Those who have been frantically searching for ways to watch Framing Britney Spears will be happy to know that the New York Times-led investigative film finally has a Canadian air date. Discussing Britney's ongoing legal battle with her father Jamie Spears (not to be confused with the star's sister, Jamie Lynn Spears), the documentary aims to piece together the timeline surrounding her conservatorship and will detail her battles with childhood stardom, music industry misogyny and insensitive global tabloids.
In 2008, the Grammy award-winning pop star was placed in a legal conservatorship at the hands of her father (something normally reserved for those who are unable to care for themselves), awarding him complete control of her career decisions, personal life and finances. For over a decade, fans of Britney have speculated that she is unhappy with the arrangement and began campaigning for the 39-year-old to be released from the constraints of the conservatorship. This soon became known online as the #FreeBritney movement.
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In 2020, the movement gained major momentum after the star began posting videos on Instagram which fans found alarming, leading many to call for the end of her conservatorship once and for all. It was the strong public interest in the case which led the New York Times to create the 75-minute documentary, which interviews ex-colleagues, journalists and lawyers close to Britney and her family. Having aired in the US in recent weeks, the documentary has gained wide acclaim, with many celebrities stepping forward in support of the singer, most notably her ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake who also directed his apology at Janet Jackson.
Canadian audiences will now have a chance to stream the documentary on Crave beginning Feb. 26. Since the documentary aired in the United States on February 5, a judge has denied Jamie Spears' request to exert greater control over his daughter’s finances, with the court upholding a previous ruling that makes an independent financial company a co-conservator in the case.