Addressing the way paparazzi targeted her during difficult times in her personal life, in a recent episode of the This Past Weekend with Theo Von podcast, Ben Affleck expressed sympathy for Britney Spears.
Recalling how he “really had a lot of empathy” for the female pop-star at the height of her fame in the 2000s, the Oscar winning actor said:
“A long time ago, years and years ago, I really had a lot of empathy for Britney Spears.” “Because I remember it seemed like… these people are following her around in a time where she may or may not have been having difficulty.”
Confirming that he could only speculate as to what Spears experienced when paparazzi constantly followed her, Affleck believes constant attention from photographers contributed to Spears’ 2007 meltdown when she shaved her head, adding:
“I don’t know because I don’t know her.” “But I do know that the cycle of having people harangue you and yell at you and hassle you and follow you. It seemed like that itself was kind of whipping up the whole thing into a tizzy. That’s the first time I thought this is kind of a weird, unintentional – I think culturally – but kind of collective cruelty where what’s taken out of the image that you see are the people around waving the stick at the tiger or poking on it.”
Until the agreement was terminated in 2021, Britney suffered mental health issues in 2008 and was involuntarily placed in a conservatorship.
Elsewhere in the conversation, the now the 52-year-old thespian insisted any photographs of celebrities appearing annoyed are due to camera men “poking” at them.
“All you see is the growling animal.” “But like a part of that is because somebody is coming around hitting on it to make it get active,” said Ben ,who is currently promoting his new movie, The Accountant 2.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Sean Reynolds from Liverpool, United Kingdom