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'Controlling Britney Spears': 10 Things We Learned From New Doc
In the depths of her court-ordered conservatorship, while Britney Spears was performing hundreds of shows for her Vegas residency and raking in millions, the pop star was under a strict budget and intense, 24-hour surveillance that monitored her every move — including a wiretap in her bedroom. Those are some of the stunning claims in Controlling Britney Spears, the new documentary from The New York Times that premiered Friday night on FX and Hulu, just five days before a critical court hearing in the 13-year case.
The trio had a group chat where they would discuss “every step she took,” Vlasov claims. “Even in the sacred place, her home, every single request was monitored and recorded. Her intimate relations were closely managed. You know, Britney could not have someone in the privacy of her house without those three people knowing.”
According to interviews in the doc, the conservators isolated the singer from friends and loved ones, prevented her from accessing her own credit cards and accounts, and even spied on her while she spent time with her children — behavior that sounds outright abusive, and, as the documentary makes clear, possibly illegal.
“Ethically, it was just one big mess,” Vlasov says. “It really reminded me of somebody that was in prison, and security was put in a position to be the prison guards, essentially.”
According to interviews in the doc, the conservators isolated the singer from friends and loved ones, prevented her from accessing her own credit cards and accounts, and even spied on her while she spent time with her children — behavior that sounds outright abusive, and, as the documentary makes clear, possibly illegal.
“Ethically, it was just one big mess,” Vlasov says. “It really reminded me of somebody that was in prison, and security was put in a position to be the prison guards, essentially.”
1. When Britney asked for an iPhone, Jamie, Yemeni, and Greenhill used it for added surveillance.
Vlasov says Britney’s request for an iPhone prompted Yemini to ask him what types of “monitoring services” or “parental controls” they could load on the new device. When Vlasov questioned the legality of such a move, he says Yemini claimed the court and even Britney’s personal lawyer at the time, Sam Ingham, were in the loop with necessary approvals. Vlasov claims Greenhill eventually proposed setting up an iPad loaded with Britney’s iCloud account so it would “mirror” all her activity; that system allowed the trio to see all the singer’s messages, notes, call logs, browser history, and photographs.
“Edan would bring me text messages Britney would have, and he would ask me to encrypt those messages and give it to him so he could pass it on to Robin and Jamie,” Vlasov says. “They would also monitor conversations with her friends, with her mom, with her lawyer Sam Ingham.”
Vlasov later shows the filmmakers an email purportedly from Ingham, in which he asks Jamie’s lawyers for “written confirmation” that “no one other than my client can access her calls, voicemails, or texts, directly or indirectly.” Jamie’s lawyer Geraldine Wyle responds: “Jamie confirms that he has no access to her calls, voicemails, or texts.”
2. Black Box set up a recording device in Britney’s bedroom.
In what might be the most egregious invasion of privacy alleged in the new documentary, Yemini “had an audio recording device put into Britney’s bedroom,” Vlasov says. The device captured more than 180 hours of audio in 2016, including interactions between Britney and her then-boyfriend as well as her children, he claims. Vlasov, who notes that he was just 21 years old when he started working for Black Box, also states that Yemini brought him the recording device and a USB drive at one point and asked him to “wipe it.”
“They seemed very nervous and said that it was extremely sensitive, that nobody can ever know about this and that’s why I need to delete everything on it so there’s no record of it,” he says. “That raised so many red flags for me, and I did not want to be complicit in whatever they were involved in, so I kept a copy because I don’t want to delete evidence. And I don’t think it was a coincidence it was done days before she was due to meet with a court investigator.”
During that September 7th, 2016, meeting, Britney privately told the investigator she considered the conservatorship “an oppressive and controlling tool against her,” according to a copy of the sealed report obtained by the Times. The court investigator concluded her report by recommending that the conservators “do all possible to prevent giving Ms. Spears feelings of subjugation.”
Vlasov says Britney’s request for an iPhone prompted Yemini to ask him what types of “monitoring services” or “parental controls” they could load on the new device. When Vlasov questioned the legality of such a move, he says Yemini claimed the court and even Britney’s personal lawyer at the time, Sam Ingham, were in the loop with necessary approvals. Vlasov claims Greenhill eventually proposed setting up an iPad loaded with Britney’s iCloud account so it would “mirror” all her activity; that system allowed the trio to see all the singer’s messages, notes, call logs, browser history, and photographs.
“Edan would bring me text messages Britney would have, and he would ask me to encrypt those messages and give it to him so he could pass it on to Robin and Jamie,” Vlasov says. “They would also monitor conversations with her friends, with her mom, with her lawyer Sam Ingham.”
Vlasov later shows the filmmakers an email purportedly from Ingham, in which he asks Jamie’s lawyers for “written confirmation” that “no one other than my client can access her calls, voicemails, or texts, directly or indirectly.” Jamie’s lawyer Geraldine Wyle responds: “Jamie confirms that he has no access to her calls, voicemails, or texts.”
2. Black Box set up a recording device in Britney’s bedroom.
In what might be the most egregious invasion of privacy alleged in the new documentary, Yemini “had an audio recording device put into Britney’s bedroom,” Vlasov says. The device captured more than 180 hours of audio in 2016, including interactions between Britney and her then-boyfriend as well as her children, he claims. Vlasov, who notes that he was just 21 years old when he started working for Black Box, also states that Yemini brought him the recording device and a USB drive at one point and asked him to “wipe it.”
“They seemed very nervous and said that it was extremely sensitive, that nobody can ever know about this and that’s why I need to delete everything on it so there’s no record of it,” he says. “That raised so many red flags for me, and I did not want to be complicit in whatever they were involved in, so I kept a copy because I don’t want to delete evidence. And I don’t think it was a coincidence it was done days before she was due to meet with a court investigator.”
During that September 7th, 2016, meeting, Britney privately told the investigator she considered the conservatorship “an oppressive and controlling tool against her,” according to a copy of the sealed report obtained by the Times. The court investigator concluded her report by recommending that the conservators “do all possible to prevent giving Ms. Spears feelings of subjugation.”
5. Jamie allegedly threatened to block access to Britney’s sons if she challenged her conservators.
Yates, who was Britney’s head of wardrobe during her Circus tour between 2008 and 2010 and then again during the singer’s Britney: Piece of Me Vegas residency and tour, says that anytime the singer stood up for herself, Jamie was called in, brandishing the ultimate weapon. “If she pushed back a little bit, they pushed harder. And then the yelling got louder. Then Jamie would come up and say, ‘No, you’re not having this. And then it would escalate to not having the boys,” Yates claims, referring to Britney’s two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline, Sean Preston and Jayden James.
Yates, who was Britney’s head of wardrobe during her Circus tour between 2008 and 2010 and then again during the singer’s Britney: Piece of Me Vegas residency and tour, says that anytime the singer stood up for herself, Jamie was called in, brandishing the ultimate weapon. “If she pushed back a little bit, they pushed harder. And then the yelling got louder. Then Jamie would come up and say, ‘No, you’re not having this. And then it would escalate to not having the boys,” Yates claims, referring to Britney’s two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline, Sean Preston and Jayden James.
9. Jamie was fixated on any men who were interested in Britney, and spied on them, too.
Vlasov says Britney’s father had a particular “obsession with the men in Britney’s life,” noting, “They would have to sign contracts. They would have to sign NDAs.” The court-appointed investigator who interviewed Britney at her house in September 2016 also noted that Britney couldn’t befriend people, especially men, unless they were approved by her father. Once approved, new male friends were “followed by private investigators” to ensure “their behaviors were acceptable to her father,” the investigator wrote in the report leaked to the Times.
Vlasov says Britney’s father had a particular “obsession with the men in Britney’s life,” noting, “They would have to sign contracts. They would have to sign NDAs.” The court-appointed investigator who interviewed Britney at her house in September 2016 also noted that Britney couldn’t befriend people, especially men, unless they were approved by her father. Once approved, new male friends were “followed by private investigators” to ensure “their behaviors were acceptable to her father,” the investigator wrote in the report leaked to the Times.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/controlling-britney-spears-fx-doc-things-we-learned-1231812/
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