On November 15 2021, a screenshot of a purported headline reading “Judge Rules That Britney Spears Is Allowed to Commit Crimes” circulated on Facebook, often without any context:
Based on visual cues, the headline appeared to originate with the New York Times. It circulated against a backdrop of news about the “Free Britney” movement and stories that a judge had finally ended Spears’ lengthy conservatorship
Fact Check
Claim: A screengrab shows a real November 2021 headline reading, "Judge Rules That Britney Spears is Allowed to Commit Crimes."
Description: A headline reading ‘Judge Rules That Britney Spears is Allowed to Commit Crimes’ is real and was subject to November 2021 legal proceedings.
That screenshot appeared to originate with a November 13 2021 tweet by Twitter account @InternetHippo:
Commenters on Twitter often commented in ostensible support of the headline’s content:
“a judge ruling that a celebrity is allowed to commit crimes is not something i expected (or, tbh really even wanted) to see on my tl, but as far as i can tell she was restricted to a ridiculous level by the conservatorship so i reckon let her have this”
“my girl deserve the world. they took so many years from her life. she is human ♥”
A search for earlier iterations turned up a message board thread, “Article: ‘Judge Rules That Britney Spears Is Allowed to Commit Crimes.'” In the original poster’s post, a “hidden content” section read:
It’s obviously a joke but no idea what the **** is that article
A Google search for “Judge Rules That Britney Spears Is Allowed to Commit Crimes” in fact only turned up the above-linked forum thread. Moving the quotes to surround only “Judge Rules” and “Britney Spears” returned what was likely the template for the tweet’s headline:
In the center was a New York Times article with the headline, “Judge Rules to End Britney Spears’s Conservatorship.” Clicking through led to an article (with another headline: “Judge Ends Conservatorship Overseeing Britney Spears’s Life and Finances.”)
A tweet featuring what looked like a New York Times headline reading “Judge Rules That Britney Spears is Allowed to Commit Crimes” spread virally on and off Twitter. Context for the meme was a recent ruling ending Spears’ years-long conservatorship after a lengthy, often very public legal battle, and the tweet’s “Honestly good for her” reflected widespread public sentiment around the decision. That humorous riff on a real headline was later decoupled from its source, spreading on Facebook with even less context.
- "Judge Rules That Britney Spears is Allowed to Commit Crimes" | Coven of Hoes/Facebook
- Free Britney, Explained | TruthOrFiction.com
- Britney Spears free from conservatorship, judge rules
- "Judge Rules That Britney Spears is Allowed to Commit Crimes" | @InternetHippo/Twitter
- Article: ''Judge Rules That Britney Spears Is Allowed to Commit Crimes''
- "Judge Rules That Britney Spears is Allowed to Commit Crimes" | Google Search
- "Judge Rules That Britney Spears is Allowed to Commit Crimes" | Google Search