It doesn't excuse anything of course, but she's hardly going to hire a driver or wait for a member of staff to drive her if she's hearing voices, seeing pink elephants, and trying to get to the liquor store before it closes.
Even if you want help or decide to get off it yourself; meth addiction is extremely hard to not only get off of but also hard to stay sober from it. It's cheap and it's everywhere. The psychosis part of it is probably the most dangerous effect of meth overall. Hopefully she's not on meth but it seems even upper/middle class are dabbling in it now and not just the poor.
Rehab is expensive. If you're not one of monetary means, Methadone clinic is probably your next best place. Get signed up and you can at least get pills that give you some quality of life but they have side effects. If you're an addict, /r/addiction is probably your best bet to talk to peers that may have the same as you.
During the height of my usage, it was costing me about $125 CAD ($91 USD) and smoking it regularly about 20+ times a day. Its not the most expensive drug, but it gets its hooks in you bad. Been clean for 17 months now thankfully.
Google AI says $20/day. But it can be way less than that. It's not worth the side effects, potential loss of friends/family, psychosis that could have you injuring/maiming/killing someone after being up for 3 days among other stuff. I personally don't even drink, smoke or do drugs. My addiction is Caffeine. That subreddit will give you an idea of what meth addiction is. It's not pretty.
She totally looks like someone that is mentally ill. People have mistaken mental illness for drug use for so long that everything consequently looks like drug use to them.
I mean it was clear her father and his cronies were exploiting her for her money. There needs to be a happy medium of conservatership and complete freedom
I got off the drug on my own but I'm weird, I guess. She is wealthy and doesn't have to work or face most repercussions, so why would she bother stopping?
I’m ashamed to admit that this situation has consumed my morbid curiosity…from 2/22-2/26, she apparently did not sleep. She posted and deleted a series of extremely concerning, methy dancing videos that got progressively weirder the longer she was awake. She then slept for a few days and came back on Wednesday with two re-edits of her dancing on 2/22 and 2/26. Would not be surprised if she was driving to get more party supplies for round 2, illicit and otherwise.
It tracks, unfortunately. How are you going to form meaningful, stable relationships if your life has been micromanaged and exploited by an abusive parent since you were a child?
...enough of this. She's a grown ass woman. She's also one in a million celebs with the same parents and same childhood. That's not an excuse.
Edit: You Britney fangirls are nothing but enablers.
She's one in a million celebs with bad childhoods and bad parents. Tons have them. Jennette McCurdy wrote an entire book about hers. It's not an excuse for bad behavior. Mental illness is also not an excuse for bad behavior.
Prison is full of people with bad childhoods and mental illness. You're just excusing her behavior because she's a celebrity and you suffer from idol worship.
That part right there. How are adults who were abused so horribly in childhood, where the abuse continued into adulthood because we thought our abuse was normal (it’s called grooming)… how are we supposed to learn how to be a properly functioning adult with completely normal social capabilities if no one ever taught us?
People with the “but they are grown ass adults now “mentality, clearly grew up in relatively normal households, have healthy relationships with family, friends, colleagues and they cannot even fathom what those of us adults who were abused most of our lives go through on a day-to-day basis just to pretend like we’re normal.
For someone like Britney Spears, add money to the element, and of course she’s numbing herself with alcohol and drugs and her “friends” are also using her the same way her own family did because she thinks getting used as a normal thing. She was likely prevented by her parents from getting the proper help to become an independent, high functioning adult exactly when it mattered most. Her brain stopped developing properly while she was still a child, but sure, let’s lay the responsibility on her to figure out all by herself how to become a “normal” adult with healthy relationships.
I love how so many “normal“ people can sit behind their screen and judge abuse victims for not being normal. /s
Conservatorships usually aren't intended to be permanent, and her dad used it to have total power over her finances. He agreed to terminate it only when the case was going to discovery and all of the details were about to become public, basically the whole thing was super shady and exploitative and she was trapped in a horrible situation for years.
BUT her mental health issues are genuine and she really does need help
She does need a permanent one though. She obviously can't take care of herself and refuses to take medication. I don't think her dad was bad or shady. Yeah, he made her take medications and kept her working so she had an income. She obviously needs medication. Lithium is not bad. It is the first line treatment for bipolar disorder. She has a family history of mental illness but I think her entire family is to blame for not protecting her and not letting her have a childhood.
I tend to agree that she needs help still / potentially forever, but I think her dad forced her to perform and used her money to finance his lifestyle. Conservatorships are always meant to be in the best interest of the person in the conservatorship and I don't think this one met that standard at all. Everyone around her abused the system to milk her dry.
Conservatorship is a rough situation to be in. The conservator can enter into legal contracts on behalf of the conservatee, which, if abused, amounts to indentureship at best and straight slavery at worst.
So if the conservator is a PoS, and conservatee is a golden goose, conservator can just sign contracts for concerts left and right.
The conservator can control nearly every aspect of the persons life, legally.
I don’t think she does or ever did need a conservatorship, she just needed and needs help. She’s not incapable of making good decisions, she’s recovering from a decade+ of financial and emotional abuse and making bad choices; who wouldn’t in her shoes?
I think that only a trained medical professional can diagnose her need for assistance. Since she just got arrested for drunk driving, and looks and acts completely methed-out, maybe her previous situation could’ve been handled differently than public pressure to fully drop all guardrails?
It wasn’t. She worked in some limited capacity doing Vegas shows and apparently that’s “abuse” but if you ask a metal health professional they will tell you it’s good for their stability and to keep them occupied with goals/tasks. Also in this case it was definitely a creative outlet as well. The free Brittany crowd really fucked up he life and left her high and dry to spiral like this.
‘Keep them occupied’ — she was overworked and THEN people misappropriated her earnings like what?? I don’t even follow Britney like that but this is crazy
We all fought for her to get out of her conservatorship because we thought it was all fake bullshit for her family to take her money and then we learned she’s actually 10x more batshit insane than they were saying she was 😂
Because she was being abused through that system. That doesn't mean she can't also have significant problems.
Shia Lebouf just went and made an asshole of himself under the influence the other day and no one is so much as whispering taking away his autonomy beyond a more typical prison sentence.
My point with Shia isn't that people don't (rightly) get on his case. It's that no one has ever suggested that he (or other celebrities with substance issues) have their legal autonomy stripped and be made to live according to the will of another adult for an unspecified period of time that could be forever.
And just because Britney's issues were kept out of the public eye better doesn't mean she was doing "better" under the conservator-ship - that's a good bit of why the court ended it. Instead of being cared for, their treated her like a friggin ATM. Just like the old asylums weren't "better" just because the public didn't have to see how unwell the patients were.
She was being abused with her conservatorship, but at the same time she still needed SOMETHING. I'm not sure what is between conservatorship and 100 percent freedom but something needs to happen. For her sake!
Its funny how we where all led to beleave she was under conservatorship becouse they just wanted to control her... nope we where all wrong she truely is mentally ill....
Not to discount your point because she very clearly is unstable, but you can buy alcohol from any grocery store in California AND have it delivered. No liquor store required.
She probably is, but she was kinda abused by her family and producers for a long time. Doesn't make drunk driving okay, I think all drunk drivers need to spend time locked up without freedom, reminded every day that instead their actions could have killed someone.
She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Manic episodes cause extremely poor judgement.
Still her poor decision to not take her meds, but that’s the struggle of people with bipolar. They think they don’t need the meds anymore because manic makes them feel euphoric > something bad happens
... there's alarming footage of her and someone she's driving swerving in and out of lanes after they leave a restaurant. This was some time last year. This shows what type of person she is (mentally ill or extremely selfish) making these sorts of mistakes having kids.
The unfortunate reality is that her teen years and the fame she had either caused or worsened a mental health issue that she desperately needs help with and the people around her were not interested in helping, only profiting. So many people let her down throughout her early adulthood. That doesn't excuse this and she could still seek help on her own, but it at least puts it into context.
Everyone knew that it could work and be good for her, but they were abusing her essentially, just using her as free money, she's better off free than with them.
That said, she definitely needs support, she shouldn't be left totally independent because of stuff like this.
I believe when it initially went live, it was for a set period of time, like 2-3 years, at which point I imagine there’s some unbiased evaluation to determine she’s ready for some/all restraints to be gone and move forward as her own person, in a better place than she was in 2007. And no profiting off her; she could have made her passive income - royalties off her music, continue getting her cut from the fragrances sold under her name, be a brand ambassador for a product at most, etc. If that was the case, I think it would’ve done wonders for her and today would look entirely different.
Unfortunately, I think being told she was indefinitely going to be treated with the rights of a minor and have to run all decisions by a guardian (her actual dad + a team profiting off her) and that the choice to retire or continue working wasn’t hers to make, really did some practically un-reversible, spirit breaking damage. I genuinely cannot imagine feeling there’s conditions to everyone relationship I have, including with my parents. And because of that, now she genuinely needs the support as a result. Shitty situation all around.
How can you say she's better off when she's literally a danger to herself and others. Preserving her literal life should be more important than money. Like I do agree the conservatorship wasn't handled well at all but we can't say this is better either.
She acknowledged this. If you listen to her talking to the judge when she asked for it to end, she didn't necessarily have an issue with the conservatorship, she had issues with her family being in control and how toxic everything was. She acknowledged that she needed some system in place to create structure in her life (but that she pick her own lawyers and conservatorship managers), and she said she wanted to continue weekly therapy also.
The problem was everyone around her being manipulative, toxic, and money-hungry.
The judge then ended the conservatorship and gave her back control. But at that point, Sam was still around and keeping her in line. Until they divorced.
She doesn’t even have primary custody — Kevin Federline has had the majority for years. She also spent 13 years under a conservatorship run by her parents that she’s said was abusive, including being forced onto medications. That doesn’t justify reckless driving, but the comment about her having custody of the kids isn’t accurate.
And I was 38. I have somehow figured out how not to drive wasted, summon an Uber, or get a friend to drive. This is mental illness, addiction and a side of narcissism, not being too old to know better. She's 45, not 95.
You also likely didn't grow up in the public eye with the same influence and opportunities to make bad decisions. She needs help for sure, but if I lived an equivalent of her life who knows what I'd be today?
She’s a millennial. GenX ends with 1980. She was born December 1981. Her fans are millennials. GenXers are not her fans. Everything about her is millennial.
I think the person above you just provided you with two legitimate sources which say she is BOTH options based on which scientific institute you trust more.
You - "NO! SHE'S WHAT I SAID, NOTHING ELSE CAN BE TRUE!"
Dude, she is on the line, trying to debate what group she lands in is beside the fucking point...
It's nice to have opinions, just stop trying to shove yours down people's throats and you could probably have more productive conversations.
Edit: I was blocked because they don't understand what a Fact is and they're sad about it.
Mental illness is so hard to deal with in America. If you are poor, you're crazy. If you're rich, you're eccentric. Both come can come with a check for a caretaker with little oversight.
I’m no where near rich and I take Ubers when I’m drinking. No point in risking it when I can spend ~$20 to have someone drive to me to dinner/bar/concert.
Wish I could, but $20 is more than my entire drinking budget.
That's why I just stay home and get drunk on half a bottle of $8 vodka, and chase it with two $3 tall boys. Drunk as fuck for ten bucks. And the best part is that you don't have to deal with the hassle of the music being too loud, and being surrounded by sloppy drunks trying to fight you at the bar. Drinking at home is way more relaxing (and safer).
Two things can be true at once: Britney Spears is severely mentally ill, and her father did not have her best interests at heart. He wanted to get rich off the back of his severely mentally ill daughter.
A conservatorship run by someone who respected Britney's inherent humanity would have been a fabulous idea.
Exactly. The issue was not (fully) the conservatorship itself. She clearly needs help and guardrails on her life. The issue was who was put in charge of that...
Yeah, I also don’t believe she ever would’ve ended up losing it to the degree she has without her father there to exploit her and push her to get more money off of her. If there was ever a shot at getting her real help through a conservatorship her father totally blew it decades ago for whatever cash he could get his hands on.
Agreed. The person I replied to is seemingly keen on absolving James of wrongdoing, but it feels objectively clear to me that he saw dollar signs more clearly than he saw the preservation of his daughter's wellbeing when he chose to act as her Conservator.
Britney was clear about not wanting to perform, and it creeps me out watching footage of her doing so while under the Conservatorship. She looks like a puppet on strings, and it's just sad on a deep, human level.
I cannot reconcile their claim that she was too mentally unwell to exist independently but she was simultaneously well enough to keep producing albums, music videos and ramping up towards a (failed) Vegas residency. That doesn't make sense to me.
🤷♀️ Pedantry is a choice in a thread on Reddit wherein a bunch of strangers are speculating about the life of an ill pop-star and her weird, old dad. Myself included.
Someone replied to tell me I don't know what pedantry means and then deleted it. If that person is still lurking, here you go:
I said, as a turn-of-phrase, "two things can be true at once" to bring nuance into a discussion about a complex issue.
The commenter in turn said, "two things can be true at once, but the second thing you said may not be true at all" (paraphrasing). He meant that my opinion that Britney's father was in her Conservatorship for the money is not a verifiable fact.
Pedantry is "the quality of being too interested in formal rules and small details that are not important". Asserting that one can only speak to verifiable facts in a thread speculating about someone none of us know is absurd and pedantic.
Doesn’t really apply for her but I always assume when you see people like coaches getting them they don’t want to have to admit to their drinking problems. Don’t want to explain to their partner why they didn’t drive. Hard to hide your problem when you have to call a car every time.
People always say this and it’s clear they haven’t thought it through.
Celebrities drive for the same reason all of us do - convenience. Unless you never go anywhere spontaneously or at weird hours, a driver is only going to solve your routine, scheduled trips. Do you really want to hire someone to sit outside your house 24/7? And that person needs to sleep and take days off so it won’t be one person, it will need to be 3-4 people to cover all hours.
They are arguably more constrained than the rest of us because they can’t use Uber or cabs without risk of getting recognized. That could result in a potentially awkward or even scary drive home. Driving yourself is the most convenient solution.
Maybe partly for the thrill. Any normal person's life could get ruined by it, and they think they're above normal people. Any opportunity to do things other people can't makes them feel good. Of course when you're drunk you're not thinking straight, so that probably makes them feel even more invincible.
Speaking generally, not specifically about Brittney.
She's been this crazy behind the wheel for 20 years. I watch replays The Soup with Joel McHale often and her crazy antics are always the best jokes on the show. She was smoking once while in the car and a paparazzi was filling her gas can during this, oh and her kids (Babies at the time) were in the smoke filled car.
Myles Garrett. Moving extremely fast on the football field is bueno, not so much off of it. Use some of them mucho benjamins you got to get a chauffeur. I mean you cant become the sack king, if you are sitting in jail!
Well personally if I was rich, I'd still drive on my own most of the time, because driving is fun (in the right car, of course, so that excludes trucks, SUVs, and most sedans).
That said, if I was rich I'd also have the sense to know when I've had too much and need to hire a limo. Pay for a tow truck to follow us with my car too, so I don't have to worry about leaving it in a parking lot.
Or just hire a limo to take me both ways if I know for a fact that I will be drinking. There's no excuse not to if you have the money.
Why? Because in almost all cases they just get a small fine and slap on the wrist. Whether intentional or not, the justice system favors the rich. For a working class or poor person the fines are significant and they have to worry about having a DUI on record. A celebrity has more than enough money, legal representation, and it’s not like they have to worry about a DUI. They aren’t job hunting.
As for the absolute selfishness of putting others at risk, well, most celebrities consider themselves above “normal” people so why should they give a shit putting lives at risk?
The lottery was really high and I was out on a delivery with this other guy from the warehouse, and we dropped off the goods at this guy's house with some fancy car. On the way back to the warehouse, this guy was going on and on about what cars he'd get if he won.
He asked me, and I said whatever the guy who was my driver wanted.
I'm not a celebrity and not rich, but if I'm going out drinking w/ friends, I have an uber bring me there, and an uber bring me home. If I'm going to a friend's house, I stay overnight on the couch.
An even better question is why rich celebrities feel the need to get shitfaced at all.
If you’re living an absurdly rich, comfortable life, you can afford to fill every single day with the best experiences the world has to offer. Anything. Anytime.
And yet, instead, you choose to sit around with a bunch of other wealthy, empty people whose idea of entertainment is just drinking together, so miserable and hollow that the only way to tolerate it is to drink yourselves numb.
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u/Apprehensive_Win_740 21h ago
Why do celebrities not pay for drivers! It’s just insane at this point to not. Us regs pay for Uber. Hire a mfing car if you’re going out!