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The women of The View are sounding off on the #FreeBritney movement. On Tuesday morning, the co-hosts discussed new documentary The New York Times Presents: The Framing of Britney Spears, which has reignited discussion surrounding the media’s treatment of the young star in the late 1990s and early 2000s. While the hosts were quick to voice their support for the singer, it was Meghan McCain who was harshest on Britney’s contemporaries, particularly ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake. “I think Justin Timberlake has some things to answer to,” said a fired up McCain.
Since its debut last week, The Framing of Britney Spears has dominated the discourse with its in-depth portrait of the pop star and the conservatorship she was placed under in early 2008. Moderator Whoopi Goldberg opened Tuesday’s episode of The View with a discussion of the documentary, which all five co-hosts agreed raises interesting questions about the last decade of Britney’s career and the misogyny she faced from the media. “It just made me wonder, who is the Britney Spears of right now? Who is society doing this now?” asked Sara Haines. “What are we guilty of?”
McCain agreed, before explaining that she’s a huge Britney fan and has been invested in the conservatorship battle and resulting #FreeBritney movement for a while. “We’re supposed to believe that this is a woman who’s competent enough to be a judge on The X Factor, to perform in sold out shows … but she’s not allowed to have control over her own finances?” asked the co-host. “This documentary is visiting a lot of questions a lot of people have about why Britney Spears is ostensibly being treated like a child that can’t have control over her own life.”
“The documentary also revisits the role that a lot of people have played, like Justin Timberlake, and our role as people in the media,” she continued. As explained in the documentary, after Britney and Justin broke up in 2002, he released an album that suggested she had cheated on him and portrayed her as the villain in their story. McCain insisted that JT must “answer to” his treatment of women like Britney and Janet Jackson, who he “sexualized and demonized after the Super Bowl” incident.
“We as a society have not treated Britney Spears right. We have done her dirty,” concluded McCain. “This is a moment in time for us to give her the support that she needs. And if she is in some kind of — what looks like being held against her own will by her dad … we as a society have a right to do the right thing with Britney Spears right now.”
Watch The View‘s Britney Spears discussion above.
