FreeBritney: ‘Disgusting’ Family Feud clip mocking Britney Spears resurfaces

A resurfaced clip showing a game show mocking Britney Spears has sparked debate over changing attitudes to mental illness.

Phoebe Loomes

@dollyybird

less than 2 min read

February 10, 2021 - 8:50AM

A shocking resurfaced clip that shows a US game show viciously mocking Britney Spears has sparked outrage.

The segment from a 2008 episode of Family Feud shows Spears mercilessly hacked at over her mental health struggles, her marriage breakdown and her custody battles.

“Name something Britney Spears has lost in the past year,” host John O’Hurley asks the contestants, who quickly fire back with, “her husband!” and “her hair!” as the audience laughs and applauds.

Another contestant then gets a point for suggesting Spears’ had lost “her sanity”, while the audience cheered loudly.

The resurfaced clip sparked a conversation about how people with mental health issues are treated with disrespect. Fans are calling on the program and its producers to apologise to the star.

‘She's lost her sanity’, contestants joked about Britney’s meltdown.

The shocking clip sparked a debate about how attitudes to mental health have changed.

Contestants high fiving after joking Britney had lost marriage and career.

The segment included contestants cheering as they suggested other things Spears had “lost” throughout the year, including “her boyfriend” and “her virginity”.

An extended version on YouTube also shows the contestants joking about the star having lost her “career” and high-fiving about her losing her “underwear”.

The clip resurfaced after being featured in the documentary Framing Britney Spears – a New York Times-produced feature about the star’s immense fame and the conservatorship she’s been placed under for more than a decade.

Spears was hospitalised in 2008 after police arrived at her home and believed she was under the influence.

The hospitalisation led to her losing custody of her children, and her having her finances placed under the control of her father Jamie Spears. The conservatorship has not been lifted since that time.

Britney Spears leaving the LA County Superior court during the period where she was placed into a conservatorship. Picture: Gabriel Bouys/AFP

The Family Feud segment has sparked a wider conversation about how the pop star was mistreated by the media and how discussions around mental health have changed.

One fan called the clip “disgusting” and asked “how have we let these things be ACCEPTABLE in our society?”.

Back in 2008, #FamilyFeud asked a question â€œname something Britney Spears has lost in the past year.â€ The clapping, the excitement, at the expense of someoneâ€™s mental health..

Absolutely disgusting. How have we let these things be ACCEPTABLE in our society? #framingbritneyspears pic.twitter.com/i0reP6yyhu
— Miss Bryan (@itsMissBryan) February 7, 2021

I think the moment that really horrified me in #FramingBritneySpears is that clip from a Family Feud episode: â€œThings Britney Lost in the Past Yearâ€

Imagine your darkest moments being reduced to a gleeful topic on a game show. Completely surreal.
— Kaitlin Lee (@Kaitlin_Lee) February 8, 2021