'Free Britney Spears' gains momentum on the Internet as fans sign petition to end her conservatorship

Britney Spears' recent social media posts have once again sparked discussion among her fans on the singer's mental health. Concerned with her posts, several of her fans on Instagram observed that she was not behaving normally and wrote, “Girl you okay? Love you + your work but you seem.. off” and “Britney we all love you. we want you to be ok!”

Fans have started the hashtag #FreeBritney, a trend that first came into existence in 2019 after Spears was checked into mental health facility after she refused to take prescribed drugs that her doctor had given her and for driving to an In-N-Out with her boyfriend.

Several of her followers have again started conversing about Britney's conservatorship, under which her assets and life is controlled and monitored by her father and her lawyer.

The hashtags #SaveBritney and #FreeBritney have once again started trending on social media with many fans believing that Britney was sending them secret messages to rescue her and get her out of her conservatorship.

A conservatorship is a legal concept of guardianship in America, where an individual is appointed a guardian or a conservator by the court to help them with their day to day affairs. Such an arrangement is made for mentally or physically incapable individuals or for senior citizens or people suffering from extreme mental health issues, like schizophrenia or dementia. The conservator makes all the decisions in their life.

In Britney’s case, her estate, financial assets, visitors and career negotiations are being overlooked by her father, Jamie Spears and an attorney.

After her break up with her husband Kevin Federline in 2007, the singer underwent a very public meltdown and even shaved her head. Since then  the singer has been under conservatorship.

In 2008, the singer was committed to a psychiatric ward twice and after the second time, her father petitioned with the Los Angeles County Superior Court for an emergency “temporary conservatorship.” The arrangement was later made permanent.

Since then Britney's life and career has been completely owned and controlled by her father. The singer does not have any right to spend her own money,  and all her activities are monitored.

Fans argue that if Britney was mentally unwell, she wouldn't have had a thriving career and released 4 albums, and earned over USD 138 million since the time she was put in conservatorship. Fans believe that her conservatorship is just a means to exploit her and her wealth which according to court documents from 2018 is at least $59 million.

Over 134,000 concerned fans have now signed a petition asking for Spears to get her own lawyer and finally get out of the conservatorship.

Fashion industry watchdog, Diet Prada, took to their Instagram and shared about the whole episode and pointed out why it was important for Britney Spears to break free. "This is heartbreaking. Swipe to slide 5 for the shady details on Britney’s conservatorship, which is usually reserved for individuals who are incapacitated. I know some people’s instincts might be to not take this seriously or laugh because the world has made a joke of her existence to a certain extent, but this is a woman who is denied access to her own children, finances, and any control over her own life. The law is corrupt and so are the middle-aged men who are ruining a thriving, successful woman’s life. Britney has a court hearing coming up on July 22nd. Check our stories for a swipe up of actionable items you can do to help #FreeBritney."

Spears was a Mickey Mouse club star that also featured Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera. The singer's pop debut was in 1999 and her first album 'Baby One More Time' was a smash hit.