Framing Britney Spears Director Responds to Singer's Remarks About "Humiliating Moments"

The director of Framing Britney Spears has spoken out in response to negative remarks from the singer about being the subject of documentary films.

By Corinne Heller Aug 05, 2021 9:37 PMTags
Watch: Britney Spears Wants Father "Immediately" Removed as Conservator

The director of Framing Britney Spears has nothing but empathy and support for Britney Spears as the singer continues her legal battle over her conservatorship, despite the star's criticism about the way her life has been documented onscreen.

The Emmy-nominated New York Times documentary, which focused on the star's past and present struggles, debuted on FX and Hulu in February. The 39-year-old pop star later said on social media she was "embarrassed" by how she was portrayed in the film and said it made her cry for two weeks. In July, a month after she gave a bombshell testimony in court against her conservatorship and co-conservator and father Jamie Spears, Britney wrote on Instagram that she "didn't like the way the documentaries bring up humiliating moments from the past."

In comments posted Thursday, Aug. 5, Framing Britney Spears' director, Samantha Stark, was asked by the The Hollywood Reporter about the singer's latter remarks.

"While we were making the film, we talked a lot about re-traumatizing Britney and her family by showing these moments," she said. "Part of the reason it's called Framing Britney Spears is there are these still-photo frames that were humiliating to her. We thought it was really important to pull outside the frame because so many people had all these assumptions based on one frame, one still image that they saw."

photos
"Framing Britney Spears'" Most Disturbing Moments

The director continued, "In the end, we felt like we had to put some of them in because we wanted people to have more context. We always tried to have her talk back to [the paparazzi] if we could. She 100 percent deserves to be mad that we're still looking at those photos, because it's ridiculous that we're still looking at them, and they shouldn't have been there in the first place. As much as I want to explain myself to her, I totally understand where she's coming from."

Image Group LA/Disney Channel via Getty Images

Samantha said that at the first meeting about Framing Britney Spears, "we agreed we would never make fun of Britney Spears, and we all took that to heart." She added, "It's been incredible that it feels like now the world is also taking that to heart."

In recent developments, Britney and her new lawyer filed a request to move up her hearing on her petition to remove her dad as conservator of the estate.

"Every day that passes is another day of avoidable harm and prejudice to Ms. Spears and the Estate," the attorney claimed in court documents. "Ms. Spears' emotional health and well-being, must be, and are, the paramount concern."

E! News has reached out to Jamie's legal team for comment and has not heard back. His attorney previously said her client would not be resigning. The lawyer told CNN in March, "Like any parent, he doesn't always see eye-to-eye on what Britney may want. But Jamie believes every single decision he has made has been in her best interest."