Britney Spears Abruptly Deletes Her Instagram Amid Battle Over Controversial Conservatorship

Pop icon Britney Spears has abruptly deleted her Instagram amidst her battle to shake free of her controversial conservatorship.

The social media platform has become a channel for the “Overprotected” singer to express herself, particularly since she told a judge that she felt abused under the arrangement. Just Monday, 39-year-old star took to Instagram to criticize the conservatorship, which she has been under for the past 13 years.

“I’ve waited 13 years and counting for my freedom !!!!!,” she wrote. 

By Tuesday, Spears’ entire account was deleted. She did tweet a reassurance to her fans, however.

“Don’t worry folks … just taking a little break from social media to celebrate my engagement !!!!” Spears wrote on Tuesday. “I’ll be back soon.”

Spears had announced on Sunday that she is now engaged to her boyfriend, Sam Asghari.

Despite her tweet, some of her fans were not convinced, spurring rumors that someone else took down the social media account.

Spears’ attorney Mathew Rosengart has not immediately responded to Oxygen.com’s request for comment. He told Page Six though that his client herself made the decision to take down her Instagram. 

The platform has become a pivotal part of Spears’ conservatorship battle. While the #FreeBritneymovement began in 2009, it really picked up speed in 2019 when her tone on Instagram seemingly changed. The perceived tonal shift led some of her fans to believe that handlers had taken control of her social media. Many of those fans believed that Spears was trying to express that she wanted to be let out of her conservatorship through coded language on her Instagram. Still, she never candidly addressed the conservatorship until after her June hearing, when she accused her conservators of abuse. Spears apologized earlier this year on Instagram for lying to her fans and for pretending everything was okay.

Britney’s social media manager, Cassie Petrey, wrote on her own Instagram earlier this year that “Britney creates her own posts and writes her own captions for Instagram.” 

Britney's father Jamie Spears filed a petition earlier this month to be removed from the conservatorship, citing his daughter’s recent pleas to be released from the legal arrangement. He had controlled most of the conservatorship but stepped down as his daughter's conservator of person in 2019. For the past two years, he has controlled just her finances. Rosengart called the move “vindication for Ms. Spears.”