Culture

Resurfaced Videos Of Britney Spears Reveal The Inappropriate, Invasive Questions And Comments She Endured In Her Youth

Teen pop star Britney Spears was in the spotlight from a young age, and when you look into the things she faced in the early years of her career, it's easier to understand why she struggled so much with her mental health.

By Gina Florio3 min read
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Getty/Matt Winkelmeyer

"Baby One More Time" was first released in 1999 and Britney Spears had just turned 17 years old when it hit the shelves. She started singing even earlier and was ushered into the music industry by her family from a young age. In retrospect, it's easy to see that her childhood was unfairly ripped away from her and she was sexualized far too early. But the fame and accolades kept piling on, and before we knew it she became a pop sensation around the world and there was no way to slow down the Britney mania. After living under a strict conservatorship for more than 13 years, she was finally released to be on her own. But ever since she gained her independence, people have been questioning whether she is ready to be fully on her own. She has posted multiple naked photos of herself and videos of herself erratically dancing, and many fans are concerned with her mental wellness. Considering everything she has been through in her career and personal life, it's not really much of a mystery why she has struggled so much with her mental health.

Resurfaced Videos of Britney Spears Reveal the Inappropriate Questions and Comments She Endured in Her Youth

Popular Instagram account @velvetcoke regularly posts nostalgic photos and videos of various celebrities, fashion designers, and artists who have created some iconic moments in Hollywood that nobody wants to forget. She has a unique knack for digging up old interviews and media clips that few people even remember happening. In a recent post, she shared a series of resurfaced videos in which Britney is forced to sit through inappropriate interview questions or rude comments about her body, sexuality, fashion choices, and personal life.

In the first clip, a very young Britney is sitting down for an interview in front of a studio audience. "There's one subject we didn't discuss. Everyone's talking about it," the man says. "What?" she inquires. "Well, your breasts. You seem to get furious when a talk show host comes up with this subject," he replied. "What do you think about breast implants just in general?"

"I think if that's what you want to do and it makes you happy, then I see nothing wrong with it, but I haven't done it," Britney says. She adds that the press started a rumor about her breasts and she's not responsible for fans or onlookers feeling pressured to get breast implants. Britney looks extremely uncomfortable with the question, but she handled it well.

In other interviews, she is chastised for a fashion shoot and asked, "What happened to your clothes?! What's this about? No kidding, what is this about?" She is nude in the photo shoot and Britney says she chose to do it because it was just a beautiful photo. While it's easy to blame Britney and say that she is in fact naked in the picture, it's impossible to forget that she had a whole team of people pressuring her to be sexual from a very young age and putting her in situations where she was coerced into wearing very little to no clothing.

"Is Britney in a bad marriage? Is Britney a bad mom?" Matt Lauer asks her in an interview, reading off questions that people have seemingly been wondering about her. Britney seems visibly disappointed with hearing these words, but she replied with a chuckle, "That's America for you."

There's another clip of comedian Sarah Silverman doing a comedy bit in 2007 about Britney's kids. "But have you seen Britney's kids? Oh my god, they are the most adorable mistakes you'll ever see," she says. "They're as cute as the hairless vagina they came out of." Sarah then proceeds to turn her head sideways, pull the corners of her lips apart, and imitate Britney's vagina. The crowd laughs, but the camera cuts quickly to Paris Hilton, who doesn't seem amused.

In another press conference, a journalist asks Britney about how she feels that the media is always speculating about her virginity. Britney smiles politely and says she wishes that she never said anything about her virginity to begin with, but the interviewer continues to pry and asks whether anything has change about her virginity status. Britney ends the conversation by saying that this is private information.

All the clips are painful to watch, particularly when you consider how young Britney was exposed to this kind of toxic behavior. It's easy to blame Britney for dancing sexually and wearing revealing clothing, but she was pushed into the industry from a young age by the very person who should have been her protector: her father. It's no wonder Britney developed severe mental health issues, had a breakdown, and later had to be put on medication. Many fans express their disappointment in how mistreated Britney was, hoping that she will find peace now that she is past her conservatorship.