Britney Spears Endorses the “Free Britney” Movement

Things are finally moving for Britney Spears, who’s been involuntarily under a conservatorship controlled by her father since 2008. Look no further than the fact that for the first time ever, Spears has publicly repeated the refrain that’s been echoed for more than a decade, with the launch of a fan site: “#FreeBritney.” The hashtag appeared at the end of a caption of an Instagram that Spears posted on Wednesday, featuring videos of her “celebrating” earlier that day by doing a round of cartwheels and riding a horse.

“Coming along, folks ... coming along 🖕🏻!!!!!,” Spears began, adding a middle finger emoji that would be notable enough on its own. “New with real representation today. I feel GRATITUDE and BLESSED !!!!.” She was presumably referring to a development that broke just a few hours earlier when a Los Angeles judge ruled that Spears is permitted to hire her own lawyer—a first for the pop star in 13 years. She is now officially represented by Mathew S. Rosengart, a prominent Hollywood attorney.

Spears’s upbeat tone is nothing new, but the touch of defiance and an apparent reference to the conservatorship certainly is. For years now, fans have increasingly speculated that someone other than Spears has been behind her er, singular posts, typically in the form of videos of her dancing. (There’s even an entire podcast dedicated to decoding her ‘grams.) It’s also the second major change in Spears’s account in the past few weeks: She apologized for “pretending like [she’s] been ok the past two years” the day after an emotional testimony about the full of extent of the abuse she’s allegedly endured for 13 years. According to the New Yorker, Spear’s management claims that Britney creates all of her own social media posts, but they’re submitted to a company called CrowdSurf before they’re uploaded.

Spears, it seems, is just getting started. The conservatorship is back in the Los Angeles Superior Court as of Wednesday, and she’s no longer mincing words: “I’m here to get rid of my dad and charge him with conservatorship abuse,” she told judge Brenda Penny.