Her Sweet 19 Blues album has appeared on Qobuz, the French streaming service. Why that specific service and not Apple Music or Spotify, I have no idea but let's take our wins where we find them.
Okay, I get it, snark subreddits are a thing and will always be, it seems. Celebrities behave stupidly, messily and, even worse, can often be downright manipulative and conniving in how they (and their teams) create public narratives and exploit their fans. Gossip is age-old and gossiping about stars is something which seems to unite everybody.
I understand. However, to have a snark subreddit over Britney Spears in the big old year of 2026 is morally indefensible and ableist. Ableism is a form of discrimination and isn't Reddit supposed to abide by US laws (I actually don't know where Reddit is based but these laws tend to be uniform in many countries)?
Snarking on Britney from 1999-2006 is one thing (still weird as she was 17 for most of 1999), for her outfits, her singing, strange persona (woman-child, virgin sexpot) but after she gave birth to Jayden James in 2006 and filed for divorce, it is clear that something happened that caused her mental health to go into precipitous freefall. Indeed, if in 2008, the same courts that online haters always use a "gotcha!" to shut down arguments labelled her "gravely disabled", isn't that this the biggest piece of evidence that a subreddit like that should not be allowed exist?
The absolute horror (not exaggerated) I see on one particular subreddit where she is mocked as the Babadook, called a disgusting, vile creep, "when was the last time this bitch took a shower" etc etc is disheartening (but eye-opening) as it shows that when people get this ill, they lose their dignity and worth as humans in the eyes of others. The users positively relish in her mental health crises and in her (probable) addiction. At this point, very few even bother prefacing their glee with pseudo-concern. The implications beyond are troubling.
The excuses some make are "Oh, yes she ill but she has all the resources in the world to get help and she won't. I am ill I make sure I stay on top of my mental health." Everyone's experience of mental illness is different, even if they have the same condition. Also, they conveniently forget (or don't know, let's be fair) about anosognosia, which is when people who are mentally ill don't understand they are ill. The more serious the illness, the more likely anosognosia happens, and judging from Britney's Instagram captions, it seems like she also has this.
Another one is "She abused her boys so I don't give a shit! She shouldn't be allowed to make her boys suffer because she did". Agreed. Abuse is not acceptable. But her interactions with her boys fell under the timeline of her illness and the conservatorship (which was supposed to be helping her, right? So why were her conservators not safeguarding her AND her children?). She has been severely unwell for most of their lives. This doesn't mean her boys aren't allowed to be angry and feel traumatised because of her, but it doesn't mean YOU get to continue to kick and prod at someone who is actually this unwell and who psychiatry says may not even be responsible for some of these actions based on her level of sickness.
The Britney Spears story is now deeply uncomfortable and even distressing to watch for most of us but entertaining to some people online, unfortunately .This is so wrong and it goes beyond bored internet people sniping over a ridiculous celebrity. This rhetoric, reinforced by online spaces which legitimise it, helps keep stigma towards mental illness going.
Okay, I get it, snark subreddits are a thing and will always be, it seems. Celebrities behave stupidly, messily and, even worse, can often be downright manipulative and conniving in how they (and their teams) create public narratives and exploit their fans. Gossip is age-old and gossiping about stars is something which seems to unite everybody.
I understand. However, to have a snark subreddit over Britney Spears in the big old year of 2026 is morally indefensible and ableist. Ableism is a form of discrimination and isn't Reddit supposed to abide by US laws (I actually don't know where Reddit is based but these laws tend to be uniform in many countries)?
Snarking on Britney from 1999-2006 is one thing (still weird as she was 17 for most of 1999), for her outfits, her singing, strange persona (woman-child, virgin sexpot) but after she gave birth to Jayden James in 2006 and filed for divorce, it is clear that something happened that caused her mental health to go into precipitous freefall. Indeed, if in 2008, the same courts that online haters always use a "gotcha!" to shut down arguments labelled her "gravely disabled", isn't that this the biggest piece of evidence that a subreddit like that should not be allowed exist?
The absolute horror (not exaggerated) I see on one particular subreddit where she is mocked as the Babadook, called a disgusting, vile creep, "when was the last time this bitch took a shower" etc etc is disheartening (but eye-opening) as it shows that when people get this ill, they lose their dignity and worth as humans in the eyes of others. The users positively relish in her mental health crises and in her (probable) addiction. At this point, very few even bother prefacing their glee with pseudo-concern. The implications beyond are troubling.
The excuses some make are "Oh, yes she ill but she has all the resources in the world to get help and she won't. I am ill I make sure I stay on top of my mental health." Everyone's experience of mental illness is different, even if they have the same condition. Also, they conveniently forget (or don't know, let's be fair) about anosognosia, which is when people who are mentally ill don't understand they are ill. The more serious the illness, the more likely anosognosia happens, and judging from Britney's Instagram captions, it seems like she also has this.
Another one is "She abused her boys so I don't give a shit! She shouldn't be allowed to make her boys suffer because she did". Agreed. Abuse is not acceptable. But her interactions with her boys fell under the timeline of her illness and the conservatorship (which was supposed to be helping her, right? So why were her conservators not safeguarding her AND her children?). She has been severely unwell for most of their lives. This doesn't mean her boys aren't allowed to be angry and feel traumatised because of her, but it doesn't mean YOU get to continue to kick and prod at someone who is actually this unwell and who psychiatry says may not even be responsible for some of these actions based on her level of sickness.
The Britney Spears story is now deeply uncomfortable and even distressing to watch for most of us but entertaining to some people online, unfortunately .This is so wrong and it goes beyond bored internet people sniping over a ridiculous celebrity. This rhetoric, reinforced by online spaces which legitimise it, helps keep stigma towards mental illness going.
Okay, I get it, snark subreddits are a thing and will always be, it seems. Celebrities behave stupidly, messily and, even worse, can often be downright manipulative and conniving in how they (and their teams) create public narratives and exploit their fans. Gossip is age-old and gossiping about stars is something which seems to unite everybody.
I understand. However, to have a snark subreddit over Britney Spears in the big old year of 2026 is morally indefensible and ableist. Ableism is a form of discrimination and isn't Reddit supposed to abide by US laws (I actually don't know where Reddit is based but these laws tend to be uniform in many countries)?
Snarking on Britney from 1999-2006 is one thing (still weird as she was 17 for most of 1999), for her outfits, her singing, strange persona (woman-child, virgin sexpot) but after she gave birth to Jayden James in 2006 and filed for divorce, it is clear that something happened that caused her mental health to go into precipitous freefall. Indeed, if in 2008, the same courts that discussingbritney users always use a "gotcha!" to shut down arguments labelled her "gravely disabled", isn't that this the biggest piece of evidence that a subreddit like that should not be allowed exist?
The absolute horror (not exaggerated) I see on that subreddit where she is mocked as the Babadook, called a disgusting, vile creep, "when was the last time this bitch took a shower" etc etc is disheartening (but eye-opening) as it shows that when people get this ill, they lose their dignity and worth as humans in the eyes of others. The users positively relish in her mental health crises and in her (probable) addiction. At this point, very few even bother prefacing their glee with pseudo-concern. The implications beyond are troubling.
The excuses some make are "Oh, yes she ill but she has all the resources in the world to get help and she won't. I am ill I make sure I stay on top of my mental health." Everyone's experience of mental illness is different, even if they have the same condition. Also, they conveniently forget (or don't know, let's be fair) about anosognosia, which is when people who are mentally ill don't understand they are ill. The more serious the illness, the more likely anosognosia happens, and judging from Britney's Instagram captions, it seems like she also has this.
Another one is "She abused her boys so I don't give a shit! She shouldn't be allowed to make her boys suffer because she did". Agreed. Abuse is not acceptable. But her interactions with her boys fell under the timeline of her illness and the conservatorship (which was supposed to be helping her, right? So why were her conservators not safeguarding her AND her children?). She has been severely unwell for most of their lives. This doesn't mean her boys aren't allowed to be angry and feel traumatised because of her, but it doesn't mean YOU get to continue to kick and prod at someone who is actually this unwell and who psychiatry says may not even be responsible for some of these actions based on her level of sickness.
The Britney Spears story is now deeply uncomfortable and even distressing to watch for most of us but entertaining to the users over on discussingbritney. This is so wrong and it goes beyond bored internet people sniping over a ridiculous celebrity. In its own way, that sub is helping keep stigma towards mental health addiction alive. Hence why it should be closed. Britneyspearsneutral seems like a good place for fans and non-fans to have nuanced discussions so why is that pit of bile still allowed to continue?
Namie Amuro has so many good concerts. My favorites are:
Space of Hip-Pop - the dancing!
Live Style 2011 - the dancing again!
20th Anniversary Dome Tour - just a well-rounded great overall performance with a great set list of old and new songs. She seems really happy here too.
Feel Tour 2013 - fantastic dance-pop extravaganza, even though the outfits are really ugly...
Livegenic - seriously underrated! It's got some of her most creative staging and her dancing is back on full-form after a relatively lackluster 2014 Live Style.
For me, the worst are:
Genius 2000 - great choreo, good songs, but the whole thing feels weirdly joyless.
Live Style 2016 - huge downgrade after Livegenic. Even though she hits her marks, she looks messy when executing choreography, almost like she's lost her sense of rhythm. Staging is boring and I don't really like the set list either.
Finally Tour 2018 - I also include the 25th Okinawa concert with this. Of course, this tour is important on many levels, but she couldn't look more done with being a pop star if she tried. I can't blame her though. Non-stop touring for 20 years will do that to you.
What are your guys' thoughts?