The Women Behind Framing Britney Spears Explain the Hidden Meaning of the Roses

Framing Britney Spears director Samantha Stark and New York Times senior editor Liz Day were in the middle of interviews about their much-talked-about documentary when news broke that Justin Timberlake had apologized to Spears via an Instagram post. 

“I’m hopeful that everyone can learn a little bit from reexamining the past,” Day tells Glamour when asked about the statement from Timberlake, which came after a backlash from viewers who felt the singer's actions following his public breakup with Spears was out of line.

“It's very shocking,” Stark tells Glamour of the passionate response since the film's release on Hulu on February 5. “I think it's the power of seeing someone as a human, and I'm proud of that.”

Framing Britney Spears, which takes a detailed look at the pop star's rise and downfall, and the subsequent fallout from her father's conservatorship, has riveted a public eager to know what life is truly like for the 39-year-old mom of two. It's been a roller-coaster ride for Stark and Day, who are now seen as experts on Spears's situation. 

“We want to continue pursuing Britney’s story, particularly the way in which the conservatorship has operated, both at its beginning and throughout,” Day tells Glamour. “There’s a lot we’re interested in.”

The same goes for fans—especially those involved in the #FreeBritney movement. The latest theory circling the internet is that, considering the “Project Rose” announcement Spears has teased on social media, she was involved in the documentary in some way. While Stark and Day don't directly refute those rumors in our interview, they do explain why they leaned into Spears's love of roses as well as a few hidden messages. “She's smarter than people give her credit for,” Day says. 

So what's next in Spears's story, especially as it pertains to Stark and Day's investigation? With more to uncover, the pair talk to Glamour about what they hope to achieve next, their thoughts on Spears's most recent statement, and yes, Project Rose.

Glamour: A lot has happened in the last few hours, mainly Justin Timberlake’s apology to Britney. What are your thoughts?

Sam Stark: I really like that he apologized to both Britney and Janet Jackson. I think it’s kind of symbolic because we have to remember there’s a whole industry behind him that was making this happen. For Justin Timberlake’s music video with the Britney Spears look-alike, he didn’t make it by himself. There are so many gatekeepers and people that video went through to get to where it was. I hope those people are also reflecting on their participation in the way that Justin seems to be.

Liz Day: I agree. We were really surprised at the reception the film has made, not only with the general public but with many of the principals involved. It was really surprising to see Sarah Silverman, and now Justin, come out and say, “I’m sorry.” We’re equally interested in watching the public recognize their own complicity as well, saying, “I’m sorry I laughed along with these jokes,” or, “I'm sorry I bought those magazines.” I’m hopeful that everyone can learn a little bit from reexamining the past and make us rethink, Who are we doing this to today? Who are we going to do this to tomorrow?

In regard to Justin, a lot of people on Twitter are saying, “This is great, but it’s 20 years too late.” What does it mean to you to see the public reckoning that it’s happening because of your work? 

Sam: It’s very shocking. I think it’s the power of seeing someone as a human. So many fans have so many of these very heartfelt messages, thanking me for showing Britney as a human being for the first time they felt like. Once you know someone’s story and connect with them, often you’re so much kinder to them. That’s why I do this work. If we could see each other as humans, we could connect much better. You can see, it just happened [with the public reckoning]. I’m proud of that part. 

To what degree do you also attribute the documentary to the judge’s ruling yesterday that Jamie Spears no longer has sole control of her conservatorship? Would this have happened without the documentary?

Liz: I personally don’t think it had much to do with our documentary. It was expected. The judge had indicated they were going to appoint the financial company Britney wants in control alongside of Jamie Spears, her father, in a previous hearing. But the interesting thing is Britney’s lawyer made clear in yesterday’s hearing that Britney still wants Jamie gone entirely. We know that’s a separate issue for a separate day in court, so I think we’re all really interested to see what happens next.

Sam: I think the headlines about the hearing being a win for Britney were very misleading. Really what happened was very procedural and it was very short and it just reaffirmed a decision she had already made. It shows how long things take in the probate court, because that was a decision made three months ago. Now, three months later, she’s reaffirming it. And they still have to figure out how they’re actually going to do it and then there will be more filings, so I hope people will take away how long it takes. I’m worried they’re taking away it was a win, when it wasn’t, really.

Sam, you recently talked to Entertainment Tonight about the lengths you went to trying to get Britney’s participation as well as the extended members of her family. So what did you make of her statement earlier this week?

Sam: I really hope Britney gets to tell her story and speak in her own words. My favorite Instagrams from Britney are the ones where she’s holding the camera. It is so moving to hear her sing “Happy Birthday” to her kids from behind the camera, see where she points it, what she thinks is important. It’s quite unclear if she’s the person behind her Instagram, so it’s unclear if she expressed those feelings. There’s no way for us to know. I hope we get a documentary where Britney’s holding the camera one day.

Liz, was that comforting to hear what she said on social media?

Liz: To be honest, I didn’t read too much into it. It’s cryptic. As Sam points out, there’s so much we don’t know about her Instagram and the messages she may or may not be sending through it. [Laughs.] But I totally agree that a consistent message that we heard from people close to Britney, who care for her a lot, is that they believe one day she will be ready to tell her story. We also want to see that. We want to hear from her directly, unfiltered, and allow her to control what she has to say and how she feels about things.

What do you both know about Britney’s Project Rose? There’s a theory involving the roses and flowers seen in the documentary and how it correlates to what Britney’s been posting on her Instagram. Some people think she was secretly contributing to your doc or you had her support all along.

Sam: I’ll tell you what happened. We filmed this entire thing during COVID; in order to be COVID safe, we had to film outside. If these interviews are going to be outside, I wanted that to be a motivated, stylistic decision. I didn’t want people randomly outside. I had been looking at Britney’s Instagram a lot, and I noticed Britney loves roses. There are so many posts with pictures of roses and also so many posts of her holding flowers. There’s also this greenery, backyard feel to a lot of her posts. I really wanted the documentary to live in the world of that. I had this rose wall built for the fans, because I was trying to make the amount of roses reflect their relationship to Britney. We did some interviews, and then Britney posted about Project Rose. That is the order of events. That’s what happened.

Liz: That's why we used roses throughout the film, as the motif and in connection to Britney. I don’t know that we know much more about Project Rose, but are excited to see what Britney wants to reveal about it.

So you can say you had no support from Britney Spears? There was not some underground communication that she was giving you her support?

Sam: We are not saying anything. I just told you the sequence of the events. Yes.

Okay.

Sam: Also, the ending...there’s a rose Instagram at the ending…

That turns to soap.

Sam: That’s my all-time favorite Britney Instagram post, because she says, “See this pink rose? See how beautiful it is?” And then she squashes it, and it’s not a rose, and she says, “Fooled ya.” It’s so brilliant to me. That had been in my head for mostly the whole time that we had to use that in a prominent place, so that was a motivation as well.

Liz: I love that choice by Sam. It speaks to so much that we learned in this film about the perception of how much control Britney has and how much smarter she is than many people give her credit for. Ultimately, how she feels about things and what she might be saying is quite an interesting mystery.

What did you make of her Instagram video in which she talked about the Super Bowl? Everybody is now saying she was talking about your documentary. People are saying, “I see you, Britney, I know what you’re talking about.” What was your interpretation?

Sam: My interpretation is that Britney is an artist and she’s very creative. It’s really hard to tell what her posts mean if you’re looking for a specific meaning, but I think her posts are often incredible. It’s hard to interpret it, but it was interesting timing because it was the same weekend the documentary came out.

Liz, there’s been so much in the media about how we all need to be held accountable. Was there any talk about examining The New York Times’s own coverage of Britney throughout the years?

Liz: Yeah, obviously we don’t hold ourselves to a different standard than we hold anybody else. If you go back and look at some of the headlines, they might come off in a way that they wouldn’t be written in the same way today. Both personally and institutionally, I think there’s a lot of complicity to examine, for sure.

Sam: We boiled it down to just the tabloids because the big, glossy photo frames of the tabloids and the giant headlines is kind of in the world of the piece that we were showing you. That’s what everyone was seeing on the newsstands. But it is a good point that The New York Times is making it, and we didn’t point out our own headlines. There’s an article that Julia Jacobs wrote on The Times right now where she does talk about that and links to articles The Times wrote about Britney. But none of us were involved with that.

Have either of you ever run into Britney or had any encounters with her? Or seen her in concert?

[They both shake their heads no.]

Aside from Britney’s parents and Jamie Lynn, who else would you have liked to talk to on the record? 

Liz: So many people. Her brother, Bryan, who you see in an excerpt of an interview with, in which he talks a little about his feelings about the conservatorship. I would have loved to speak to him more about that. I think Andrew Wallet, who was the co-conservator of her estate for over a decade. I would have loved to hear from him and why he stepped down. I would have loved to hear that on the record. Kevin Federline. He was so closely involved with Britney when she was having children and having many of her public struggles. I would have loved to hear from him. So many people we would have loved to get on camera to provide their perspective.

Sam: I would have loved to talk to Jodi Montgomery, who is right now her temporary personal conservator. I’m really interested in her role.

What are the chances we get a follow-up to this documentary? I imagine there’s a lot more happening behind the scenes than we have any idea about—people reaching out to you, wanting to talk. Where do you go from here, and what do you hope comes next from an investigative perspective?

Liz: There’s so much more I think we could have included and we want to include and want to continue pursuing in Britney’s story, particularly the way in which the conservatorship has operated, both at its beginning and throughout. I think stay tuned on that front. There’s a lot we’re interested in; as journalists, we encourage anyone with any firsthand experience to reach out. We’d love to speak to anybody.

Sam: I second Liz on everything she’s said. We were all listening in on the audio of the court feed, really trying to...so we’re still interested. And people with firsthand experience, get in touch.

Liz: I would just add to that that one thing that is expected to play out next in court, according to the filings: Britney’s court-appointed counsel is expected to raise more objections to the way that Jamie, her father, has managed Britney’s money. We’re particularly interested in seeing more records unsealed and getting more transparency and details about the way he’s managed her money and the way that Britney possibly objects to that.

Sam: And the way he and the people around him have managed her money.

Liz: Yes, including business manager Lou Taylor, from Tri Star Management, who has stepped down, and other people as well.

Finally, what have you heard from Felicia Culotta, Britney’s former assistant, since the documentary aired? 

Sam: She writes text messages like Britney writes Instagram posts, with tons of emojis and exclamation points. I’ve talked to her several times through text and voice since it aired, and she was very pleased with it.

Jessica Radloff is the Glamour West Coast editor. 

Originally Appeared on Glamour