Add Madonna’s name to the growing list of celebrities voicing their support for Britney Spears in her legal fight over her conservatorship.
Madonna, the best-selling female recording artist of all time, uploaded an image backing Spears to her Instagram stories earlier this week, as spotted by People. Over a picture of herself wearing a Britney Spears t-shirt (clipped at the shoulders), she wrote, “give this woman her life back.”
“Slavery was abolished long ago! Death to the greedy patriarchy that has been doing this to women for centuries,” she added. “This is a violation of human rights! Britney, we coming to get you out of jail!” she concluded.
The two performers have a history, famously sharing a choreographed kiss on stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York during the telecast of the MTV’s Video Music Awards in 2003.
Spears’s legal battle has become more visible since the FX documentary Framing Britney Spears became a sensation in February. Then in June, Spears spoke publicly, calling the conservatorship “abusive.” Recently, a number of celebrities have come forward and cheered on the pop star.
Among them are Missy Elliott, who wrote that she prayed Spears got control over her life, Christina Aguilera, who shared a photo of the pair as teens, and Liz Phair, who pointedly asked to see similar conservatorships for any male celebrities.
John Oliver can boast of being among the first stars to use his platform to advocate for the singer. He paused in the middle of a rant against Tucker Carlson in March to say, “there is not a human being on earth who doesn’t perk up when that violin hook from ‘Toxic’ comes on” and “put some motherf**king respect on her name, Tucker, and of course, #FreeBritney.”
A little over two weeks ago, Justin Timberlake, who was at one time romantically entangled with Spears, made an attempt to show support but faced criticism, with many arguing his statement was insufficient.
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