Britney Spears has checked out of the mental health facility where she has spent the last 30 days.
The 37-year-old singer was collected by her boyfriend, Sam Asghari, whose car travelled back to the pop star’s home in convoy with another vehicle which, according to TMZ, was carrying her stuff.
Britney’s discharge, however, will be unlikely to stem her fans' concerns that she is being unfairly controlled and restricted by the terms of a conservatorship first imposed after she had a very public breakdown in 2007.
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The theory was explored in a blog dedicated to the star, Britneysgram. This handy primer on Jezebel details all the twists and turns of the conspiracy theory, which spread across social media like wildfire, generating the #FreeBritney hashtag.
#FreeBritney received celebrity endorsement when Courtney Stodden wore a #FreeBritney tank top and Real Housewives of New York star Luann de Lesseps posted a video on Instagram of her dancing to Spears’ single “Me Against the Music,” with the hashtag.
Further fuel was added to the fire when her former manager, Sam Lufti, commented that a dazed-looking Britney appeared “terrified and aberrant” in photos taken during an outing from the rehab.
Earlier this week, Britney posted a short video clip, which appeared to be filmed in the rehab, in which she denounced the rumors, saying “all is well”.
In an accompanying caption, Spears wrote: “I wanted to say hi, because things that are being said have just gotten out of control!!! Wow!!! There’s rumors, death threats to my family and my team, and just so many crazy things being said.
“I am trying to take a moment for myself, but everything that’s happening is just making it harder for me. Don’t believe everything you read and hear.”
She specifically took aim at Lufti, reheating old accusations that he impersonated her on email.
She added: “My situation is unique, but I promise I’m doing what’s best at this moment,” Spears wrote.
“You may not know this about me, but I am strong, and stand up for what I want! Your love and dedication is amazing, but what I need right now is a little bit of privacy to deal with all the hard things that life is throwing my way. If you could do that, I would be forever grateful. Love you.”
The following day, breatheheavy (one of the many sites documenting the drama) reports that Britney was photographed getting frozen yogurt. A positive video of her working out and dancing in the rehab's gym appeared on her Instagram shortly afterwards.
When she checked into the facility, she said it was because she had been knocked off balance by a severe illness her father, Jamie, was suffering.
This was the same reason given for the cancellation of her second Las Vegas residency, Domination, earlier in the year.
“A couple of months ago, my father was hospitalized and almost died ... I had to make the difficult decision to put my full focus and energy on my family at this time,” she wrote.
Since the 2007 breakdown, Jamie Spears has been Britney’s conservator, meaning he has the legal responsibility of making decisions for the pop star, which include her career and finances.
Breatheheavy reports that following the #FreeBritney campaign, a May 10 date has been set to schedule “a new status hearing to address the conservatorship” which it describes as “a step towards dissolving the conservatorship which bars the pop star from driving, hiring her own doctors or lawyers, and other basic freedoms.”
As the site says, 'freeing' Britney form the terms of her conservatorship rather than simply getting her out of the rehab is the larger goal of true believers.
TMZ, which some fans have accused of being in league with perceived anti-Britney forces, says her doctors are still trying to fine-tune her medication.
Sources told the site: “Britney’s mental state is much better than it was when she checked in.”
Meanwhile, Britney’s sister Jamie Lynn, 28, posted a protective message on Instagram, saying, “I have been here long before anyone else, and I’ll be here long after. I love my sister with everything I have. So, anyone or anything that speaks to the contrary can GTFOH with all the comments about what you don’t understand.”
