Britney Spears documentary director says discourse after singer's DUI arrest 'feels painfully familiar'

Britney Spears documentary director says speech after singer's DUI arrest 'feels painfully familiar' Erin Lee Carr directed and produced 2021's “Britney vs Spears.” Filmmaker Erin Lee Carr, who made a documentary about Britney Spears, 2021's Britney Vs Spears, says discussions about the "Womanizer" singer since her arrest last week are nothing new. "Seeing the way people are talking about Britney again feels painfully familiar," Carr wrote on social media. "Not long ago, we collectively realized that she had been living within what many of us believed was an unfair conservatorship. A system where the people around her benefited financially while she was being controlled. That was real. That mattered. And it took a massive public effort for the world to recognize it." Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter. Carr's film, on which she collaborated with journalist Jenny Eliscu, investigated Spears' quest to control her own affairs while locked in a legal conservatorship overseen by father, Jamie Spears, which was implemented in 2008, when she was 20 years old. It was finally lifted in 2021. The court's decision to scrap the legal agreement came after public outcry, through the #FreeBritney movement and reports of exactly how much she had been limited by conservatorships, including those of Carr and Eliscu. "Recent events do not suddenly rewrite that history," Carr wrote in his post. "They don't validate what they did to him." He continued: "Britney is a woman, a beautiful and incredibly talented woman, who has been through more than most of us could imagine while the entire world watched. Maybe the lesson is not to go from sympathy to judgment depending on the news cycle. Maybe the lesson is compassion." The Grammy winner was arrested on March 4 on suspicion of DUI. She was picked up by the California Highway Patrol in Ventura County, California, around 9:30 p.m. m., according to sheriff's office records. She was then booked and released at 6 a.m. on Thursday. "I'm rooting for her. Always," Carr said. "And you should be too." Following Spears' arrest, her rep said in a statement to PEOPLE: "This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable. Britney is going to take the right steps and follow the law and hopefully this can be the first step in a long-awaited change that needs to happen in Britney's life." The rep added that Spears' loved ones hope the pop icon "can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time." There were plans for her adult sons Sean Preston and Jayden James, whom she shares with ex Kevin Federline, to spend time with her. "Her loved ones will develop a necessary and overdue plan to set her up for wellness success," the spokesperson said. Read the original article in Entertainment Weekly