Ed McMahon asked a 10-year-old Britney Spears if she had a BF, then it got even worse: "How about..."
Before Britney Spears became the world's favorite pop star, she was just a young girl with a dream of performing on stage. In various interviews, she talked about how much she loved singing and how she found normal high school life boring compared to her passion for music. When her debut album was released, it was clear Spears was on her way to stardom. However, her journey wasn’t easy, even in the early days. Though the public wouldn’t fully understand the challenges she faced until many years later, there were signs from the beginning that hinted at deeper issues in Hollywood.
Spears first auditioned for 'The Mickey Mouse Club' at the age of nine, but the casting director thought she was too young. She didn’t give up, and within two years, she joined the show. In the meantime, she competed on 'Star Search' and started making a name for herself. By the time she recorded her first album in 1998, she had undergone vocal training, worked with professionals, and showed incredible dedication to her craft. Her fame skyrocketed with '...Baby One More Time', but along with success came intense media scrutiny. Looking back, fans later realized that Spears had been treated unfairly by the media from the very start. When details about her conservatorship became public and her case went to court, people started re-examining her past. Several documentaries were released, none of them with Spears' direct involvement, and she wasn’t happy about them.
One of the most notable, 'Framing Britney Spears', came out in 2021. After watching some parts of it, Spears shared that she felt "embarrassed" by the documentary, as reported by News.com.au. However, after fans saw the full documentary, they may have felt even more sympathy for Britney than she expected. Some of the footage showed the difficulties she faced in her career that many had overlooked. One moment in the documentary featured an old interview with Spears as a child, where Ed McMahon asked her, "You have the most adorable pretty eyes – you have a boyfriend?" She responded, "No sir … they’re mean." McMahon then replied, "I’m not mean, how about me?"
While he had interviewed other children, it appeared that he did not ask them similar questions. This was just one of many uncomfortable interviews Spears had to endure. In 2001, when she was about 20, Australian journalist Mike Munro told her, "To many, you are a contradiction. On the one hand you’re a sweet, innocent virginal type. On the other hand you’re a sexy vamp in underwear." Spears, clearly uncomfortable, denied performing in underwear, but the questioning didn’t stop there. Other interviews saw figures like Diane Sawyer pressing her about her breakup with Justin Timberlake, asking "what she did" to him, and Matt Lauer later suggesting she was a "bad mother," as per Page Six.
From the start of her career, the media felt entitled to ask Spears anything, with little concern for whether their questions were appropriate or respectful. As later documentaries revealed, she was often treated more like a product than a person. At the time of McMahon’s interview, social attitudes were different, and few people saw anything wrong with his remarks. However, looking back, it was an early sign of how Spears was viewed—as entertainment rather than an individual. Sadly, throughout her career, she found herself in many situations where people failed to protect her best interests. Fortunately, after her conservatorship ended, Britney was able to regain control over her life. She focused on making new music and living on her own terms. After delays, her memoir was finally published in 2023, giving fans the chance to hear her story in her own words.
