Everything Felicia Culotta revealed in Britney Spears’ new documentary

Guardianship of Britney Spears was the focus of a new New York Times documentary, “Framing Britney Spears,” which aired Friday on FX and Hulu.

While the special included interviews with many in the singer’s inner circle over the years, reporters and even fans, the most surprising person to appear in the 75-minute document was longtime friend Felicia Culotta. and former assistant to Spears.

As someone who was there with Britney from her early years until her residency in Vegas – and for all of her personal issues in between – Culotta’s insight definitely added something new to the conversation about Spears guardianship. .

“The only reason I agreed to do the interview is so we can remind people why they fell in love with her in the first place,” Culotta explained at the top of the special.

“I don’t know if I ever really had a definition of what I was supposed to do with Britney. For a long time they called me their chaperone and then at one point they wanted to call me their partner and we didn’t think that sounded right, ”she said of her role in the ‘Spears orbit. “I was definitely neither his mother nor his big sister, so we chose the assistant.”

Pictures showed Culotta proudly showing off Britney’s record and the ticket-selling memorabilia she had framed on the walls of her home, as she spoke of the “sleepy little town” of Kentwood, Louisiana, which they were native. “We are who we are, we are not rich, but we are rich in another way,” she added, claiming that Spears was a practitioner from a young age and someone she knows. since Britney was only five.

Culotta explained that she was working as a nanny in New York City when Spears landed her record deal. It was then that she became a member of Team Britney, after a call from the singer’s mother, Lynne Spears.

“She said, ‘Felicia, I had an ulterior motive to invite you over to dinner. She got a recording deal today and I can’t travel with her, Jamie Lynn is in first grade, can- you travel with her? ‘”Culotta recalls, saying that she initially only agreed to be his so-called chaperone for only three months. Of course, their working relationship lasted much longer than that.

She detailed how, as Britney’s popularity began to soar during those early “… Baby One More Time Days,” fans began to look for her at shows in malls instead of just meeting them while she was on the go. ‘they were shopping. She also revealed how Spears used some of her early income to give back to those in her hometown.

“We were always these people from Mississippi, Louisiana, we were fresh, everything was new,” Felicia said. “One of the first things she did when she was just getting famous was, we were home for Christmas, and she wanted to go get $ 10,000 in $ 100 bills and she walked through Kentwood and handed out some $ 100 bills.

As the special touched on Britney’s relationship with Justin Timberlake, Culotta was MIA, although she briefly commented on Spears’ marriage to Kevin Federline.

“I don’t think I was surprised at all when she and Kevin got engaged,” Felicia said. “She told me and then I remember she said, ‘I have to call my mom.’ I said to myself: “Absolutely, you do.”

From there, the documentary began to detail some of the problematic areas in Spears’ life, which began when she and Federline welcomed their first son, Sean Preston. The two welcomed another baby, before going their separate ways, as stories about Britney being an unfit mother started to grab headlines. Then came the evenings with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, the head shaving incident, her custody battle, and ultimately her take of 5150 in 2008. This, of course, led to her tutelage, which she still practices today.

“To be honest, I didn’t understand or understand now what a trusteeship is,” Culotta said of the arrangement, whereby Spears has no control over his estate or finances. “Especially for someone’s British age and someone capable of so much that I know, firsthand, she is capable of.”

“Once the mentorship started, my role changed,” said Culotta, who transitioned to a behind-the-scenes touring job when the “Circus” tour began in 2009.

“When I got back it was a different business management and his dad was involved. They didn’t hire me, the tour company hired me,” Culotta explained. “I don’t know why the Britney company didn’t hire me. All I know is maybe they didn’t know the part I had played earlier.

“So I took a back seat and just did what I was hired for,” she added. “I don’t really know what happened, I just don’t know that they knew her well enough to realize her decision-making abilities. Just me watching, that’s what I saw.”

Culotta continued to give backstage tours of Las Vegas once Britney’s residency started there in 2015. “I’m telling you when she walked on that stage she never felt judged when she took the stage, ”Felicia said. “It was one of the highlight of my life, is seeing how much she was loved.”

Felicia’s latest appearances in the documentary have shown her fondly gazing at photos of her and Spears from earlier, as she expressed optimism about Britney’s future.

“I know that at some point she will tell her story, I know she will and I am very grateful to her for that,” Culotta said. “Everything will fall into place.”

Spears and his father, Jamie, are still in a battle for his guardianship, with Britney making it clear that she wants him to step down. Her attorney, Sam Ingham, has said she refuses to perform again until Jamie is co-curator anymore.

The New York Times noted that they attempted to contact Jamie, Lynne, Jamie Lynn and Bryan Spears, as well as Ingham, Sam Lutfi and Britney herself to participate in the documentary, but their representatives did not respond or have refused to be interviewed. to the camera.