In the wake of Britney Spears’ historic conservatorship testimony, it’s more apparent than ever that she has a difficult road ahead of her.
As disability rights advocates have been pointing out for decades, conservatorships are extremely difficult to abolish.
Fortunately, Britney has millions of fans, a lot of public attention, and some strong celebrity endorsements.
The latest to throw her hat into the ring is Madonna, who vows to help lead the charge to Free Britney.
Madonna took to her Instagram Stories to add her voice to the chorus of those calling for justice.
"Give this woman her life back," Madonna wrote.
In the image accompanying the text, Madonna was wearing a shirt bearing Britney’s name.
"Slavery was abolished so long ago!" Madonna noted.
That may sound tone deaf out of context.
However, Britney’s testimony noted that she had no desire to be forced to work to please her father — which would, yes, be a form of slavery.
As a point of order, we do have to acknowledge that slavery has never been fully abolished in the United States.
While chattel slavery was outlawed, a loophole remained — forced labor as a form of punishment.
That knowledge helps to form a piece of the nightmarish puzzle of our nation’s mass incarceration problem.
Madonna had more to say, of course.
"Death to the greedy patriarchy that has been doing this to women for centuries," she wrote.
"This is a violation of human rights!" Madonna proclaimed.
"Britney we coming to get you out of jail!" Madonna concluded her captions.
That may be a little hyperbolic, of course.
But clearly, her heart is in the right place, and she’s using her platform for good.
Madonna is only the latest celebrity to speak out.
Several, including Paris HIlton and Mariah Carey, have raised their voices to promote Britney’s liberation.
And Iggy Azalea went even further, breaking her NDA in order to share her experiences.
Britney testified about being ambushed by her father and pressured to sign forms and agree to things that she did not want to do.
Iggy shared that she recalled a similar experience while performing alongside Britney in 2015.
According to her, Jamie Spears approached her in her dressing room, demanding that she sign an NDA or she wouldn’t be allowed to perform.
As for what that NDA was intended to conceal, well …
We all knew that the conservatorship drastically limited Britney’s freedoms and infringes upon her innate human rights.
But according to Iggy, even things like how many sodas Britney is permitted to drink are limited.
Britney is a grown woman in her thirties, and was when she and Iggy performed alongside each other.
Even for teenagers, strict dietary limitations are often viewed as misguided and controlling.
To see them applied to an adult mother … well, one can imagine why people didn’t want Iggy speaking.
The most alarming revelation about Britney’s conservatorship has been the news of her forced sterilization.
There is an IUD in Britney’s uterus that she has not been permitted to remove.
Britney and Sam could have kids … but only if things change dramatically for Britney.