Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Iranian State Media Is Now Going After Britney Spears


CT Jones
Tue, October 18, 2022 

Britney Spears Announces New Las Vegas Residency At Park Theater 
- Credit: Gabe Ginsberg/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Iran’s state sponsored media, the Islamic Republic News Agency, has turned their focus from state propaganda to U.S. icon Britney Spears. After Spears tweeted her support for the Iranian citizens currently protesting the country’s morality police, the IRNA shot back on Twitter by mentioning Spears’ years-long conservatorship. “American singer Britney Spears was placed under her father’s conservatorship in 2008 due to her mental health problems,” the organization tweeted. “That gave Britney’s father control over her finances and even her personal life aspects such as pregnancy, remarriage and visits to her teenage sons.” The IRNA’s tweet, and media response, is part of an ongoing (and failing) strategy to drown out widespread support for Iran’s nationwide protests.

The current protests center around the September death of 22-year-old activist Mahsa Amini. Amini was arrested by Iran’s morality police in Tehran under claims that she was not properly clothed in the required religious headscarf and modest dress. She died in police custody. Following news of her detainment and subsequent death, Amini’s family spoke out, claiming that the young girl was beaten to death by police. The IRNA has continued to deny the claim and assert the girl had a heart attack, even as Amini’s death has sparked some of the biggest nationwide protests in years.

Earlier this year, Spears married Iranian-American actor and model Sam Asghari. Since the protests began, the couple has been extremely vocal about their political beliefs, including her support for the Iranian protestors. “Me & my husband stand with the people of Iran fighting for freedom,” Spears tweeted on Sunday.

The IRNA didn’t even have the decency to quote-tweet the “Baby One More Time” singer, instead screenshotting the tweet to include a user’s response that read “Nice tweet. Can you manage your own money yet?”



The IRNA’s tweet was accompanied with the hashtag #MahsaAmini. The late activist’s name has been used as a rallying cry for the ongoing protests against the country’s morality police. In the past month, IRNA’s social media accounts have continued to use the hashtag to populate pro-protest online spaces with government narratives.

The organization seems to be taking some inspiration from the recent popularity of comedic government accounts. Since the start of the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Ukraine’s official twitter account has taken a comfortable approach to social media, tweeting out memes and clapbacks in between serious videos and articles surrounding the conflict. And this isn’t the first time the IRNA have pushed back against big name support for the protestors. Last week, the organization posted a meme claiming that international superstar Shakira was ignoring police violence against women in the United States and Saudi Arabia, continuing to assert that Amini died of a heart attack instead of police brutality.



But their attempted comedic media response has been unable to break through a wave of celebrity support for the Iranian protests. Stars like Bella Hadid, Justin Bieber, Olivia Coleman, Angelina Jolie, and even Jake Paul have spoken out against accounts of police brutality against protestors and called for wider awareness of the Iranian movement. And in the country, Iran’s protests continue to grow. In the past week, hundreds of children have joined the protestors ranks and the cries of “Women, Life, Freedom,” have inspired potential sanctions from the European Union — demonstrating that even with the organization’s pithy comments about pop stars, international support and the voices of hundreds of thousand of Iranian protestors continue to ring out louder.

Britney Spears Issues Message Of Support For Iranians 'Fighting For Freedom'

Britney Spears has voiced her support for protesters in Iran fighting for women’s rights.

“Me & my husband stand with the people of Iran fighting for freedom,” she tweeted on Sunday.

The pop star’s husband, Iranian-American model Sam Asghari, has been speaking out about the deadly demonstrations since last month, when Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, died in the custody of morality police in Tehran. Amini was arrested for improperly wearing her hijab. According to witnesses, she was beaten severely by police upon her arrest.

Her death sparked nationwide protests against the government and its authoritarian religious regime mandating strict dress codes for women. Human rights groups estimate more than 200 people have been killed in the demonstrations.

“Me & My Queen stand with the people of Iran. Keep fighting,” Asghari wrote on Sunday, sharing his wife’s post.

Last month, Asghari shared an impassioned message on Instagram about the protests, calling the Iranian government the “biggest terrorist for its own people.”

“The biggest protest for basic human rights in Iran is happening as we speak. We’ve seen videos of people getting murdered and slaughtered on the streets, innocent people,” he said, urging followers to share what’s happening in the country.

Widespread internet outages have made it difficult for protesters to communicate with the rest of the world, and Iranian authorities have detained dozens of journalists since the unrest began, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Many protesters have begged social media users to spread the word about what’s going on in Iran.

Spears married Asghari in June, around seven months after she was released from a conservatorship that put strict limits on her personal and financial freedoms for more than 13 years.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.



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