Why the conspiracy theory on Britney Spears continues

From #Freed Britney to #WhereIsBritney. Fans of the pop star have been on high alert for several weeks now, monitoring her social media posts and the whereabouts of their favorite singer, her husband and even family members across the country. What makes them suspicious are the increasingly sparse posts and, above all, the absence of sightings and paparazzi, which have led many to believe that Spears never returned from her honeymoon and is dead or missing. But what is really going on?

Last week, the Toxic singer shared a video on her Instagram in which she was on a private jet and claimed to be heading to New York. But in the Big Apple there was no sign of Brit, no video evidence or paparazzi shots. Which for suspicious fans means that something is wrong and that there is certainly a shady mystery behind the affair. And never mind that sources close to the artist swore to TMZ that "Britney Spears isn't missing, in trouble or dead as growing fan theories might suggest - in fact, it's quite the opposite" and said that she was on her way to NYC to "throw people off" and that she and husband Sam Asghari were actually headed to Mexico for a quiet holiday. Nothing can stop the conspiracy theories that are flooding TikTok these days: some believe she is dead or missing; others claim that the one seen on Instagram is a lookalike of the pop star; a third party is convinced she is admitted to some clinic; still others that she is not the star of her social videos and that, if she is, the backgrounds we see behind her are added in post-production to make it look like she is free to go out and travel the world. Those who support the latter theory speak of deep fakes and green screen edits altered by Asghari (the real manager of the singer's social profiles), pointing out inconsistencies in her tattoos and more generally of her body from video to video. Also suspicious is the sudden affection shown publicly, via a video and a dedication, to her sister Jamie, with whom it is known there is bad blood due to the lack of support during the conservatorship period. It seems obvious that Britney does not control her mobile phone (and perhaps not even her life). Why else would Asghari have a completely green room used for making videos (as he has shown himself)? For plotters, the answers are twofold: he or another occult entity controls Britney or what we see is not the singer by a clone or double of her.

Trying to shed light on the matter, Perez Hilton intervened and debunked any conspiracy theories about alleged clones and deaths and stated that he knows what is really going on with Britney, but cannot reveal it for his own protection. His words, although not explicit, fuel concern about the artist's situation. The blogger claims to have spoken to a reliable source in the industry who confirmed to him that "things are bad". He then turned to Spears' fans and added "your concern is warranted, but when the truth comes out you will all be surprised. A lot of fans would not take it well if I said what has been reported about her. But especially if I shared what I know, I don't think I would help Britney. If I spoke, I would hurt her. You ask me if she's okay, the answer is no! She's not OK guys. I say this because it's important for fans to understand that 1st she's not OK, 2nd you guys are not crazy, 3rd almost all conspiracy theories are crazy." 

These statements are far from reassuring, and can be interpreted in two ways: either Britney is detained somewhere where she is in danger or she is simply hospitalized in a place to come to terms with her shaky mental health in order to get better, as indeed Hilton says. The control freakiness that fans have developed toward the singer is due to the perceived power that the #freebritney movement has made the community feel, which by incessantly posting content about Britney has created a huge media backlash toward the singer's living condition. Last year, attention to subliminal messages in the singer's videos amplified public opinion about the ongoing trial between the singer and her guardian, her father, apparently facilitating the jury to release the singer from her "legal detention." In this second wave of assumptions there is the confidence that if the singer is in danger, her community can again help free her, but it is not certain that this could happen a second time, or worse, that everything had not already been concocted by the puppeteers of this staging. 

Hopefully, whatever the problem is, Britney will be able to recover and come back stronger and happier than before.