9 hours ago
3
As Kevin Federline has called for the #FreeBritney movement to reorganize to help his allegedly troubled ex-wife, Britney Spears, one former leader of the group said they are done.
“The heads of the movement don’t meet anymore, we don’t talk anymore,” Pilar Vigneaux, the onetime director of communications, told The Post. “We were so burned out.”
The fan-led group, which was formed to call for the end of Spears’ court-ordered conservatorship, held rallies across the country, researched the case and mounted social-media campaigns. Their efforts picked up steam in 2019, with Miley Cyrus, Cher, Paris Hilton, Christina Aguilera and even Spears’ onetime boyfriend Justin Timberlake eventually showing support. A judge lifted the order in 2021, after 13 years.
But as Spears has been posting increasingly concerning Instagram videos that have prompted speculation about her well-being, Federline is calling for help.
“All those people who put so much effort into [#FreeBritney] should now put the same energy into the ‘Save Britney’ movement,” he writes in new memoir, “You Thought You Knew,” out Tuesday. “Because this is no longer about freedom. It’s about survival.”
Vigneaux, who is based in Chile, said the initial campaign was exhausting.
“You have no idea how much we worked on this. We sent a press release every other week. We were reading the court documents, we were going to the court in LA. Once she was free … we just dismembered,” she said.
Adding to the split: “The movement broke because half of the [leaders] thought she was really free and the other half thought she was not.”
Vigneaux, 48, is in the latter camp. She remains suspicious of the “care plan” that was established by the court for Spears after the conservatorship ended.
“When Britney was under the conservatorship, as we knew it, the terms of the conservatorship and whatever happened in court was public. When they ended the conservatorship they put a little disclaimer that said Britney was going to be put on a care plan — and then they redacted everything else,” Vigneaux claimed. “The care plan didn’t have an end date and the people in charge of the care plan are in charge [of Spears].”
On Friday, the singer — who has previously posted videos of herself dancing with knives and with dog excrement visible on the floor of her home — posted an erratic Instagram Reel of herself dancing.
“My kids have known me as Saint Mother Theresa, for 15 years mom was the sister … I’m the daughter you’re the parent !!! Get it straight teacher … can I come to your class mamma I have my school girl outfit on… let’s go shopping first thing,” she captioned the video.
On Sunday, she claimed she has “brain damage,” writing: “I had a traumatic experience as some of you know at the end of my book where for 4 months I no longer had my private door and illegally was forced to not use my feet or body to go anywhere.”
The Post has reached out to representatives for Federline and Spears for comment.
Vigneaux said it is impossible to know what is really going on with Spears now.
“If I was 100% sure that she was 100% free, I could tell you, ‘Yes, she’s unstable.’ But the thing is, I honestly don’t think she’s free … I don’t think she can do whatever she wants,” Vigneaux alleged. “I think they gave her a key to her car, pocket money and vacations that she wants.
“People who were not in the [#FreeBritney] movement think she’s unstable — that has always been the goal of the conservatorship.”
Federline, 47, says in his books that the #FreeBritney movement did more harm than good for the singer.
“I tried to understand where they were coming from but I could never fully get behind it. There were too many conspiracy theories, too many wild misunderstandings,” he writes, adding: “At times, it felt more like fandom’s mob mentality than genuine concern for Britney’s well-being.”
In 2008, Spears was placed on a psychiatric hold amid a custody battle with Federline and amid intense scrutiny after incidents like shaving her head in public and attacking a paparazzo’s car with an umbrella.
The conservatorship was established that year, giving her father, Jamie Spears, 73, full control over her personal life and fortune — now estimated to be between $40 million and $60 million.
The singer has called the conservatorship “abusive” and claimed she was not allowed to work or have more children and was forced to medications, including lithium, against her will.
“Her behavior is just like you see online – she has moments of clarity and moments where it feels like a roller coaster. She’s still the sweetest, kindest person,” one source told Page Six in September, making it clear they were only speaking out in order to help her.
English (US)