Top 10 Times The Media Failed Britney Spears
#10: Wendy Williams’ Bad Take
The new documentary “Framing Britney Spears” has forced a lot of people to sit back and reconsider their point of view on Britney Spears. Not so much Wendy Williams. Though the talk show host claims to have watched the same documentary the rest of us did, she seems to have come away with an entirely different take. For one thing, she might be the only person in the world who is still firmly team Jamie Spears. Williams also argues that Britney isn’t capable of managing her own life. Of course, she couches all of this in genuine concern for Spears’ well-bring. Sure. Williams’ inability to at least consider new information leaves a lot to be desired.
#9: The Family Feud Topic
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When people dream of stardom, they probably don’t ever think of their notoriety being turned against them. That’s exactly what happened when “Name Something Britney Spears Has Lost in the Last Year” became a topic on the long running game show, “Family Feud.” The episode came in the midst of a series of very public personal struggles for the singer. To watch the contestants take potshots at her image and career, what stands out is the casual cruelty of it all. Nowadays we see this behavior for the unkindness that it is, but at the time there was no shame in playing it up for laughs.
#8: Debating Her Mental Health in Public
If only stupid game shows had been the worst of the public scrutiny. However, everybody had an opinion on Britney and nobody was shy about sharing it. Beyond her music, her relationships, and her appearance, there was no shortage of people willing to comment on much more serious issues like her mental health. Even if, like celebrity therapist Dr. Drew Pinsky, they had no actual knowledge of her circumstances. Not only did the uninformed Doctor imply the possibility of a condition like Bipolar Disorder, he went on to praise Britney’s parents for saving her from herself. It’s not just hurtful to put this kind of speculation out there, it is not the most ethical thing either.
#7: Questioning Her Parental Fitness
2006 was a rough year for Britney. Under the strain of constant media attention, and dealing with turmoil in her personal life, she would find herself in the middle of yet another PR firestorm this time surrounding her children. Matt Lauer probed these sensitive issues in his interview with Spears, periodically driving her to tears. Though she does her best to defend herself, Lauer won’t let up. There are so many ways in which this has not aged well. Family matters like this just don’t seem like appropriate topics for a celebrity interview. And knowing what we do now about Matt Lauer just makes his treatment of her seem even more unsavory.
#6: Laughing With Justin
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With a public profile comes a lot of public heartache. We can’t imagine what it must be like to go through a breakup in front of the entire world, especially not when they start taking sides. Not only did popular opinion seem to swing behind Britney’s most famous ex, Justin Timberlake, but for far too long he was applauded for continuing to mock her for years after the split. Justin seems to have gone out of his way to allude to their past relationship, even when there was no reason to do so- like when he was supposed to be celebrating a different woman. He also needlessly brought up their intimate life on more than one occasion. Not a good look, Justin.
#5: When Comedians Made Her a Punchline
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We all have to own up to the fact that for a while there we let out pop culture commentary get vicious. When a celebrity was having a hard time, it suddenly turned into open season, as we saw so vividly in the case of Britney Spears. Shows like “Saturday Night Live,” went for low-hanging fruit when they ridiculed her intelligence. Her troubled performance at the 2007 VMAs though, opened her up to even more contempt. Sarah Silverman didn’t even wait for the night to end before adding her two cents. In the days and weeks that followed others wouldn’t hesitate to pile on. This may have passed for humor at the time, but no one is laughing now.
#4: Inappropriate Questions
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Britney Spears has been a pop culture mainstay for so long that it’s easy to forget how young she was when she first hit the scene. She was only eleven when she first joined the cast of “The Mickey Mouse Club,” and seventeen when she broke out as a pop star in 1999. With musical success came endless speculation about all aspects of her life. Unfortunately, her youth didn’t shield her from inappropriate questions. One memorable instance came during an interview with Dutch television host Ivo Niehe. This wouldn’t be appropriate to say to ANY woman, let alone an underage girl. It’s downright gross to see this kind of questioning tolerated so widely at the time.
#3: Paparazzi Harassment
Celebrities have always dealt with unwanted media attention, but the paparazzi of the aughts were invasive to an extreme degree. Even by those standards, Britney Spears was disproportionately targeted by voracious photographers. They dogged her relentlessly, took inappropriate pictures of her, and even tried to follow her into restrooms. Britney would often find herself surrounded by an army of paparazzi who treated her more like prey to be hunted than a human being. We would like to think that cornering a person like this would not be tolerated now, but the old footage remains heartbreaking and infuriating.
#2: All the Slut Shaming
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Given how obsessed the media was with sexualizing Britney Spears, it is incredible, though ultimately not surprising, that she received so much backlash over her public image. There are endless examples of Spears receiving criticism about her fashion and performance choices. All of it seems to be tied up in the idea that she has to set an example for younger girls. It’s true that plenty of kids idolized Britney, but she was also right when she commented that she was being held to a higher standard than some other young stars of her day. She also had a very good point about the fact that no one approached male singers with anywhere close to the same scrutiny.
#1: The Diane Sawyer Interview
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Really, the culmination of all of this can be found in the interview Britney Spears gave to Diane Sawyer in 2003. Though the singer was there to promote her album “In The Zone” Sawyer spent the majority of the interview patronizingly digging into Spears for her so-called provocative image. Sawyer implied Spear’s inability to manage her finances, forced her to explain her costume choices, and even came in without a truly abysmal angle on the star’s breakup with Justin Timberlake. The lowest point came in addressing violent comments towards Britney made by the wife of the then-governor of Maryland, Bob Ehrlich. Sawyer’s interview will go down in history as the clearest example of where the media failed Britney in every sense.
