There hasn’t been such a spotlight on Spears’ conservatorship since it was first established 13 years ago, following her public breakdown, but national attention to the case has built to a fever pitch in recent months, ever since the February release of the documentary Framing Britney Spears.
Hearing her actually speak and say all this felt so powerful, because now we can’t deny what came out of her mouth or how she feels.
Since the documentary aired, Stark and her New York Times colleagues have continued to report on the developing story of the conservatorship, and they published an investigation the day before Spears’ hearing that shed new light on the situation.
While much of the public reaction to the hearing had to do with the details of Spears’ testimony – her conservators’ refusal to let her remove her IUD and have a child among the most headline-grabbing items – Stark had heard most of it before, and was stuck on something else in the aftermath of the star’s virtual court appearance.
Spears has repeatedly expressed fear of punishment for speaking out, citing being forced into a mental health facility, being administered lithium , and being prevented from seeing her children and boyfriend after standing up for herself in the past.
As Framing Britney Spears explains, after the singer was taken into an involuntary psychiatric hold in early 2008, she tried to hire a lawyer to represent her, but the court deemed her mentally incapable of retaining her own counsel and assigned a court-appointed attorney, Ingham.
“Sam Ingham was assigned to be her attorney on Feb.
The New York Times story about Ingham reports that he makes $475 per hour representing Spears, totaling almost $3 million since 2008.
Spears asked the judge Wednesday to be allowed to finally hire her own lawyer, and Ingham said in court that he would comply if asked to step aside; once again, however, “there wasn’t an action plan put in place for that,” Stark says.
Another hearing has been set for July 14, but it’s unclear whether any of the wishes expressed or abuses alleged in Spears’ testimony will be addressed there, especially considering the revelation that she’s been saying these things for years.
The media has a short attention span, but one group will never take its eyes off the twin prizes of Spears’ emancipation and broader probate court reform.
“One of the things our documentary did was, we took a step back and really made a huge effort to come at the whole story without prejudgments or prejudices from past media coverage,” Stark says.
The #FreeBritney movement was vindicated this week, when Spears herself verbally detailed alleged abuses about which the group has been trying to spread awareness for so long.
“Usually, I take furious notes when I’m in the courtroom and try to write down everything the person says.