Britney Spears Death and Body Double Conspiracy

Submission 22,576

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About

The Britney Spears Death and Body Double Conspiracy, also known as the Britney Spears Clone Conspiracy, refers to a conspiracy theory that claims Britney Spears died in 2009 and was replaced with a body double who hid during Spears' controversial conservatorship that led to the Free Britney Movement. Theorists on TikTok highlighted multiple 2022 videos from Spears' Instagram, highlighting apparent inconsistencies in the appearance of her tattoos and body from video to video. Many also claimed that court documents from 2009 showed Britney Spears' death certificate.

Online History

On May 30th, 2022, TikToker^[3] grace.mitscherlich posted a video in which she outlined a timeline up until that point. She mentioned that the conspiracy first surfaced in 2004 following Spears' infamous breakdown when she shaved her head. The video received roughly 713,500 plays and 45,800 likes in a year and a half (shown below, left). She posted a "Part 2" TikTok^[4] on the same day that followed up on her theory about the lyrics in Spears' song "Mona Lisa" where a purported transcription says "She's been cloned" (shown below, right).

On July 10th, 2021, TikToker^[5] grace.mitscherlich posted an update to her Britney Spears videos in which she highlighted a photograph from Spears' Instagram where her back tattoo was not visible. Spears allegedly said that she edited the tattoo out to see how it would look. The video received roughly 79,200 plays and 7,000 likes in a year and a half (shown below).

On July 25th, 2021, TikToker^[1] yourbestfriendjoshua posted a video in which he highlighted court documents from 2009 levied by Britney Spears' conservatorship, predominantly her father Jamie Spears. TikToker yourbestfriendjoshua surfaced the documents from the then-recent Free Britney Movement that aimed to make Jamie Spears step down as Britney’s conservator due to her apparent lack of basic freedoms and control over her own financial assets.^[2] TikToker yourbestfriendjoshua's video received roughly 717,900 plays and 63,500 likes in a year and a half (shown below).

In the comment section of TikToker^[1] yourbestfriendjoshua's video, TikToker sam_and_mom_929, who claimed to be a lawyer, commented, "Attorney here…. Because they used a template and someone didn’t edit it properly," earning over 990 likes in a year and a half. This comment sparked discussion, eventually leading to another attorney, TikToker spideyatlaw, writing, "It’s not uncommon to skip headers, titles and cover pages because the review is more focused on the substantive work. We are human." TikTokers either believed yourbestfriendjoshua's evidence or sam_and_mom_929's rationalization.

Going into 2022, followers of Spears' Instagram account became increasingly worried about Spears' mental health. The concern manifested most prominently in late 2022 within the comment sections of her Instagram posts. For instance, on November 20th, 2022, commenters in her Instagram^[6] post reiterated that she was dead and had been replaced (shown below, left). On November 26th, 2022, commenters in her Instagram^[7] post continued to state the sentiment (shown below, right).

Going into December 2022, TikTokers began discussing the Britney Spears conspiracy en masse, highlighting inconsistencies in her bodily appearances evident in her Instagram posts. For instance, on December 9th, 2022, TikToker^[8] trentallen90 posted a video that allegedly showed Spears' back tattoo glitching in and out, earning roughly 67,000 plays in four days (shown below).