Since the end of her conservatorship in November 2021, we’ve become used to the cycle of Britney Spears’ Instagram output. Britney dancing. Britney in various outfits and none. A meme or inspirational quote featuring everything from fairies to Victorian children.
Occasionally her now ex-husband Sam Asghari featured, sometimes a throwback to her pre-conservatorship-self or her sons graced the grid. But on the whole, a surrounding circle is conspicuous in its absence. Whereas other celebrities have friends, make-up artists, a cast of characters who often become as famous as the A Lister on social media, you often got the impression of Britney and Sam rattling around their Thousand Oaks home with few other people featuring. She is, of course, famously estranged from her family, though relations have apparently thawed with her mother recently after a visit that Spears documented to her 42 million insta followers.
While Britney is now free of any court-required conservatorship and we have no way of truly knowing Britney’s state of mind from her Instagram, everyone needs people surrounding them when going through an event like a divorce. The smallness of the pop star’s publicly-known circle, combined with news of Sam and Britney’s divorce last week, led many of her fans began to wonder, just who is looking out for Britney now?
The question was brought into sharp focus by a post just a few days later. The post stood out to regular followers of Britney because it featured a host of unknown, new faces. While we’ve become used to seeing Britney semi-naked and covered in emojis, to see new ‘friends’ feature felt unusual and rang alarm bells.
The content of the strange post did little to quell the fears of fans. Featuring a man licking her thigh and then four men holding her up for the camera, the caption surrounded her belief that people were selling information on her (and her whereabouts) to the paparazzi.
‘When you go to meet up with a so called “friend” and drive an hour for chicken !!!’ she wrote in the caption. ‘Then you have to wait in the car and need to use the bathroom ... I knew paps were tipped off because the car I was in was never used before … so how I was I followed ??? Malibu Canyon Road is the most horrible road ever to drive on ... so what does a bitch like me do !!??! I put my green dress on and show up at my friends !!! I invited my fav boys over and PLAYED ALL NIGHT !!!’
No-one seems sure of the ‘fav boys’’ identity, even her biggest fans. Is Britney driving herself around ‘Malibu Canyon Road’? Is she employing any security on these journeys? After years of being too overprotected, fans are fearing the superstar is looking increasingly exposed to outsiders.
A source says those who love Britney are worried – especially as it feels reminiscent of behaviour that has been seen before.
‘Britney is in a very bad place right now, she’s surrounded herself with yes people and doesn't seem to be taking calls from family or friends who are worried sick,’ says a source. ‘She’s been staying up late at night partying, then staying up most of the night and taking random trips to random places where she picks up junk food.
‘It’s extremely worrying and there are eerie parallels with what happened 15 years ago, when she was in that downward spiral and hounded 24/by paparazzi wherever she went. Britney is still an extremely fragile, sensitive character who’s been deeply affected by what’s said about her – especially on social media. She reads all those comments and takes them to heart. But what gives her terrible anxiety is the threat of once again losing her freedom.'
Britney infamously suffered a breakdown in 2007 which led to her eventual conservatorship the following year. It’s easy to see why those close to her would be having worrying flashbacks. At that time Britney was regularly pictured driving herself around LA, hanging out with random groups, dropping into fast food places and being avidly pursued by paparazzi at every moment.
Spears and Asghari started dating in 2017 during her strict conservatorship at the hands of her father Jamie Spears. She was officially released in November 2021, with many sources citing him as a driving force behind that change. He proposed in September 2021 and they wed last June at home.
Her followers celebrated, believing Britney was finally about to enjoy the happy ending she had so long been held back from.
Now, instead she’s at the centre of a very public divorce, with unsubstantiated infidelity accusations flying around and the world zooming in to focus on pap shots of what look like bruises on Asghari’s body. And while that would be painful enough, there’s another problem – her upcoming book.
To call Britney’s autobiography ‘eagerly-awaited’ would be a criminal understatement. The book, The Woman in Me, was expected on October 24 along with a hive of activity - and now is adding an extra complication to the star’s life.
‘The book is now causing huge issues: Britney painted Sam as Mr. Wonderful, the love of her life who’d treated her like a princess and she got that fairytale ending she’d always dreamed of,’ says the source. ‘But now Britney's memoir is out of date and inaccurate – and that’s before it’s even come out. She’s also not really in the right place to be going on a book tour. Right now it looks like it's a scramble to figure out how to proceed with the book.'
While Britney and Sam were pictured on a trip to Cabo just weeks before their split, and the popstar even ‘joked’ on her Instagram about worrying she was pregnant, multiple sources have said the couple haven’t been happy for some time. And ultimately, if this marriage wasn’t making Britney happy, then her fans will be glad it’s come to end. Could it even open up opportunities for reconnection with some loved ones the conservatorship blocked her from?
But for now, it seems Britney hasn’t reached out and is exposed, without support.
‘Britney’s mom and the rest of her loved ones are at their wits end,’ says our source. ‘They are sadly watching her fall apart on social media and those who love her the most are powerless.’
What happens next remains to be seen. Her fans can only hope – and continue to search for news and clues via the singer’s Instagram.