Framing Britney Spears delves into the singer’s controversial conservatorship

The New York Times’ documentary series for FX will be examining Britney Spears’ long-running conservatorship in its next episode.

The trailer for episode six of The New York Times Presents was released Thursday and promises to profile the 39-year-old pop superstar’s swift ascent to fame and the mental health and legal struggles that followed close behind.

The Toxic singer has been under a conservatorship run by her father Jamie Spears since 2008.

Legal thriller: The trailer for FX’s The New York Times Presents dropped Thursday. It promises to go in depth on Britney Spears’ long-running conservatorship and her efforts to end it

The trailer opens with a black-and-white childhood photo of a beaming Britney as a woman says via voiceover: ‘Britney was so focused. This was a girl that’s coming from strength.’

Accompanying the introduction were pictures of Britney from early in her career that have an aura of innocence to them. 

But the tone quickly takes a darker turn to accompany images of the performer in more suggestive and adult outfits and poses.

Another voice on the soundtrack claims that Britney accepted the inevitability of a conservatorship but ‘didn’t want her father to be conservator.’

Out of her control: The Toxic singer has been under a conservatorship run by her father Jamie Spears since 2008

Out of her control: The Toxic singer has been under a conservatorship run by her father Jamie Spears since 2008

Sweet: The trailer opens with a black-and-white childhood photo of a beaming Britney as a woman says via voiceover: 'Britney was so focused. This was a girl that's coming from strength'

Sweet: The trailer opens with a black-and-white childhood photo of a beaming Britney as a woman says via voiceover: ‘Britney was so focused. This was a girl that’s coming from strength’

But the tone quickly takes a darker turn to accompany images of the performer in more suggestive and adult outfits and poses

But the tone quickly takes a darker turn to accompany images of the performer in more suggestive and adult outfits and poses

Dave Holmes, an MTV host and VJ in the late 1990s and early 2000s, makes a brief appearance to suggest Britney’s conservatorship didn’t get the scrutiny it deserved.  

‘Any time there’s that amount of money to be made, you have to question the motives of everyone.’

The brief teaser trailer concludes with snippets of footage of protestors gathering in support of the pop star while marching last year with a ‘Free Britney’ banner.

Beware: Dave Holmes, a former MTV VJ, warns that 'Any time there's that amount of money to be made, you have to question the motives of everyone'

Beware: Dave Holmes, a former MTV VJ, warns that ‘Any time there’s that amount of money to be made, you have to question the motives of everyone’

Standing up for her: The brief teaser trailer concludes with snippets of footage of protestors gathering in support of the pop star while marching last year with a 'Free Britney' banner

Standing up for her: The brief teaser trailer concludes with snippets of footage of protestors gathering in support of the pop star while marching last year with a ‘Free Britney’ banner

Picking up steam: The new documentary episode arrives nearly two years after the #FreeBritney movement began to pick up steam in 2019

Picking up steam: The new documentary episode arrives nearly two years after the #FreeBritney movement began to pick up steam in 2019

The new documentary episode arrives nearly two years after the #FreeBritney movement began to pick up steam in 2019, though fans of the singer have been speaking out against her conservatorship going back to its early days.

In April of 2019, the fan podcast Britney’s Gram aired a voicemail left by someone claiming to be a paralegal at a firm that had worked on Britney’s conservatorship.

The message alleged that the S&M singer’s stay at a mental health facility in March 2019 had been against her will, and it sparked a movement among fans to free her from the conservatorship’s legal constraints.

As it’s currently constituted, her father Jamie has complete control over Britney’s assets and finances.

Out of her hands: After a mental breakdown in 2007, Britney's father Jamie gained completely control over her assets in 2008, and the arrangement is still in place to this day

Out of her hands: After a mental breakdown in 2007, Britney’s father Jamie gained completely control over her assets in 2008, and the arrangement is still in place to this day

Making changes: Britney has recently been pursuing her legal options to end the conservatorship, or at least to remove her father and to replace him with her care manager Jodi Montgomery

Making changes: Britney has recently been pursuing her legal options to end the conservatorship, or at least to remove her father and to replace him with her care manager Jodi Montgomery

Britney has recently been pursuing her legal options to end the conservatorship, or at least to remove her father and to replace him with her care manager Jodi Montgomery.

Multiple hearings throughout 2020 have extended the conservatorship, and the most recent ruling from December 16 leavers it in place until September 2021.

However, Britney will have multiple hearings prior to that date which could change the structure of her conservatorship, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Concern: In the meantime, members of the #FreeBritney movement have cited her Instagram posts as both evidence of the conservatorship's control over her and alleged mental health issues

Concern: In the meantime, members of the #FreeBritney movement have cited her Instagram posts as both evidence of the conservatorship’s control over her and alleged mental health issues

Odd choices: Fans have expressed concern at her bizarre choice to repeatedly wear the same or similar outfits and to share months-old photos again and again

Odd choices: Fans have expressed concern at her bizarre choice to repeatedly wear the same or similar outfits and to share months-old photos again and again

In the meantime, members of the #FreeBritney movement have cited her Instagram posts as both evidence of the conservatorship’s control over her and alleged mental health issues.

Fans have expressed concern at her bizarre choice to repeatedly wear the same or similar outfits and to share months-old photos again and again.

Others were alarmed when she admitted to having burned down her home gym, which Britney said was the result of carelessly placed candles, though some fans claimed without evidence that she had burned it down to send a message.

Despite the ongoing controversy, Britney has continued sharing upbeat updates on social media, including her most recent post from Tuesday, in which she and her boyfriend Sam Asghari posed playfully together.

‘@samasghari and I are dropping an album and this will be the [CD emoji] cover …. produced by @drdre…’ she wrote, before adding the hashtag, ‘#joking.’  

Cute: Despite the ongoing controversy, Britney has continued sharing upbeat updates on social media, including her most recent post from Tuesday, in which she and her boyfriend Sam Asghari posed playfully together

Cute: Despite the ongoing controversy, Britney has continued sharing upbeat updates on social media, including her most recent post from Tuesday, in which she and her boyfriend Sam Asghari posed playfully together