Ryan Reynolds Lends His Support to Britney Spears Amid 'Free Guy' Release

Ryan Reynolds' new movie Free Guy is officially in theaters, and the actor has been busy promoting its release for the past several weeks. On Thursday, Aug. 12, he tied in his promo with some support for Britney Spears, whose conservatorship case just saw a major step forward.

Reynolds used his Instagram Story to share an edited version of one of the movie's posters, which read "Free Gal" instead of "Free Guy." Instead of a coffee cup, Reynolds' character held a pink flag in his hand that featured a photo of Spears' face and the hashtag #Britney. On Thursday, Spears' father, Jamie Spears, announced his intention to step down as his daughter's conservator after mounting public and private pressure. Jamie was appointed as Spears' co-conservator when the singer's conservatorship was established in 2008, and he became sole conservator in 2019 when lawyer Andrew Wallet resigned from the case. Later that same year, Jamie temporarily stepped back and Jodi Mongtomery became the conservator of Spears' person, while Jamie is still the sole conservator of his daughter's estate.

Spears has recently made multiple public statements expressing her desire for her father to no longer be involved in her conservatorship in any capacity. In court documents filed on Thursday, Jamie Spears stated that while he believes it is "highly debatable whether a change in conservator at this time would be in Ms. Spears' best interests," he is prepared to remove himself from the arrangement.

"Even as Mr. Spears is the unremitting target of unjustified attacks, he does not believe that a public battle with his daughter over his continuing service as her conservator would be in her best interests," the paperwork read, via ABC News. "So, even though he must contest this unjustified Petition for his removal, Mr. Spears intends to work with the Court and his daughter's new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator."

"We are pleased that Mr. Spears and his lawyer have today conceded in a filing that he must be removed. We are disappointed, however, by their ongoing shameful and reprehensible attacks on Ms. Spears and others," Spears' new attorney, Matthew Rosengart, said in a statement, via Variety. "We look forward to continuing our vigorous investigation into the conduct of Mr. Spears, and others, over the past 13 years, while he reaped millions of dollars from his daughter's estate, and I look forward to taking Mr. Spears's sworn deposition in the near future."

The statement concluded. "In the interim, rather than making false accusations and taking cheap shots at his own daughter, Mr. Spears should remain silent and step aside immediately."