For months now, Britney Spears fans have been concerned about the pop icon’s mental state and emotional well-being.
It doesn’t look as though Spears is in any sort of immediate danger, but recent events have made it clear that all is not well in her world.
Britney has been bound by a conservatorship controlled by her father for most of her adult life.
Under the terms of the arrangement, she is not permitted to make any major life decisions of her own.
Some of the specifics remain shrouded in mystery, but it appears that Spears does not have direct access to her $60 million fortune and is not allowed to leave home without permission.
The conservatorship was supposed to come up for review earlier this month, but a court hearing that would have been conducted over Zoom was canceled at the last minute due to alleged privacy concerns.
Needless to say, it’s not hard to see why this set of circumstances might be intolerable for the singer.
And fans believe she’s been lashing out in various ways, perhaps in the hope that her adoring fan base will recognize that something is seriously amiss.
Back in April, Spears’ home gym burned down.
The explanation that it was a freak accident has been called into question by many.
In the months that followed, Britney’s Instagram posts became increasingly bizarre, and fans came to believe that she was sending coded messages to her followers.
This may seem like a far-fetched theory, but there’s actually much to support it.
On at least three occasions, Britney seems to have responded to prompts from fans encouraging her to post something specific in order to send a message that she’s in distress.
In the comments section of her Instagram page, fans would instruct Spears to wear yellow or hold flowers if she needed help.
On that occasion, she abided by one command and seemed to reference the other in her caption.
"HOLY HOLY CRAP My florist surprised me today by making the flower arrangement all different colors," Spears captioned the pic above.
"I was so excited I threw on my favorite yellow shirt and just had to share."
Fans theorized that she could not have held flowers in the pic without arousing suspicion.
In the weeks since, followers have been on high alert for any sign or mention of flowers on Britney’s page, as they believe she’s adopted them as her unofficial distress signal.
Which is why the #FreeBritney movement is up in arms over Spears’ latest post:
It may look innocuous, but the pic has raised concerns for two reasons:
1. It’s strikingly similar to several other selfies Brit has posted in recent months, and
2. Spears captioned the photo with three rose emojis and nothing else.
"This pic again?? More roses ??? What’s goin on," one can commented.
"THE SAME PICTURE 8 TIMES AGAIN!" another chimed in.
"Am i the only one who’s thinks she might actually already be dead and they keep reposting pictures?" a third asked.
Obviously, some fans are taking their theories to ridiculous extremes.
Though the selfie is eerily similar to several others that Britney has posted in recent weeks, we know that it’s not the same pic, primarily because portions of Britney’s henna tattoo — which she debuted earlier this week — can be seen in the photo.
Still, it’s not hard to see why the fact that Britney keeps posting nearly-identical selfies has been taken as a sign that someone else is controlling her social media accounts.
The fact that the most-liked comment on this latest pic reads simply, "Hi Britney dad" speaks volumes about what fans think of the situation.