This weekend, Britney Spears appeared to directly address drama between her and her sister, calling out the “righteous approach” of those closest to her in a series of scathing Instagram posts.
In the first fiery post on July 17, a picture of a quote reading “Never forget who ignored you when you needed them and who helped you before you even had to ask” was added to the pop star's feed. The caption criticizes the insincerity of those around Spears, without naming anyone in particular.
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“There’s nothing worse than when the people closest to you who never showed up for you post things in regard to your situation whatever it may be and speak righteously for support,” it reads. “How dare the people you love the most say anything at all … did they even put a hand out to even lift me up at the TIME !!!??? How dare you make it public that NOW you CARE … did you put your hand out when I was drowning ????” The post itself is an image that reads, “Never forget who ignored you when you needed them and who helped you before you even had to ask.”
After openly blaming her father and her family for contributing to the alleged abuse she suffered under her 13-year conservatorship during a June 23 address to the court, many fans assumed the post was about them — most notably her younger sister, Jamie Lynn. Jamie Lynn responded to the first hearing by posting about how "proud" she was of her sister on June 28; many saw the well-timed post as an attempt for Jamie Lynn to not lose her job on Netflix's Sweet Magnolias and to drum up hype for her upcoming memoir. (The rumored memoir title, I Must Confess: Family, Fame, and Figuring It Out, is unsurprisingly a reference to a Britney lyric.)
But a followup from Britney a day later removed all doubt about who the July 17 caption was about.
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"Take me as I am, or kiss my ass, eat shit and step on legos," Britney's followup quote reads.
"I'm not gonna be performing on any stages anytime soon with my dad handling what I wear, say, do, or think 🚫🙅🏼♀️ 🚫!!!! I've done that for the past 13 years ..." it reads. Spears also calls out her "support system."
"My so-called support system hurt me deeply !!!! This conservatorship killed my dreams ... so all I have is hope and hope is the only thing in this world that is very hard to kill ... yet people still try !!!!"
Britney has made it abundantly clear that she not only wants her father removed from her conservatorship, but she also wishes the entire court-approved arrangement be terminated all together. During the singer's most recent hearing on July 14, she doubled down on allegations against Jamie and asserted that she wishes to charge him with conservatorship abuse.
As for Britney's sister, a part of the caption seems to refer to the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards, where Jamie Lynn took the stage with a handful of other performers to sing cover versions of her sister's songs. The actress has performed Britney's songs a handful of other times since.
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Jamie Lynn seemed to subtly respond to the post's criticism with her own Instagram post on July 18, in which she used the ol' Christian platitude approach and captioned a mirror selfie, "May the peace of the Lord be with you, and your spirit ✌🏻❤️.” She later deleted everything except for the emojis.
The conservatorship exercises such tight control over Britney's life that there's no way of knowing whether she actually is the one posting on her Instagram feed, but this last hearing seemed to mark a turning point in the singer's ongoing conservatorship battle. She was granted permission to hire her own representation, former federal prosecutor Matthew S. Rosengart, and seems to be speaking out more confidently and clearly about her wants and feelings than ever before. Hell, she recently was even finally able to drive around in her boyfriend's car like she wanted.
Going forward, we're likely going to see a lot more of Britney letting it all out. As the caption ends in the singer's last post, "Psss if you don’t want to see my precious ass dancing in my living room or it’s not up to your standards ... go read a fucking book 📕 !!!!!"