Christina Aguilera has come forward to voice her support for Britney Spears, amid her fellow pop stars’ battle in court to bring her conservatorship to an end.
“These past few days I’ve been thinking about Britney and everything she is going through,” Aguilera wrote on Monday, in a multi-part Twitter thread. “It is unacceptable that any woman, or human, wanting to be in control of their own destiny might not be allowed to live life as they wish.
“To be silenced, ignored, bullied or denied support by those “close” to you is the most depleting, devastating and demeaning thing imaginable. The harmful mental and emotional damage this can take on a human spirit is nothing to be taken lightly,” she continued. “Every woman must have the right to her own body, her own reproductive system, her own privacy, her own space, her own healing and her own happiness.”
Aguilera noted that she is “not behind the closed doors of this very layered & personal yet public conversation,” as to what has happened, and is happening to Spears. She said that all she can do, given that fact, is “share from my heart” on what she’s heard and seen reported in the media.
“The conviction and desperation of [Britney’s] plea for freedom leads me to believe that this person I once knew has been living without compassion or decency from those in control. To a woman who has worked under conditions and pressure unimaginable to most, I promise you she deserves all of the freedom possible to live her happiest life,” the five-time Grammy winner said in summation. “My heart goes out to Britney. She deserves all the TRUE love and support in the world.”
Aguilera famously appeared opposite Spears in The Mickey Mouse Club, between 1993 and 1994. Her statement of support follows others from Justin Timberlake, Rose McGowan, Amber Tamblyn and Spears’ younger sister, Jamie Lynn.
Spears was first placed in a comprehensive conservatorship—overseen by father Jamie—in 2008, following a series of public incidents and hospitalizations. On June 23, the singer-songwriter phoned in to a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, to express her desire for the conservatorship to be terminated.
“It is my wish and dream for all of this to end. I want my life back,” Spears said. “I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive … I want to end the conservatorship without being evaluated. I want to petition to end the conservatorship.”