosive June 23 testimony, during which she publicly stated that the conservatorship is “abusive” and that she wants it to end immediately. There have since been a number of rapid-fire developments in the case, including Ingham resigning and Judge Penny approving Britney’s request for prominent Hollywood lawyer Mathew S. Rosengart—a former federal prosecutor who has represented a number of A-list celebrities, including Sean Penn, Steven Spielberg and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, in recent years—to represent her going forward.

While much of the content of these three documentaries is a rehash of facts that have already been pored over ad nauseam, some of them did drop several key revelations. Here are the major takeaways from the new Britney Spears documentaries.

Read more: Three New Britney Spears Documentaries Tell a Chilling Tale About the Bystander Effect

Crossing “unfathomable lines” with security and surveillance

Of the former members of Britney’s inner circle who appear in Controlling Britney Spears, the one who seemed to have the most insight into the ways in which Jamie and others involved in the conservatorship allegedly controlled Britney’s life was Alex Vlasov, a former executive assistant to Black Box Security founder Edan Yemini, whose firm was contracted by Jamie.

In the documentary, Vlasov says that he was told that a 24/7 security detail was a part of the conservatorship and was what the client, i.e. Jamie, was asking for. “It really reminded me of somebody that was in prison,” he says of how Britney was treated. “Security was put in a position to be the prison guards, essentially.”

Vlasov’s most shocking revelations involve allegations that Black Box put measures in place to monitor Britney’s cell phone use, including calls, texts, photos and browsing history, as well as in-person conversations she had with, among others, her children and now-fiancé Sam Asghari in the privacy of her own home. Audio recording devices were even placed in Britney’s bedroom, likely without her knowledge, according to Vlasov.

“They openly talked about monitoring her,” Vlasov says in the documentary, which alleges that Jamie, Yemini and Robin Greenhill, an associate of Britney’s former business manager Lou Taylor at Tri Star Sports and Entertainment, were the three people in primary control of Britney’s day-to-day life. “Their reasons for monitoring were looking for bad influences, looking for potential illegal activity that might happen. But they [would] also monitor conversations with her friends, with her mom, with her lawyer Sam Ingham.”

Following the documentary’s Sept. 24 release, Rosengart filed a supplemental motion calling for Jamie’s immediate suspension from the conservatorship and an investigation into the surveillance claims. In the filing, Rosengart noted that California is a two-party consent state, meaning it could be illegal for Britney’s communications to be monitored and recorded without her consent.

“Any unauthorized intercepting or monitoring of Britney’s communications—especially attorney-client communications, which are a sacrosanct part of the legal system—would represent a shameful violation of her privacy rights and a striking example of the deprivation of her civil liberties,” Rosengart said in a statement. “Placing a listening device in Britney’s bedroom would be particularly horrifying, and corroborates so much of her compelling, poignant testimony. Mr. Spears has crossed unfathomable lines.”

New insight into Britney’s battle for her own lawyer

Britney vs. Spears
Courtesy of NetflixFilmmaker Erin Lee Carr and journalist Jenny Eliscu in ‘Britney Vs Spears’

In Britney Vs Spears, director Erin Lee Carr (How To Fix a Drug Scandal, Dirty Money) and journalist Jenny Eliscu, who has been reporting on Britney for two decades, detail how Britney attempted several times in the early years of the conservatorship to get her own lawyer.

After the court waived Britney’s right to five days’ advance notice of the hearing on Jamie’s conservatorship petition, Britney was put under a temporary conservatorship in 2008 under “orders related to dementia placement,” according to a court document shown in the film.

Britney then reached out to her ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib, via text messages reviewed by the Times, to arrange a meeting with attorney Adam Streisand. When Streisand told the court that Britney wanted an independent professional to act as conservator rather than Jamie, the judge, referencing a report that said Britney did not have the capacity to retain counsel and have an attorney-client relationship, responded that Streisand could not represent her and asked him to leave the courtroom. Ingham was then appointed by the court to take on Britney’s case.

In January 2009, Britney reportedly left another lawyer a voicemail, the audio of which is featured in Britney Vs Spears, asking him to help her end her conservatorship but retain her custodial rights.

“I’m calling again because I just wanted to make sure that during the process of eliminating the conservatorship that my father has threatened me several times, to you know, he’ll take my children away,” she says in the voicemail.

Shortly after that, Britney reportedly signed a court petition organized by Ghalib and her former manager Sam Lutfi calling for Ingham to be replaced. In the documentary, Eliscu says that she herself brought the petition to the Montage hotel in Beverly Hills, where Britney secretly met her in a bathroom stall to sign the papers.

“BRITNEY JEAN SPEARS has expressed her lack of confidence in her court-appointed attorney SAMUEL INGHAM, III,” the petition read. “CERTAINLY THIS WOMAN WHO CAN COMPLETE TWO NEW CD’s AND BE SET TO GO ON A NATIONAL TOUR HAS SUFFICIENT CAPACITY, AFTER NEARLY ONE YEAR OF PROTECTIVE CONSERVATORSHIP TO RETAIN COUNSEL OF HER CHOICE AND IN WHOM SHE HAS CONFIDENCE.”

However, after Ingham allegedly emailed Jamie asking him to do whatever was necessary to “squash” the documents, the court ultimately ruled that Britney lacked the capacity to choose her own lawyer. Britney reportedly then received an email from the attorney she was trying to hire, John Anderson, in which he wrote, “I can say no more; and do no more. And that is the end for me.”

Later that year, Jamie was granted even more control in the conservatorship, giving him the power to do things like manage Britney’s professional opportunities and cancel her credit cards.

A decade later in 2019, after Britney checked into a mental health facility under shady circumstances, Controlling Britney Spears alleges that she asked a lawyer to sneak into the facility by pretending to be a plumber in order to meet with her. The lawyer declined, prompting the following response from Britney: “You have to be approved by the court before I hire you, but I don’t understand how can I know I want to hire you unless I meet with you first?”

Jamie allegedly took Britney’s phone away after finding out she had been communicating with a lawyer.

Attempted infiltration of the #FreeBritney movement

As the #FreeBritney movement began to gain steam in recent years, Vlasov says that it drew the attention of those in control in the conservatorship. Controlling Britney Spears alleges that Black Box Security began sending undercover investigators to infiltrate #FreeBritney rallies in 2019 in order to identify those involved and prepare a “threat assessment report.”

“Undercover investigators were placed within the crowds to talk to fans to ID them, to document who they were. It was all under the umbrella of ‘this is for Britney’s protection,'” Vlasov says in the documentary. “They were extremely nervous, because they had zero control over the #FreeBritney movement and what’s going to come out of it.”

Britney has since expressed her gratitude for #FreeBritney supporters on social media. After being granted permission to hire Rosengart in July, she wrote on Instagram, “Thank you to my fans who are supporting me…. You have no idea what it means to me be supported by such awesome fans !!!! God bless you all !!!!! Pssss this is me celebrating by horseback riding and doing cartwheels today !!!! #FreeBritney.”

Read more: #FreeBritney Activists Were Dismissed for Years. The Star’s Explosive Testimony Changed Everything

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

L Taraval Improvement Project Update

L Taraval Improvement Project Update By Sevilla Mann Roundtable at the Community Parklet Shares Project Updates  This past week, the SFMTA hosted a media roundtable discussing updates about the L Taraval Improvement Project at the community parklet located in front of the The Rolling Out Café  on Taraval St.   Segment B construction began in February 2022 and is scheduled to be completed Fall 2024. Sewer and water infrastructure work is currently taking place. Future work includes track work, overhead line work, the construction of new boarding islands and streetscape improvements.    On hand to answer questions and provide updates was District Four Supervisor Gordon Mar, SFMTA Board Director Sharon Lai and Director of Transportation Jefferey Tumlin.   The Roundtable  Supervisor Mar opened the discussion by highlighting the many benefits that the local community will receive with the planned infrastructure upgrades along the corridor. These benefits include:   Replacing sew

FOX NEWS: Cincinnati zoo renames sloth habitat after late 1-year-old who loved sloths The sloth habitat at Ohio's Cincinnati Zoo will be named after a toddler who recently passed away.

Cincinnati zoo renames sloth habitat after late 1-year-old who loved sloths The sloth habitat at Ohio's Cincinnati Zoo will be named after a toddler who recently passed away. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3DLAshi

IPL 2020 | KKR, SRH search for first win to get off the mark https://ift.tt/333a9nc

Having suffered defeats in their opening games, the Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad will lock horns on Saturday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. While Kolkata faced a tough 49-run loss to defending champions Mumbai Indians, the Sunrisers suffered a monumental batting collapse against Royal Challengers Bangalore, losing the game by 10 runs.

FOX NEWS: Decadent double chocolate mint cookies for National Chocolate Day National Chocolate Day on Oct. 28th calls for a serious dose of chocolate.

Decadent double chocolate mint cookies for National Chocolate Day National Chocolate Day on Oct. 28th calls for a serious dose of chocolate. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3nEJxSB

Muni’s Equity Toolkit Helps Essential Employees Get to Work

Muni’s Equity Toolkit Helps Essential Employees Get to Work By Mariana Maguire The latest data from SFMTA’s new  Equity Toolkit  shows that Muni service changes are helping people in neighborhoods identified by our  Muni Service Equity Strategy  access more jobs and support the city’s recovery.   In winter 2020, we launched the  SFMTA Equity Toolkit  to understand how service decisions are affecting neighborhoods where there is likely a high prevalence of essential workers who rely predominantly on Muni to get to their essential jobs. Our goal is to make better service decisions based on the trends and impacts we see in the Equity Toolkit.   Recently, the greatest increases in access to jobs via Muni have been in Hunters Point and Western Addition. The Hunters Point neighborhood saw the largest gains from the addition of the  15 Bayview-Hunters Point Express , as demonstrated in the table below. Thanks to the return of key Muni lines and increased frequencies on connector routes, I

Powered Scooters Charge City’s Transportation Recovery

Powered Scooters Charge City’s Transportation Recovery By Jason Hyde The SFMTA is releasing its next round of Powered Scooter Share permits on July 1. Scooters remain a sustainable mode of travel and a complement to Muni and public transit service as the city recovers from the pandemic and San Franciscans begin to travel more. The SFMTA’s Powered Scooter Share Program is essential in ensuring that shared scooter operations support the city’s economic recovery in a safe, sustainable, and equitable way.  The SFMTA received four submittals for the permit program and will issue permits to two operators : Spin and Lime. Permits will be in effect for a one-year term, with the option to extend for another year at the discretion of the SFMTA based on compliance with various program metrics. While the new permit program does not set a limit on the number of scooters each operator may deploy, it does limit the overall citywide fleet size at 10,000. Starting at a base of 2,000 scooters per

New top story from Time: 3 Killed in Northern California as Wildfires Force Thousands to Evacuate

https://ift.tt/34at2Uy (SAN FRANCISCO) — Northern California’s wine country was on fire again Monday as strong winds fanned flames in the already scorched region, destroying homes and prompting orders for nearly 70,000 people to evacuated. Meanwhile, three people died in a separate fire further north in the state. In Sonoma County, residents of the Oakmont Gardens senior living facility in Santa Rosa boarded brightly lit city buses in the darkness overnight, some wearing bathrobes and using walkers. They wore masks to protect against the coronavirus as orange flames marked the dark sky. The fire threat forced Adventist Health St. Helena hospital to suspend care and transfer all patients elsewhere. The fires that began Sunday in the famed Napa-Sonoma wine country about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of San Francisco came as the region nears the third anniversary of deadly wildfires that erupted in 2017, including one that killed 22 people. Just a month ago, many of those

Traffic Collisions have Decreased on San Francisco’s Slow Streets

Traffic Collisions have Decreased on San Francisco’s Slow Streets By Julia Malmo   As a whole, Slow Streets are safer than they were before being designated Slow Streets  Streets that are part of the SFMTA’s  Slow Streets Program have become measurably safer since the program began in 2020, with the number of traffic crashes falling by almost half. On average, these corridors have seen a 48% drop in collisions following their designation as Slow Streets, compared with a 14% drop in collisions citywide over the same period. Slow Streets also are more welcoming for people who walk, bike and roll. Fewer than 1,000 vehicles per day use all but four of the current Slow Streets (20th Street, Minnesota Street, Noe Street, and Page Street).  The goal of the program is to create safe, shared streets that are comfortable and enjoyable for people of all ages and abilities, using any mode of transportation. We now can see how it’s doing in a new evaluation report . When the SFMTA Board appr

New top story from Time: How History Is Repeating Itself for Haitian Migrants Trying to Enter the U.S.

https://ift.tt/3upRk9U In the past 11 years alone, Haitians have suffered natural disasters, rising gang violence, outbreaks of cholera and COVID-19, and political instability, including the recent assassination of President Jovenel Moïse . The crises left many in the hemisphere’s poorest nation feeling they had no option but to leave—despite the difficulties they face in fleeing to other countries. In late September, Americans were confronted with the reality of those difficulties too. An estimated 15,000 people arrived in Del Rio, Texas, during the month, below a bridge connecting the city to Mexico’s Ciudad Acuña. A majority were Haitian nationals, migrants and asylum seekers who ended up living in tents or under tarps, in conditions similar to those in other camps that have formed along the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Read more: Caught Between U.S. Policies and Instability at Home, Haitian Migrants in Tijuana Are in a State of L

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J कोरोना सकंट में TV सीरियल की शूटिंग शूरू, मास्क लगाकर पहुंचे स्टार्स- निया, पार्थ से लेकर रश्मि-PICS

कोरोना वायरस के चलते जारी लॉकडाउन में टीवी व फिल्मों की शूटिंग बंद थी। कोरोना के खतरे को देखते हुए तमाम सीरियल की शूटिंग रोक दी गई तो वहीं फिल्मों को रिलीज अटक गई। एंटरटेंमेंट इंडस्ट्री को कोरोना के चलते करोड़ों from टेलीविजन की खबरें | Television News in Hindi | TV Serials Update in Hindi – FilmiBeat Hindi http:/hindi.filmibeat.com/television/tv-shooting-starts-kasauti-zindagi-kay-naagin-nia-sharma-parth-samthaan-rashmi-desai-pics-090604.html?utm_source=/rss/filmibeat-hindi-television-fb.xml&utm_medium=23.11.231.156&utm_campaign=client-rss