#FreeBritney is trending again because of this important milestone

Over the last couple of years the hashtag #FreeBritney has been trending fairly regularly across social media.

For the uninitiated, Free Britney is a movement of concerned fans who believe that pop megastar Britney Spears is being abused and controlled by her family and management. The group alleges that the legal conservatorship, which Spears was placed under following her highly-publicised troubles in 2008, prevents the singer from controlling her own finances, career or personal life.

Spears hasn’t commented on the movement’s allegations, nor has she ever publicly stated that she disagrees with the terms of her conservatorship or wants it to end.

The #FreeBritney movement went into overdrive last year when the singer suddenly cancelled her upcoming Domination concert series. At the time, Spears cited her father’s health issues as the reason for the cancellation, saying she needed to put “family first”.

But it was reported, however, that Spears’ alleged mental health issues were prompting an indefinite hiatus. Soon after, fans were even more distressed to hear her manager, Larry Rudolph, tell TMZ that his client might never work again.

Publicly accessible records reveal that Britney pays the conservatorship more than $1 million a year in legal fees and other expenses.

This includes $15,000 a month to a court-appointed attorney she didn’t choose.

She’s also reportedly prohibited from marrying, voting, having days out with her children, driving or spending money without prior approval.

Now the #FreeBritneyhashtag is trending once again because it’s been 12 years since Spears was placed under the conservatorship.

Protests are happening in real life, too.

But is this really anyone’s business?

Amid the backlash against Spears’ conservatorship, there’s also a growing pushback against the fans who can’t seem to let this go. Is it really anyone’s place to be protesting when Spears has never asked them to? Do we really have any idea what the real life truth is behind court documents?

Is it time that we all just left Britney alone?

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