In a recent episode of his SiriusXM show, Radio Andy, television personality Andy Cohen shed light on a past interview with pop icon Britney Spears, highlighting the unsettling presence of a handler who seemed to control the singer's every move. This revelation comes amid Spears' ongoing public discourse about her conservatorship, which she described as "abusive" in a 2021 court statement.
Cohen, 55, recalled the 2016 interview, which was set up as an album release party for Spears' "Glory." The intent, as explained by her then-manager Larry Rudolph, was to familiarize Spears with Cohen in hopes that she might later appear on his show, "Watch What Happens Live." Cohen shared, "I interviewed her for her album release party, I think for Glory and her manager at the time, I think it was Larry Rudolph, thought that it would be a good way for me to get to know her and then if I got to know her, maybe someday she would do Watch What Happens Live because she didn't like going on shows where she didn't know the host."
However, the interview took a bizarre turn even before it began. Cohen was warned by his friends Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, who were filming a documentary about Spears at the time, about a woman who was always by Spears' side, directing her actions. Cohen described the situation, saying, "And I get there and this woman was there and it was like Britney was her captive. She was her captor." He further elaborated on the eeriness of the situation, noting, "Now Britney mentions her by name in the book a lot and how much she hated her and I'm not gonna mention her name because I don't want to get sued, but it was really creepy."
The oddities didn't end there. During the interview, the handler whispered something into Spears' ear, to which the singer simply nodded. Additionally, in a staged moment for the cameras, Spears was presented with a birthday cake, despite her birthday being the previous month. Cohen recounted, "And I remember they brought me in to meet Britney before the interview and I was in some room and they brought Britney a birthday cake and they're like, 'Happy birthday, Britney. Surprise,' and Britney goes, 'It's not my birthday. My birthday was last month,' and I'm like, 'What are they doing?' You know and it was clearly for the cameras, and it was just all so weird."
Spears' conservatorship, which lasted for 13 years, has been a topic of intense scrutiny and public debate. Under this legal arrangement, her father, Jamie Spears, had complete control over various aspects of her life, from her finances to her personal relationships. In her memoir, Spears detailed the extent of this control, stating, "In my old life I'd had freedom: the freedom to make my own decisions, to set my own agenda, to wake up and decide how I wanted to spend the day. Once I gave up the fight, in my new life, I would wake up each morning and ask one question: 'What are we doing?' And then I would do what I was told."
The conservatorship officially ended in November 2021, and Spears has since expressed that writing her book has provided her with a sense of closure.
