The sexual assault and downfall of Britney Spears

Before Taylor Swift there was Britney Spears. Throughout the late 90s and early 2000s, she was the Princess of Pop and everyone loved her. She was on track to become the next Madonna. Unfortunately though, as the saying goes, what goes up, must come down and that was exactly the case with the girl from Kentwood Louisiana.

Her debut album, Baby One More Time came out in January 1999 and hit the top five in a number of countries. It was followed up with Oops!...I did it again, which went to number one in several countries. She was on top of the world and was on track to become the next Madonna.

Unfortunately, things started to go downhill in 2002 after she broke up with Justin Timberlake and culminated with her shaving her head in 2007 after her very public break up with Kevin Federline, who had clearlly been using her. There is an interview on The Ellen Show where you can clearly see that he did not truly care about her and that he was using her. 

That's not my issue though. My issue is the way the media treated her and I'm not just talking about the paparazzi absolutely hounding her when she was mentally ill. I'm talking about the way the media literally sexualised a teenager. 

An example of an inappropriate interview is from UK journalist, Frank Skinner who showed him pictures of himself in his underwear that she hadn't asked to see. It amounts to sexual harassment. There was also an interview with Diane Sawyer where she was asked if she was a virgin. Now I know the 90s were a very different time but in what world is it okay to ask a total stranger, let alone a teenager about their sexual activity? 

The really sad thing is that when Britney first burst onto the stage she was so happy and polite. She was generally thrilled to be doing what she was and then over the years that spark slowly begun to fade until teh light was completely gone.

The downfall of Britney Spears got me thinking about why current Queen of Pop Taylor Swift was able to rise above her being cancelled in 2016-2018 after Kanye West and Kim Kardashian exploited her. I can only put it down to one thing. The difference between Britney Spears and Taylor Swift is that Taylor Swift has always had a family that supports her, genuinely supports her and wants the best for her. Britney Spears never had that. If she had then things might have been very different.

Britney's memoir The Woman In Me which she released in 2023 reveals that Britney's father was an alcoholic and that she grew up in a poor household. One can only assume that Britney's family exploited her and used her talent to try and get out of poverty.

If Britney Spears had burst onto the pop scene today there is no way she would've been sexualised like she was. The paparazzi wouldn't have been able to harass her like they did back then and it would've been recognised that Britney was having a very normal reaction to a long time relationship breaking up and her favourite aunt dying.

The downfall of Britney Spears needs to be a lesson to all of us on how not to treat popstars and we need to remember that they are human just like us and go through ups and downs like we all do.