There, in the corners of an internet that still felt novel and lawless, a new breed of bloggers redefined celebrity gossip and set in motion a ruthless media machine that chewed up and spat out any fresh-faced, high-heeled celebrity in its path.
Now, scrolling back through popular dirt sites like Perez Hilton, Lainey Gossip and TMZ feels very much like looking back on the cringiest years of a digital adolescence.
The rise of social media and a socially conscious public have cooled the frenzied paparazzi surge and curbed the worst of the crude headlines.
On Friday, Spears finally won her battle to end a court-ordered conservatorship put in place during a long run of personal setbacks that began in 2007.
In 2008, what was supposed to be a temporary arrangement to help get Spears back on her feet turned into a permanent set of legal restrictions that influenced Spears’ personal and professional life for 13 years.
In truth, Britney Spears has always been talked about.
Her divorce, custody battle, mental health issues, and an involuntary hospitalization episode during which paparazzi jockeyed to get a picture of Spears on a gurney, all happened around 2007 and 2008.
What did these women have in common? They were all young, beautiful, rich, and successful.
The advent of social media helped end the highly influential grip of tabloids and gossip blogs because it allowed celebrities to control their own narratives.
“Before this time, the best way celebrities were able to speak back about their image was through their professional work,” Meyers says.
While blogs gloried in ridiculing Spears during her comeback performance at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, and rushed to tear apart Jessica Simpson’s high-waisted jeans at a 2009 appearance at a chili cook-off, today’s young stars are quick to bite back at body shaming.
Among the revelations about her life under the arrangement, she gave a succinct summation of what it is like to live life on two opposite sides of public opinion; to be envied, yet ridiculed.
“I thought people would make fun of me,” Spears said, explaining why she was hesitant to speak about the situation in past.