All language subtitles for [S01.E09] The New York Times Presents - Controlling Britney Spears.English text

JUDGE: So I'm going to give

the appearance
of counsel first.

CROWD: Free Britney now!
Free Britney now!

JERYLL: Your Honor,
Jeryll Cohen

of Freeman, Freeman, & Smiley,

appearing for‐‐for
James P. Spears.

CROWD: Free Britney now!
Free Britney now!

VIVIAN: Good afternoon,
Your Honor.

Vivian Thoreen
of Holland & Knight,

appearing on behalf
of James P. Spears.

CROWD: Free Britney now!
Free Britney now!

JAMIE: James P. Spears,

conservator for the estate
of Britney Jean Spears.

CROWD: Free Britney now!
PROTESTER: Shh, shh, shh.

She's calling in, I guess.

PROTESTER: Yeah. She's going to
do it. This is it.

PROTESTER: This is it.
‐ I‐I was able to connect.

How about you?

JUDGE: Good afternoon,
Ms. Spears.

I believe you are
on the telephone?

PROTESTER: She's doing it.
PROTESTER: I heard it.

PROTESTER: What's happening
here?

PROTESTER: She's doing it.

BRITNEY: Hi, good afternoon.
CROWD: Whoo!

PROTESTER: Yeah!

JUDGE: Did any
of the counsel have

anything they wanted to say

before we hear
from Ms. Spears?

SPEAKER: Your Honor,
this is Ms. Wright.

I did want to ask that
we please seal the transcript

and clear the courtroom

so we can preserve
those medical rights.

I think it's
really important then‐‐

BRITNEY: I think they've done
a good job

at exploiting my life

in the way that
they've done my life,

so I feel like it‐‐it should
be an open court hearing,

and they should, um, listen

and, um, hear
what I have to say.

[protesters cheering]

‐ Come on, Britney!

BRITNEY: I will be honest
with you.

I haven't been back to court
in a long time

because I don't think
I was heard on any level

when I came
to court the last time,

and that's why I'm telling you
this again two years later,

after I've lied and told
the whole world I'm okay

and I'm happy.

It's a lie.

I'm not happy.
I can't sleep.

I'm so angry, it's insane,
and I'm depressed.

I cry every day,

and the reason
I'm telling you this

is because I don't think

how the State of California
can have

all this written
in the court documents

from the time I showed up
and do absolutely nothing.

It's embarrassing

and demoralizing
what I've been through,

and that's the main reason
I've never said it openly.

I honestly didn't think
anyone would believe me.

I just thought people would
make fun of me or laugh at me

and say, "She's lying.
She's got everything.

She's Britney Spears."
I'm not lying.

I also would like to be able to
share my story with the world

and what they did to me,

instead of it being
a hush‐hush secret

to benefit all of them.

Ma'am, my dad
and anyone involved

in this conservatorship
and my management,

who played a huge role
in punishing me

when I said, "No, ma'am,"
they should be in jail.

[crowd cheering]

[serene music]

♪ ♪

‐ [sighs]

Like, I know this is
the right thing to do,

and I‐‐I obviously, you know,
really want to do it,

but... it's‐‐it's still scary.

I don't know what's gonna
happen after this comes out.

♪ ♪

TISH: I've never spoken
about what we witnessed.

You know, we signed
those NDAs,

and it has been hard
to come forward

knowing there are people
in her management

that could stop me
from making a living,

but this is important.

This is a human life
that's been tortured.

♪ ♪

DAN: I think I'm doing
the right thing.

I had to muster the courage
to speak out

because if not me, then who?

FELICIA: When I read
what Britney spoke about

on her own in court,

I was extremely proud of her
and the bravery

that it took
to take up for herself.

Once Britney started
telling her story,

I felt like there were
going to be many people

and many memories that
would need to be talked about

to put all
the puzzle pieces together

and make the truth
of the story come out.

REPORTER: Spears, the former
"Mickey Mouse Club" star

who launched into the pop
culture stratosphere

as a teen had a fall
from grace in her mid‐20s

that's become synonymous
with her success.

ANNOUNCER:
From Kentwood, Louisiana,

here is 10‐year‐old
Britney Spears!

REPORTER: Her new CD is titled
"Oops!... I Did It Again,"

and she certainly has.

HOST: Britney Spears!
HOST: Britney Spears!

‐ Everyone say hi to Britney.

‐ Hi!
‐ Hi, Britney!

REPORTER: She's been out
almost every night

with her new party pals,

Lindsay Lohan
and Paris Hilton.

REPORTER: She began the year

in style in Las Vegas,
passing out at a club.

‐ Britney! Britney!
‐ Are you okay, Britney?

‐ My God.
No, wait, I can't see, guys.

STAFF: Get off the car!
‐ Stop it! Stop it!

‐ I'm a person, just like you.

COMMENTER:
Britney Spears, she's bald.

JAY LENO: Friends say this is
the craziest thing Britney

has ever done
that didn't involve marriage.

It's unbelievable.

DAVID LETTERMAN: Britney
Spears had chapped head.

♪ ♪

[siren wailing]

REPORTER: Thursday,
a police motorcade

accompanied the ambulance

taking Britney Spears
to UCLA Hospital.

COMMENTER: Clearly she's been
suffering some

from some mental issues,

anxiety, perhaps even more.
COMMENTER: Yeah.

REPORTER: We hope the best
for your daughter, sir!

REPORTER: Friday, Britney's
father, Jamie, went to court,

and a Los Angeles judge
gave him

and an advisor
temporary conservator status.

‐ Y'all, please get
out of my way.

[light music]

♪ ♪

‐ So the conservatorship
was granted in February 2008

amid concerns
around Britney's mental health

and potential substance use.

♪ ♪

Many of the court records
are sealed,

so there's a lot that's
unknown about the situation,

but people
in the conservatorship

long maintained to the public

that it was
a smooth‐running operation.

♪ ♪

COMMENTER: And as far
as the conservatorship

is concerned, which has been
in place,

her father in charge of
her affairs, it seems to me,

given all the pressure
she faces in her daily life

just being Britney Spears
the star,

it seems like exactly
the right thing, so she...

‐ Conservatorships are always
supposed to be designed

around serving the best
interest of the conservatee,

so it's
a really interesting question.

What is the best interest
of Britney?

[camera shutters snapping]

FAN: We love you, Britney!
‐ Stay off.

Hold on, hold on.

LIZ: When the conservatorship
first started,

Jamie had the power to retain
security around Britney 24/7.

‐ Watch out, guys.
Watch out.

‐ Why do you have to‐‐
You look great, Britney.

‐ Edan Yemini runs
Black Box Security,

which was Britney's
longtime security company.

♪ ♪

I don't think security
has gotten much scrutiny.

You may, like, see them
in the background of a photo,

hovering around Britney,

but we didn't really understand
what they did.

[soft investigative music]

♪ ♪

INTERVIEWER: Okay, so‐‐
ALEX: So I worked

with the security team for
Britney for almost 9 years.

I started at Black Box
being Edan's assistant.

I did everything from write
his emails to

be on all phone conversations
in order to take notes for him.

I was the only person
at Black Box

that knew everything, really.

Edan was so relieved when
he saw the first documentary.

He was so relieved
that he wasn't mentioned,

Black Box wasn't mentioned,
Tri Star wasn't mentioned.

It was his biggest fear

that security would
somehow draw any attention.

INTERVIEWER: So let's start
at the beginning.

‐ When I started working
at Black Box in 2012, Britney

was the only full‐time client.

REPORTER: Come forward.
Come forward.

REPORTER: Move forward,
Britney. Go forward.

REPORTER: Just go forward,
Britney.

ALEX: When I got the job,
I was super excited.

I just turned 21 that year.

Um, it was‐‐it was‐‐honestly,

it felt like an opportunity
of a lifetime

because there was potential.

[electronic music]

But I would see her
very briefly.

A lot of the times, they
would even ask me to leave

if we knew Britney
was going to be home.

I didn't know even anything
about the conservatorship.

I'd never heard of that,
and everything that I would

know about the conservatorship
would be from Edan.

♪ ♪

We were told
the conservatorship

was there for her own good,

that it was there
to protect her from influence,

from her losing money,

that it was a way for her
to have custody of her kids.

The same thing
was always repeated,

that this is
something she wants.

I remember, I asked Edan,

"Why is it that security
is with her 24/7?"

And he told me

that security was part
of the conservatorship.

REPORTER: Britney Spears:

A California court has named
her father her temporary...

REPORTER: Britney's dad,
Jamie Spears,

just filed
for conservatorship‐‐

REPORTER: Source tells
Us Weekly Britney's dad

is now consulting
with her medical team.

‐ For the most part,
Britney's father, Jamie,

has been the face
of the conservatorship

and has been the one
getting most of the attention

and scrutiny,
but we've learned

that there were a lot
more people behind the scenes

who, you know, really had
influence over Britney's life.

Her business management,
basically accounting,

financials,
was handled by a company

called Tri Star Sports
& Entertainment,

which is run by a woman
named Lou Taylor.

LOU: Well, we thought it was
important to hear a voice

for Jamie and Lynne Spears.
I mean, here you have Britney

that needs to have
some security somewhere

that every single thing
she does

and every single person
she has a relationship with

doesn't become
an opportunity to be exploited.

LIZ: And a Tri Star staffer
named Robin Greenhill

was closely involved
in the Britney account.

‐ Jamie, Edan, and Robin
were basically a part

of every step Britney took.

There was a group chat
with Edan,

Robin and Jamie, and security

where they would basically
post all movement.

[reporters clamoring]

Even in the sacred place,
her home,

every single request
was monitored and recorded.

Her intimate relations
were closely managed.

REPORTER: How you doing,
Britney?

‐ You know, Britney
could not have someone

in the privacy of her house

without
those three people knowing.

Edan would say,
"She's just like a child

"and like any other minor

who needs
their parents' consent."

Around the same time
is when one of the new agents

that was working her
was asking me,

"How is it okay

that we're in charge
of her medication?"

You know, I was like,
"What do you mean?"

He's like, "Well, we were given
prepackaged envelopes.

"We have to hand them to her,
and she can't leave.

She has to take it there."

And, you know, every time that
was brought up or discussed,

it was like, "This is what
security should be doing

"because, you know, this is
what the client is asking for,

and this is what
the client needs."

INTERVIEWER: Was the client
asking for it, or‐‐

‐ The client is Jamie.

You know,
when I took a step back

and I looked at everything,

it really reminded me
of somebody that was in prison,

and security was put
in a position

to be the prison guards,
essentially.

[baby crying]

NARRATOR: Each of us
begins life

needing the care of others.

Later in our lives,
many of us need help

to live
the best life possible.

In California,
if people are found by a judge

to be unable to care for
themselves or their finances,

the court may appoint another
person to take responsibility.

This arrangement
is called a conservatorship.

LIZ: Conservatorships
are not meant

for just anyone
with a mental health issue

or a substance use issue.

Otherwise, there would be
tens of millions of Americans

under conservatorships.

They're supposed to be
a last resort

because they really take a lot
of powers away from someone.

The standard in California is
that you are unable to feed,

clothe, or shelter yourself,

but Britney starts working
almost immediately

after the conservatorship
starts.

[gentle music]

REPORTER: A California court
has now given her father

limited control
over her troubled life.

‐ Here, "From the personal
library of Ted Mosby."

That's you!

LIZ: She starts
guest starring on TV.

She starts recording
a new album.

She starts preparing to embark
on this huge blockbuster tour

called the Circus Tour.

♪ ♪

‐ In 2008, I was recruited
from Shakira's management team

to come into the Britney world
to help right the ship.

This was Britney's first return
to public life

after the very tumultuous
period in 2007.

[percussive dance music]

The promotional tour
for Circus

involved the Black Forest
in Germany.

We did the Bambi Awards,
the next day to Paris.

‐ Britney Spears!

DAN: That's where we shot
Star Academy.

The next day, we moved
to London to do X Factor.

‐ Wow, ladies and gentlemen,
Britney Spears!

DAN: A couple days off,

flew to New York,
Good Morning America.

DAN: Then LA...

‐ Britney, would you like
to help the mayor?

DAN: Christmas tree lighting.

‐ Hi.
‐ Hi.

DAN: Uh, Ellen,
which was a pretape.

‐ We're just, uh‐‐we're
just kind of spreading cheer

around the neighborhood.

BRITNEY: ♪ Boy, don't try
to front I, I know ♪

And on five, we'll just
turn around and just pose.

Five, six, seven, pose.

♪ Womanizer ♪

DAN: Then about a week off,
and we flew to Japan.

‐ Britney Spears
[speaking Japanese]

Give her a big hand.
Thank you very much!

‐ Thank you very much!
‐ [speaking Japanese]

DAN: It was intense.
It was an intense schedule.

It had to have been approved
by the court,

so apparently they felt

that she had the capacity
to endure that.

[dramatic music]

LIZ: The Circus tour goes on
to gross over $100 million

and is one of
the biggest tours of 2009,

and the more money
Britney brings in,

the more money everyone makes.

According to court records,

Tri Star,
the business manager,

was getting 5 percent
of Britney's gross income,

and Jamie is making $16,000
a month

plus a percent of Britney's
multimillion‐dollar deals,

so if her father, Jamie,
as conservator

enters into a deal for her,

is that because
it's in Britney's best interest

or because everyone involved
stands to make a cut?

‐ Like that.
[cheers and applause]

FELICIA: It was
a toxic environment.

It really was.

I mean, it made many people
feel just yucky.

Yeah. It did.
TISH: Yeah.

Well, and I don't think
we've realized it,

almost, till now
because it was always go‐go‐go.

FELICIA: Yeah.
‐ And so, now,

when you start
talking about it,

and your heart starts
fluttering, and you get heavy,

you think, "What is this?
What is this feeling?"

‐ You will feel lighter
after you talk about it,

after you get it out.
TISH: Yeah.

I take care
of Britney's wardrobe

for her and the concerts.

We're introducing a new number
tonight, "Mannequin."

Britney has designed
all of the clothes.

I have worked with six
or seven other A‐class artists,

and she is always
my favorite to work with.

She's the most polite
human being,

you know, to work for,
but to also be with.

Oh, this, she had a black‐‐
I made a black bodysuit.

FELICIA: Yeah.
TISH: And then she wanted

some green military stuff

to add to it,

but then I was told
to not let her see it, so...

[gentle music]

♪ ♪

‐ I really do not think
that Jamie is the one

that was
controlling everything.

Who I dealt with
was Robin Greenhill.

[spacey electronic music]

When I first met Robin and she
was around and backstage,

I thought she was
Britney's assistant.

INTERVIEWER:
And did she have a job title?

‐ I don't know.
I‐‐I‐‐we‐‐

none of us ever knew
Robin's job title.

It was a, "Well, she works
for Tri Star,"

and then you go,
"Why is she here?

"Why‐‐I mean,
that's the business management.

"That's not your tour manager.

That's not your
A party road scheduler."

You know, like,
there's so many‐‐

and Robin was Robin.

‐ Right now, she's wanting
to know when she's going

to start full run‐throughs
because she wants

to chronologically go
through these things

and get it under her
and see what she needs to do.

‐ I had to have
Robin's approval

before I spoke with Britney
about a question Britney had.

INTERVIEWER: What kind
of things would she do?

What would she control?

‐ She‐‐every, like,
the little, little things.

Like Britney would say,
"Hey, is there any way

we could have sushi
for dinner?"

And I would hear Robin say,
"You had sushi yesterday.

It's too expensive.
You don't need it again."

Maybe there's a lot more
behind that,

but I'm only seeing
the outside,

but if she pushed back
a little bit,

they pushed harder,

and then the yelling
got louder.

Then Jamie would come up
and say,

"No.
You're not having this,"

and then it would escalate
to not having the boys.

♪ ♪

‐ But, Jamie, you need
to give us the days

that she has the kids
and needs to be home.

JAMIE: I'll take care
of the kids.

‐ Okay.
‐ And she'll just come in

wherever
because I'm going to be the one

to go stay with the kids.

‐ Hey, Jamie.
‐ Can we go say hi to Mama?

‐ What's up, boys?
‐ No, Mama is working.

[dance music playing]

EMCEE:
Put your hands in the air!

TISH: We were
on the Circus tour.

We had a road case.
She gets in the road case.

It has a nice chair,
ventilation, some fans in it.

Then crew members
push the road case to stage

so that the artist isn't
walking through 40,000 people.

So as soon as we arrived at
the stage, she is distressed.

She is upset. She's yelling.
She's saying,

"It smells like pot!
It smells like pot!

"I can't‐‐I can't breathe this!
I cannot breathe this!

I'm going to fail a drug test!
I won't see my boys!"

♪ ♪

And she bolted.
I took off after her.

She was running trying to get
back to her dressing room.

INTERVIEWER: Was she crying?
‐ Oh, she was very much crying.

She was crying.
She was screaming,

and then I'm crying!

You know, like, I was crying
in this moment as well.

I just‐‐I grabbed her and said,
"We are not making it.

We have to go back
under stage."

The level of how she was scared

really opened my eyes.

We get back under the stage,

and I am asked to leave
the quick change,

and they go in there with her.

Whatever happens,
she's crying,

and show goes on.

♪ ♪

To have that stress,
and she pulls it off?

‐ ♪ There's only two types
of people in the world ♪

♪ Ones that entertain
and the ones that observe ♪

TISH: It just has to be
too much at some point.

[applause]

‐ The roller‐coaster life
of Britney Spears in 2008

can be summed up
by two Rolling Stone

magazine covers.
On February 21st, it was,

"Britney Spears:
Inside an American Tragedy,"

and on the latest issue,
"Yes She Can!

Britney Returns."

You have interviewed her
several times in the past,

but this time
a little bit different.

How so?

WRITER: The primary difference
was just that it was

a very heavily
managed process.

You know, it was largely to do
with this conservatorship

that her father has had over
her since early this year.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah, her dad now
has

tremendous control
over her.

You weren't allowed
to ask specific questions.

[somber music]

ALEX: Britney wanted
to get an iPhone.

She saw her assistants
have iPhones,

dancers team, Edan even,
and she wanted an iPhone,

and that was a big deal.

Everybody was worried,

and then Edan approached me
and asked me,

"Is there any monitoring
services for an iPhone

that you are aware of?"

And I'm like,
"What do you mean?"

He's like,
"Well, parental controls.

"You know,
is there any way

to put parental controls
on an iPhone?"

And that's when Edan
explained to me

that Britney's communication
is monitored

for her own, you know,
security and protection.

I asked Edan about
the legality of that, actually.

"Are you allowed to do that?"

And he said, "Yes.
The court is aware of this.

Britney's lawyer
is aware of this.

This is for her safety.
It's for her protection."

And then Robin came up
with the idea of,

"Why don't we just take
an iPad,

"sign in with an iCloud
on there,

"the same iCloud that Britney
would use on her phone,

"and that would mirror
all activity?

"You would be able
to see all messages,

"all FaceTime calls, Notes,

browser history, photographs."

Edan would bring me
text messages of conversations

that Britney would have,

and he would ask me
to encrypt those messages

and give it to him so he could
pass it on to Robin and Jamie.

[uneasy music]

As time went on, they became
very comfortable with me.

Um, they‐‐they openly talked
about monitoring her.

Their‐‐their reason
for the monitoring was,

you know,
looking for bad influence,

looking for potential,

you know, illegal activity
that might happen,

but they would also monitor
conversations with her friends,

with her mom, with her lawyer,
Sam Ingham.

If there's anybody
that should be off‐limits,

it should be
Britney's lawyer,

and, you know,
I still felt that,

"I'm not understanding
something,

so just do your job, and maybe
one day you'll understand."

[soft music]

♪ ♪

‐ Some days she would have
a phone,

and other days
she would not have a phone,

uh, and it would be a fight
between her and her dad

that I would hear outside
the dressing room

and inside the dressing room.

"I want my phone back.
I need‐‐

can I have my phone back?"

And he'd say,
"No, you got it taken away."

JAMIE: Give me that phone.

I'll hold that damn phone
for you.

BRITNEY: No, Daddy!
‐ [sighs]

‐ Her phone, her own phone

and her own private
conversations

were used
so often to control her.

I know for a fact that Jamie
would confront Britney and say,

"Hey, why did you
text this person?"

Just because you're in control
doesn't give you the right

to treat people like property.
It didn't feel

like she was being treated
like a human being.

BRITNEY: If I wasn't under
the restraints that I'm under

right now with all the lawyers
and doctors

and people analyzing me
every day,

like, if that wasn't there,

I'd feel so liberated
and feel like myself.

[desolate music]

♪ ♪

I'm angry.

INTERVIEWER: You're angry?

‐ I'm very angry.

INTERVIEWER: You don't seem
very angry.

‐ I'm horribly angry.

INTERVIEWER: Horribly angry?

CREW MEMBER:
As she smiles saying it.

INTERVIEWER: As you have
a huge grin on your face.

‐ No, I'm smiling right now

because I think it's funny
that y'all are laughing.

♪ ♪

When I tell them the way
I feel, it's like they hear me,

but they're
really not listening.

They're hearing
what they want to hear.

They're not really listening
to what I'm telling them.

It's, like, it's bad.

♪ ♪

‐ The first rule of
the conservatorship was,

you don't talk about
the conservatorship.

It was just
a hard and fast rule

that we don't talk about it.

We don't ask questions.
We don't voice opinions

about it internally
or outside of the organization.

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."

At the time,
I assumed that the concern is

that someone would come in

and bring her drugs
or other contraband,

but I think if you
were actually concerned

with someone's mental health,

you don't take their friends
away from them,

and if their friends
are going away,

you at least give them
a chance to say goodbye.

‐ Hi, my name is Felicia,

and I'm Britney's
personal assistant,

and my main role
in this whole big production

is, I keep her safe,
comfortable and happy.

[pizzicato music]

I went into my job
with Britney in my 30s.

I knew who I was.
I knew what I was about,

and I didn't want to do
anything more than assist her,

and it was the Circus tour
that I came back for,

and I went back into
my regular mode of assistant.

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.

On one leg of the Circus tour,
Britney's dad calls,

and he said,
"Hey, Fefe,

you need to come
to a urgent meeting."

The meeting was to tell me

that I was not to go
on the European tour.

"Britney said she doesn't
want you there.

She said she never wanted you
on this tour."

Like, "Okay," and he said,
"She said if she ever sees you,

she won't go on stage."

And I said, "You know what?
I'm going on tour.

My rooms are booked.
I just won't see her."

And he's like,
"Well, you make sure of that."

Maybe she was mad at me,

but I knew
I needed to be there.

If nothing else,
I needed to be there

so she'd know I was there
and that I believed in her,

and that the concerts
were amazing,

and that what she was doing
was amazing,

so at the last show,

the very last show
of that European run,

as I go to leave the office,

she comes in with security
in the far door,

and it's almost like
the very air

was sucked out of the hall

because everybody knew
I wasn't supposed to be there.

And so the door opened.
I turned around.

I made eye contact with her.
She took a full running leap

and ran all the way down
the hall and leapt onto me,

and she went, "Fe!"

and wrapped her little legs
and her arms around,

"Where have you been?"

And it was at that point
that I thought,

"No, wait a minute.

Were they trying to turn the
two of us against each other?"

♪ ♪

I don't know what parameters
they were working

under or with,
but I certainly realized now

that I being part
of the support system

was not welcome,

and I feel like at some point,

the reason that
I was moved away

from being part of the support
system is that I simply said,

"If I see something
with my eyes, I will tell it,"

and if I had seen something
or if Brit had said

or reached out in any way
and said, "Fe, I'm scared,"

like she has vocally
said since,

I wouldn't have allowed that.

So the further
they could push me back,

the smaller
the support system got.

I will never forget
one of the statements

that Robin made to me.

She goes, "Well, you just don't
know who she is anymore."

Maybe I didn't know the person

that they were trying
to make her be,

but I knew the person
that she was,

and I knew the heart.

Your heart stays the same
no matter what.

So my heart and her heart
are very old friends.

REPORTER: It was an all‐
Britney Spears bonanza

on Glee.

‐ ♪ Hey Britney
We can dance all night long ♪

‐ You're really hot.
‐ You're sweet.

‐ And your breath smells
really good.

‐ So does yours.

And you know why?
Because this is a fantasy.

‐ Wow.

REPORTER: And get this:
we learned today

that Britney's appearance
on the show

brought in the highest ratings
ever for Glee.

LIZ: Britney is working a lot
during the conservatorship.

‐ Simon, she has more talent
in her pinkie

than you do in your‐‐
all of your contestants.

REPORTER: Spears still making
58 million a year.

REPORTER: 58 million?
What? How?

REPORTER: Over 100 million
in album sales worldwide,

the highest‐selling line
of celebrity fragrances

on the market, including
a new one

called Fantasy Twist.

‐ ♪ Yeah ♪

REPORTER:
Pop superstar is in talks

to headline
her own Las Vegas show.

REPORTER: They're raking in
around $310,000 per show.

They deposit
close to $1 million

in Brit's bank account
every week.

‐ Britney makes a lot of money
under the conservatorship.

[crowd cheering]

She has the Vegas residency

which is one of the most
successful shows of all time.

REPORTER: Britney Spears is
the queen of Sin City.

The pop star currently
a headliner

at Planet Hollywood‐‐
LIZ: Also around that time,

Jamie is approved to receive
1.5 percent of revenues

tied to performances
and merchandise

from Britney's
blockbuster Vegas show.

REPORTER: Planet Hollywood not
only gave her a raise

but increased
the number of shows

she'll be performing
from 96 to 140.

[delicate music]

‐ The understanding was
that Britney had an allowance.

She saw a pair of shoes
walking through the mall,

coming into the gig,

and she spotted them
and was like,

"Hey, can, um, somebody
go get them for me?"

And, of course, my ears perk up
when you hear, "Shoes."

I'm thinking,
"Oh, this might be me,"

and I said, "Well,
I'll go grab them for her.

Just tell me which ones
they were," and they said,

"No, she doesn't have any money
to be spending on Skechers."

INTERVIEWER: Wait, she wanted
Skechers?

‐ And she wanted
some Skechers.

There was a Skechers,
a Skechers store.

She spotted them,
and they were cute.

And I told Britney,
"Hey, I'm‐‐

"I'm putting these through
wardrobe expense, and we'll‐‐

"we'll say that they didn't
work for stage.

Take them home."

And, um, that's what we did.

♪ ♪

[warbling electronic music]

LIZ: In 2014, there's
a closed‐door court hearing

in Britney's conservatorship
case with the judge

and the lawyers involved,
and we obtained a transcript

of what actually was said
behind closed doors.

A quirk of the conservatorship
system is that Britney

is paying not only
for her own lawyer,

she's paying for
her conservator's lawyers.

Britney,
for the entire 13 years

of the conservatorship,

had a court‐appointed lawyer,

who she didn't choose,
named Sam Ingham.

♪ ♪

[reading quote]

The judge says...

Britney's lawyer says...

The judge said that
she would consider

ending the conservatorship

if Britney established
a healthy relationship

with a therapist

and returned 1 year's worth
of clean drug tests,

but the judge
would not guarantee it.

Britney's lawyer also raised
the possibility of Britney

removing Jamie
as her conservator.

Jamie Spears
had serious alcohol issues

when Britney was growing up,

and he even enters rehab
a few years

before becoming
her conservator.

In this court transcript
in 2014,

Britney's lawyer says

that Britney
thinks he's still drinking.

Lawyers representing
the conservatorship responded

that Jamie had been taking

regularly scheduled
alcohol tests,

but Britney wanted
a random test.

The judge replied...

Britney's lawyer told the court
that she anticipates

that, as it has been done
before,

the court will simply
sweep it under the carpet

and ignore
any negative inferences

with regard to Jamie,

and then there's sort of
an aside from the judge,

where she says,

"One more question, related
and sort of related:

how are her sales
in Las Vegas?"

♪ ♪

[soft music]

♪ ♪

ANNOUNCER: Britney offers
a special VIP meet and greet

for $2,500 after‐‐

TISH: We would have
meet and greets.

Meet and greets can be
very difficult.

They just are.

She might be really upset
at the moment

or just got her phone
taken away,

and then she needs to go
to a meet and greet

and be super happy and joyful

because these are people
that love and adore her,

and she loves and adores them.

REPORTER: The news today is,
it'll cost you 2,500 big ones

for a meet and greet
in Vegas with Brit.

It comes complete
with front‐row seats

and backstage access‐‐
‐ I witnessed management

telling her if she did not
do the meet and greets,

that it would be
a huge loss of money.

"Will you agree to 20 people?"
"Yes."

"Okay, we're gonna do
20 people."

20 people turns into 30 people.

20 people turns
into 40 sometimes.

♪ ♪

Whenever she'd
bring up something

that was disturbing her,
she'd always be dismissed,

always be dismissed like,
"Why are you even asking?

"Because you don't even have
control over your life.

"So you don't need to ask
these questions

because it's none
of your business."

So she gave in.
She had to.

She had to.

There's no, like, "Well, why
didn't she just tell them no?"

There isn't a no.

♪ ♪

Here's a note that Britney
wrote me, and I kept.

She gave it to me
in her dressing room.

Um, "Just a little message
to let you know

"I appreciate
all your kind words

"and patience with me
behind the stage.

"You truly are an angel,

"and just knowing
in the back of my mind

"that there are genuine people
like you in this cruel world,

"it helps me
to sleep better at night.

Sending my love."

So that's pretty‐‐
pretty deep for me

and knowing
that she wrote it for me.

There were definitely times
that I felt trapped there,

because I‐‐I'm damned if I do,
and I'm damned if I don't.

Like, she's‐‐

She's going to be

the person that this affects,

that it's going to hurt
her more

if I'm not there,
and there's so‐‐

there's so many of us
that were in the background

that did see the truth.

This isn't‐‐
this isn't a he said,

she said, or what we might‐‐

these are things that we‐‐
we saw with our own eyes

and heard with our own ears.

Uh, it's hard on me to know

that I could be a person
to help,

but maybe that's what
I'm doing now.

‐ Iggy, when Britney
was promoting "Pretty Girls,"

she said she came to
your house for salad.

‐ Yeah, nothing is, you know,
nothing weird.

ANDY COHEN: Nothing weird?

[soft music]

♪ ♪

‐ They came and, like, checked
my place to make sure I, like,

wasn't trying to, like,
stash anything weird

and, like,
give it to her or something.

‐ Britney had advance people
come scope out the place?

‐ Yeah, yeah.
ANDY: Wow.

‐ Yeah, to make sure I wasn't,
like, a bad influence or‐‐

‐ Wow!
‐ I was like,

"I promise I'm
not gonna do anything bad."

ANDY: Right.
‐ "I just want to have lunch."

ANDY: Right, right.
IGGY: Uh, yeah.

ALEX: Working in Black Box,
I saw so much.

I'm not a law expert,
so I can't speak to legality

of everything, but ethically,
it was just one big mess.

Edan had
a audio recording device

put into Britney's bedroom.

[electronic music]

♪ ♪

Edan and one of the agents
working with him

came into my office

and handed me
the audio recording device

and a USB drive
and asked me to wipe it.

I had them tell me
what was on it.

They seemed very nervous

and said that it was
extremely sensitive,

that nobody can ever know
about this,

and that's why I need
to delete everything on it

so there's no record of it.

That raised
so many red flags with me,

and I did not want
to be complicit

in whatever they
were involved in.

So I kept a copy because I
don't want to delete evidence.

And I don't think
it's a coincidence

that it was done days

before she was due to meet
with a court investigator.

[uneasy music]

♪ ♪

‐ "Interview with
the conservatee,

"Britney Jean Spears.
On September 7th, 2016,

"an announced visit was made
to Britney's residence,

"where she was interviewed
in person

and in a private setting."
So in September 2016...

[upbeat music]

Right after Britney releases
her ninth studio album

and in the midst of her very
successful Las Vegas show...

‐ How you doing, Vegas?

‐ A court investigator
comes to Britney's house

to conduct a periodic review
for the judge.

♪ ♪

The investigator wrote
in her report...

"She said people are making
a ton of money off of her,

"and she said she is smart
and knows what is going on.

"The court investigator
was told

"that Britney had an allowance,

"and that her credit card
was held by her security team

"or assistant
and used at their discretion.

"She said
she cannot drive alone.

"She cannot befriend people,
especially men,

unless they are approved
by her father."

‐ There was an obsession
with the men in Britney's life.

They would have
to sign contracts.

They would have to sign NDAs.

‐ "Then they are followed
by private investigators

to make sure their behaviors
are acceptable to her father."

‐ I heard that your dad
kind of set you up

with your current boyfriend.
Is that true?

‐ No. It's not true.

‐ The reports of your dad doing
a background check on David.

Is that not true?

‐ That is true.
‐ That is true?

‐ Yeah.
‐ That's crazy!

‐ Yeah!
HOST: Does that embarrass you?

‐ My dad's a little crazy
like that. He's‐‐

HOST: Does he‐‐does he own
a gun?

‐ Um, he does own a gun.
‐ Okay, note to self there.

‐ "She said she feels
her father is obsessed with her

"in the sense he wants to
control everything about her.

"'Any mistakes resulted
in very harsh consequences,'

"Britney said, and that
the conservatorship

"'comes with a lot of fear.'

"Britney told
the court investigator

"she is not happy
being conserved,

"and she said she wants it
terminated as soon as possible,

"and she wants direction
from the court

on what she would need to do."
The report concludes...

"It appears the conservators
have done an excellent job

of protecting Britney,

and it is apparent they have
made commendable efforts

"to help her reach the
positive places in her life

"she has to this date.

"It appears effort should
be made to provide Britney

a pathway to independence

and the eventual termination
of the conservatorship.

"In the interim, it is
important for all entities

"associated with
the conservatorship to do

"all possible
to prevent the conservatorship

from giving Britney
feelings of subjugation."

‐ I heard that
after the show‐‐

which‐‐I believe
you're doing 96 shows?

‐ Yes.
MARIO LOPEZ: After this run,

I should say.
96 shows in 2 years

is just amazing, a lot of work.

That obviously, you'd want
to take a long break,

but you might even
possibly retire.

Is that true?

[soft music]

♪ ♪

‐ I might.
Who knows?

I may have two more kids and‐‐

‐ Really?
BRITNEY: I don't know. Yeah.

I said, "How you feeling?"
[crowd cheers]

[upbeat electronic music]

♪ ♪

TISH: We're in Las Vegas,
doing the Piece of Me show,

and they were publicly saying,

"Come get your last tickets
of the Piece of Me.

We're done. We're done.
We're done."

‐ I think it was, like,
119 degrees today outside.

I literally almost fainted,
dear God.

TISH: We were all exhausted.
‐ Thank you.

‐ You know, when you're
running a marathon,

and you're getting to the end,
you're ready to relax.

You're ready to take a break.

‐ Thank you.

TISH: The crew
and everyone thought,

"Okay, we're done with this."

Then... they tossed

a 3‐week continuation
of the Piece of Me on the road.

[cheers and applause]

‐ It's going to be really,
really hot up here.

I'm warning you.

I'm about to pass out,
and I'm sick.

So I have actually
102 fever right now.

♪ ♪

‐ And we were going
to go to Europe.

♪ ♪

This is a large tour.

[somber music]

♪ ♪

After that, we had heard that
there was bidding wars in Vegas

for a new residency
for Britney.

So now the Piece of Me
is finishing,

and she is going
straight into promotions

for Domination already.
There was no break.

BRITNEY:
When I came off that tour,

a new show in Las Vegas
was supposed to take place.

I started rehearsing early,
but it was hard

because I'd been doing Vegas
for 4 years,

and I needed
a break in between.

But, no, I was told,
"This is the timeline,

and
this is how it's going to go."

Five, six, seven, eight.

I take everything
I do very seriously.

There's tons of video
with me at rehearsals.

I wasn't good.
I was great.

♪ ♪

I was really,
really hard on myself,

and it was too much.
I couldn't take it anymore.

EMCEE: Ladies and gentlemen,
the new queen of Vegas.

BRITNEY: I remember telling
my assistant, "You know what?

"I feel weird if I say no.

"I feel like
they're gonna come back

and be mean to me
or punish me or something."

REPORTER: Britney canceled her

highly anticipated
Vegas show, Domination.

REPORTER: Her show, Britney:
Domination, was supposed

to begin February 13th
at the Park Theater.

BRITNEY: Three days later,
after I said no to Vegas,

my therapist sat me
down in a room

and said he had
a million phone calls

about how I was not
cooperating under house rules

and I haven't been
taking my medication.

All this was a false‐‐

He immediately, the next day,
put me on lithium.

I got a phone call
from my dad saying,

"They're planning to send you
to a small home

"in Beverly Hills
to do a small rehab program

that we're going to
make up for you."

I cried on the phone
for an hour,

and he loved
every minute of it.

The control he had over
someone as powerful as me,

as he loved the control
to hurt his own daughter.

100,000%, he loved it.

I packed my bags
and went to that place‐‐

‐ It was January of 2019.

Edan, you know,
reached out to me

and asked if the iPad
was still in the safe.

I said, "Of course, you know,
where else would it be?"

I was out of town at that time,

and then I come back
in February from my vacation,

and Britney is gone.

REPORTER: Britney Spears

checked into
a mental health clinic

last week,
according to to TMZ.

REPORTER:
Their source saying Britney

just needed to focus
on herself

as she cares for her father,
Jamie,

after his life‐threatening
colon rupture‐‐

‐ So it really seems as
if this facility stay in 2019

is a really big turning point
in the conservatorship

for almost everyone involved.

‐ She did not want to be there.

I heard this
from multiple people,

including Robin
and Jamie themselves

when they would talk
on the phone to Edan.

I overheard
multiple conversations

where they knew Britney
didn't want to be there.

BRITNEY: I had no privacy door
for my room.

They all lived
in the house with me,

the nurses, the 24/7 security.

I never had a say
in my schedule.

They always told me
I had to do this.

And, ma'am, I will tell you,
sitting in a chair

10 hours a day,
7 days a week, it ain't fun,

and especially when you can't
walk out the front door.

LIZ: Under California
conservatorship,

a conservator is not allowed
to force a conservatee

into a mental health treatment
facility against their will.

It's really murky who sent
Britney to the facility,

why she was sent there.

There's a lot
of finger‐pointing

going on among conservators

and different people involved,
saying, you know,

"They sent her here."
"No, they did,"

and, you know, they even claim
that Britney, herself,

signed papers saying
that she wanted to go in.

We obtained text messages
that Britney had been sending

when she was in the facility
in early spring 2019,

where she says,
"I am here involuntarily.

I feel as if I cannot leave."

She texts a friend, "My lawyer
doesn't even work for me.

Security is at the door 24/7."

‐ They were monitoring
everything,

conversations with her friends,
with her mom.

She reached out to an attorney
asking if he can sneak in.

‐ And this new lawyer
is saying,

"Okay, can I come meet you?"
And Britney says,

"I don't think they're going
to let you come in

"and meet me if they know
that you're a lawyer.

I don't think they're gonna
let me hire a new lawyer,"

and she suggests that this
lawyer pretend to be a plumber

and, you know, hide the fact
that they were a lawyer.

And Britney acknowledges
in the text

that she's stuck
in this catch‐22.

She says, "How am I supposed to
know whether I want to hire you

if I'm not even able
to meet with you first?"

And Jamie and security
had monitored all of this.

It seems as if one
of the rationales, perhaps,

for trying to have
such close oversight of Britney

is trying to protect her
from bad influence,

but that's not what I'm seeing
in these text messages.

It seems as if she's trying
to get help.

‐ They openly talked about
everything that was going on,

and I still felt that I'm not
understanding something,

that I don't know
the full story,

that there's so much
more to it,

um, and it was easy
to detach yourself emotionally

from‐‐from everything
that was going on.

And I think this is when
I snapped back into reality.

‐ ♪ Got a clue
what you're doing ♪

REPORTER: Fans
of Britney Spears are worried

about her well‐being
following bombshell claims

that she is being
held against her will

in a mental health facility.

‐ What do we want?
CROWD: Free Britney.

‐ When do we want it?
CROWD: Now.

LIZ: So in spring 2019,

the Free Britney movement
really starts to catch on.

‐ We're here not as fans
of Britney Spears the pop star.

We're here to advocate,
I mean, truly for human rights.

REPORTER: Social media
is erupting

in Britney Spears hysteria,

launching
a Free Britney movement.

‐ Hashtag‐‐
‐ Free Britney.

CROWD: End
conservatorship abuse.

PROTESTER: We think that,
you know,

the conservatorship
she's been under seems unjust.

‐ Do you believe Britney Spears
is being held against her will?

AUDIENCE: Yes!

‐ Edan initially was
very worried

about the Free Britney movement

because it was something
out of their control.

It was something
that was shaping on its own.

‐ She was out and about
yesterday on Easter Sunday.

That is her
with her boyfriend, Sam,

at the Montage Hotel
in Beverly Hills.

REPORTER: Hi, Britney,
how you feeling?

How you feeling, Britney?
How's your dad doing?

ALEX: It was orchestrated

that she would come
out of the hotel

to show the public that,

"You have nothing
to worry about.

"Look, Britney
is walking around.

She's with her boyfriend."

HOST: These photos
are a big deal

because, obviously, here
she is out and about.

Clearly, she's not a prisoner
at this facility.

HOST: She's not.

REPORTER: Britney Spears back
home with her family tonight

after checking out
of a mental health facility.

‐ When she was released
from the facility,

security was asked
to prepare a iPhone for her

that would only be allowed
to make phone calls,

no text messaging,
no Internet access.

CROWD: Hey, hey, ho, ho.

The conservatorship
has got to go.

ALEX:
The Free Britney movement

was heavily investigated
in its early days.

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."

REPORTER:
Britney Spears' father Jamie

speaking out against
the viral campaign,

"All these
conspiracy theorists

"don't know anything.

"It's up to the court
of California

to decide what's best
for my daughter."

[crowd chanting]

♪ ♪

PROTESTER:
End conservatorship.

CROWD: End
conservatorship abuse.

‐ Free Britney!

LIZ: In a court filing,
Britney's lawyer said,

"Britney herself is vehemently
opposed to this effort

"by her father
to keep her legal struggle

"hidden away in the closet
as a family secret.

"In this case,
it is not an exaggeration

to say that
the whole world is watching."

PROTESTER: What do we want?
CROWD: Free Britney!

PROTESTER: When do we want it?
CROWD: Now!

‐ Hey, guys, it's Megan.

The judge has not made
any decisions yet,

but we did want
to give you a quick update‐‐

Britney has told Ingham
on multiple occasions

that she's scared of her father
and that she refuses to work

until he is no longer
in control of her career.

♪ ♪

VIVIAN: Britney's assets
were clearly being mismanaged,

and she was being taken
advantage of financially

by some of those around her.

‐ How did Jamie turn
Britney's finances around

so dramatically?

‐ He has collaborated with her.
He‐‐

When she is up for performing,
she has performed.

When she wants to record
an album,

she can record an album,

and when she wants to live
her life the way she wants,

like a normal person,

he has collaborated with her
to do that, as well.

♪ ♪

‐ Britney knows that her daddy
loves her,

and she knows that
she can call on him anytime.

CROWD: Free Britney now!

Free Britney now!

Free Britney now!
Free Britney now!

Free Britney now!

REPORTER:
She's calling in, I guess.

PROTESTER: Yeah?

JUDGE: Good afternoon,
Ms. Spears.

I believe you're
on the telephone.

BRITNEY: Hi, good afternoon.

[crowd cheering]

JUDGE: I'm happy to hear
from you, Ms. Spears,

so feel free
to address me at this point.

BRITNEY:
I have this written down.

I have a lot to say,
so bear with me.

‐ Oh, God.
BRITNEY: Ma'am, I didn't know

I could petition
the conservatorship

to end it.
I'm sorry for my ignorance,

but I honestly
didn't know that.

‐ It was the complete opposite
of what, you know,

we've always
been told working there.

It was that she didn't want
to be in the conservatorship,

and that she felt like
she was abused.

BRITNEY: I want to be able
to get married

and have a baby.

I have a IUD inside of myself
right now

so I don't get pregnant.
I wanted to take the IUD out

so I could start trying
to have another baby,

but this so‐called team
won't let me go to the doctor

to take it out
because they don't want me

to have children,
any more children.

Um, so, basically,
this conservatorship‐‐

ALEX:
I heard Britney's testimony,

and I think that was
the final indicator

that I wanted to come forward
with what I know.

[tranquil electronic music]

I think these emails I saved,
because of how scary they were,

and you don't get a lot of this
in writing ever.

Edan forwarded me
an email thread

in which Sam Ingham emailed
Edan and the legal team.

And so the response to that is,
"Sam, Jamie confirms...

And so when this email
came across my desk,

I was‐‐I was very confused.

♪ ♪

I know that this
is the right thing.

I know that this is
what I should do,

but I don't know what's gonna
happen after this comes out.

When I was leaving Black Box,
my filter went away, you know?

I was very open about,

"I disagree
how you run the business.

I disagree
how you are ethically."

He's like, "Well, we should
really talk about that."

He calls me into his office,
and, you know,

he takes the gun in his holster
with his clip out

and puts it on the table
and starts with,

"So you don't like the way
I run my business?"

I mean, it's not a threat,
but it's a threat.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

CROWD: Let Britney choose!

Let Britney choose!
Let Britney choose!

Let Britney choose!

[crowd cheers]

PROTESTER: Are they getting
updates?

What, what?
What? What?

‐ She gets her own lawyer!
She gets her own lawyer!

She gets her own lawyer!
She's now free to choose

her own lawyer!

PROTESTER: Britney gets
to choose her own lawyer!

[crowd cheers]

‐ Matthew Rosengart,

a high‐powered Hollywood
attorney now representing her.

LIZ: It seems
like a small victory,

but it was
a really big victory

because for the entire 13 years
of the conservatorship,

she had a court‐appointed
lawyer who she didn't choose.

‐ One thing that everybody
has lost sight of

in all of the controversy,

all of the litigation,
and all of the drama is,

what is in the best interest
of Britney Spears?

My firm and I are going to be
taking a top‐to‐bottom look

at what's happened here
over the past decade.

‐ Yes! Everyone did that!

LIZ: Britney's new lawyer

almost immediately files
to remove Jamie.

‐ Since the cat is
out of the bag,

literally out of the bag,

and you guys know my situation,
I do want to let you guys know,

things are way better
than what I ever anticipated.

[discordant music]

♪ ♪

HOST: There is
an enormous development

in the Britney Spears
conservatorship case.

Jamie Spears, we found out,
has agreed to step down.

This is a monumental move.

‐ But that's not actually
what the court filing said.

The court filing said,
"Jamie has done nothing wrong.

"The public does not know
Britney's addiction

"and mental health issues,
and if they did,

they would praise Jamie
for the job he has done."

It said, "He is willing
to step down

when the time is right,"

and appeared to be setting
some conditions for that.

REPORTER: Jamie says
the finances

still need to be worked out,
among other things.

REPORTER:
Court documents reveal

that Spears is currently worth
$60 million.

‐ I'm gonna be in Vegas
for two more years!

REPORTER: That may sound
like a lot at first,

but it's not when compared
to others in the industry.

‐ The pop star
and her new attorney

say her father is trying
to get a $2‐million payout

before stepping down
as her conservator.

REPORTER:
Matthew Rosengart insisting

she will not be, quote...

REPORTER:
The former federal prosecutor

also adding in a statement...

HOST: They're going
to take his deposition,

and he's going to
have to sit there,

and he's going to go through
all of the things,

you know,
involving the business manager

and salaries
and things like that.

REPORTER: We begin tonight
with breaking news.

After 13 years,
the conservatorship

of singer Britney Spears
may be about to end.

Jamie Spears, her father
and conservator of her estate,

filed a petition
to end the conservatorship.

‐ I feel like we're all like,
"Whoa, there's new news

and a twist
and turn every single day."

REPORTER: It is stunning.

All of the things
he said in this document

that he filed with the court
are very, very different,

in fact, opposite from what
he had been saying all along.

REPORTER: So the big question:
what's next?

REPORTER:
Does this mean that she will

soon not have to do
what her father says?

REPORTER: How could this kind
of, like, go off the rails?

REPORTER:
Only time will tell, right?

LIZ:
A lot of big questions remain.

Will Jamie be removed?

Will the conservatorship
be terminated entirely,

and will there ever be
a full examination

of the last 13 years?

‐ That's the one thing that
I don't know still to this day.

Is the court aware
of any of this shit?

Like, how‐‐how they've
been monitoring her?

Do they actually
know about that?

Like, I'm super curious,
and Edan telling me

that Sam Ingham
knew that Jamie and Robin

were reading all her
text messages, is that true?

And if they did know about
this, how was that allowed?

‐ Britney's case has raised
a lot of questions and scrutiny

on the conservatorship system
at large.

It really makes you wonder.
If all of this can happen

to one of the most
famous people on this planet,

what does that mean
for the many people

under conservatorships
who are very vulnerable?

♪ ♪

BRITNEY: I'm not sure how you
make your decisions, ma'am,

but this is
the only chance for me

to talk to for you a while.
I need your help,

so if you can just kind of
let me know

where your head is.

I'm scared of people.

I don't trust people
with what I've been through.

‐ I think the thing that stands
out to me most from Brit

speaking out in court
is that she was frightened.

That's the thing that I want
to say bothers me the most

because these are people that
are supposed to protect her.

How many times
has she said this before,

and why has nothing changed?

I think she simply
wants to be heard,

but, my goodness,

how many times
does she have to say it?

How loud does she
have to scream it?

BRITNEY: I wish I could stay
with you on the phone forever

because when I get off
the phone with you,

I hear all these nos,
"No, no, no,"

and, then all of a sudden,
I feel ganged up on,

and I feel bullied,

and I feel left out and alone,

and I'm tired
of feeling alone.

And now, we can sit here
all day and say,

"Oh, conservatorships
are here to help people,"

but, ma'am, there's
a thousand conservatorships

that are abusive as well.

FELICIA: You know,
I don't have any way

of getting in touch
with her at this point.

All the numbers
that I have are now changed.

‐ I cannot call her up.

I know she memorizes numbers,

so as an end‐of‐tour gift,

I bought her
a Tiffany's necklace

'cause I know
that she likes Tiffany's,

and I had my number engraved
on it in case she needed me.

INTERVIEWER: If you were
talking to her right now,

what would you say to her?

‐ Well, yeah, if we actually
got to see each other

and see Britney again is that,
you have a lot of support,

a lot of good support
behind you,

and we will be here for you.

INTERVIEWER:
If you could talk to Britney,

what would you
want to her to know?

Like, if she's watching this,
what would you say?

‐ Okay.

And, Brit, first off,
I would make you giggle,

and second off,
I want you to remember

all the funny things
and all the fun times.

I want you to remember
how strong you are,

how talented you are,
how silly you are,

how goofy you are,

and that that heart of yours
is gigantic and that how‐‐

I mean, my goodness, I told you
every day how much I loved you.

If I had one penny
for every fan

that's just reached out to me

to send their love to you, boy,
would I be a rich woman.

Hang in there.
Your voice is coming back.

You are louder and prouder
and more powerful

than I've seen you
in a really long time,

and I love you,

and I will support
you no matter what.

And I wasn't going to cry

because you know
I don't like to cry.

It makes my nose big and red.
I love you.

BRITNEY:
I deserve to have a life.

I deserve to have the same
rights as anybody does,

and that's all I wanted
to say to you,

and thank you so much for
letting me speak to you today.

Thank you.

[soft music]

♪ ♪