The release of the Framing Britney Spears documentary has proffered a fresh lens through which the world is understanding the exploitation suffered by female pop-stars and actors in the noughties and beyond.
The media's treatment of Spears, in particular, is retrospectively being seen as highly invasive, sexist and insensitive.
At multiple points in the documentary, we see interviewers ask inappropriate questions. When Spears was 10-years-old, for example, the host of a talent show asked if she has a boyfriend. When she was 17-years-old, an interviewer told Spears that "everyone's talking" about "[her] breasts". At 21, the popstar was asked if she was a virgin.
Watch the trailer for Framing Britney Spears here. Post continues below.
It was a sobering insight into what led to the singer's now-infamous meltdown.
But Britney Spears was not the only famous woman to suffer invasive questioning at the hands of the media.
In the wake of the documentary, Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes are two other women whose life in the spotlight is being looked at with a modern lens.
Listen to The Quicky, Mamamia's daily news podcast. Post continues below.
Now, former host of The Late Show David Letterman is receiving criticism online for his 2013 interview with Lohan, during which he made fun of her for going to rehab.
On Saturday, Twitter user Trey Taylor shared a video that has since gone viral, showing excerpts of the interview in which Letterman jokes about Lohan's drug addiction.
This Lindsay Lohan interview on David Letterman in 2013 is horrifying to watch now. pic.twitter.com/lZxKVvbVB0
— 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 (@treytylor) February 13, 2021
