If there was ever a time to be emotionally dependent on the state of Britney Jean Spears, it would be right now.

Did our prior knowledge of the popstar expand further than the “Toxic” music video on an airplane? No. Are we now completely and utterly invested in the icon’s current strife and legal battles? Abso-fucking-lutely.

We’d like to state the hypothesis that every decade subsequent to the early 2000s will have its own installment of Britney Spears chaos, but in true 2020’s fashion, this one is particularly alarming. The New York Times recently released an exposé on Spears’s conservatorship battle with her father, and it’s taken the world by storm. Britney fanatics of all ages have joined forces and crept out of their bedazzled denim corners of the planet to take a stand for Queen Brit and her apparent lack of freedom.

What fans have slowly pieced together from conspiracy theories and the star’s social media has now been uncovered and solidified by the Times. Spears has been under the conservatorship of her own father, Jamie Spears, for years now… with no control over her finances, career, and even her own free will.

The documentary, available to stream on Hulu, delves into Spears’ legal battles with her father while also shedding light on the mental health struggles of stardom. Although the 39-year-old is now fighting for her freedom, the conservatorship was at one point needed.

The Britney scandal that undoubtedly received the most attention from the media was, of course, the infamous 2008 head shaving and umbrella attacking moment. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that people don’t typically make drastic hair changes and violent outbreaks without something else going on behind the scenes. What continues to draw attention through memes, theories, and gifs was derived from a serious issue that should not have been taken so lightly.

Britney was checked into a psychiatric ward after the incident, and her apparent mental health crisis is the true cause for the issue that only continues to unfold 13 years later. Paparazzi, media outlets, and the general public have dehumanized the star for years and relished in her every mistake.

As we enter this new era of Britney, let’s remember to take it easy on our girl. #FreeBritney was started because people’s empathy finally overpowered their insatiable need to know everything about an A-lister’s personal life. Mental health advocacy won, and now the public is demanding better for someone who needs help. Let’s Free Britney, Bitch.