New Britney Spears Documentary ‘Framing Britney Spears’ Tackles Conservatorship Battle

A new documentary following the life of Britney Spears will offer new insight into the pop icon’s ongoing conservatorship battle. The sixth episode of The New York Times Presents, titled Framing Britney Spears, streaming on Hulu and airing on FX at 10 p.m. Friday, includes interviews with some of the people who have seen Spears’ career throughout her life, including Spears’ longtime family friend and former assistant, Felicia Culotta; Jive Records marketing executive Kim Kaiman; and lawyers who have been involved in the conservatorship.

In the 75-minute film, Spears’ career rise from Star Search to pop princess is examined, as are her breakdown in the mid-2000s, marriage to Kevin Federline, and her ongoing fight for control of her finances and career, currently controlled by her father, Jamie Spears. Under her court-ordered guardianship, Spears has only spoken out about her situation through attorneys in court, requesting her father be removed as her conservator. Her attorney, Samuel D. Ingham III, told a judge in November that “she is afraid of her father” and refuses to “perform as long as her father is in charge of her career.”

In the documentary, Adam Streisand, a trial lawyer who specializes in conservatorships and estates, reveals that he met with the “Toxic” singer after her 2008 hospitalization when she was looking for an attorney to represent her. “The first question I had was, ‘Does Britney have the capacity to be able to hire me? Does she have the ability to take my advice?’” he says in the film, as per Us Weekly. After speaking with her, Streisand said he got the impression that she was of “pretty sound judgment” and understanding of her legal position.

“The second thing was, she said, ‘I don’t want my father to be the conservator.’ That was her one request,” he continued. “She wanted a professional or somebody independent. … Britney did not want her father to be the conservator of her person, the person who makes decisions about her medical care, treatment, so on and so forth. She also didn’t want him controlling her finances.” A judge, whom Streisand acknowledged had seen Spears’ medical report, while he had not, ultimately disagreed, and he was not brought onto the case. “I felt that was not the right decision by the judge,” the attorney said of his dealings in the conservatorship case. “I felt that based on my interactions with Britney that she was capable.”