Behind the Britney Story: A Conversation With Writer Jenny Eliscu

Rolling Stone contributing editor Jenny Eliscu first interviewed Britney Spears in RS 877, when the pop star appeared on her third cover. Here Eliscu talks about the changes she's seen in Britney over the years, and what it was like getting access to the singer for her new story, Britney Returns.

When did you first meet Britney?
It was in summer of 2001. She had just moved into a new house in the Hollywood Hills and she was decorating it with her mom. She was dating Justin at the time. We went into her bedroom, and in the walk-in closet there was a shirt that was obviously Justin's. It was a cowboy shirt. It was hanging by itself — I looked at it and I remember thinking, "That's Justin's! He must sleep over here!" And she was very down-to-earth and friendly and silly — I was charmed by her immediately. She was easy to be around. She was just in jeans and a T-shirt and her eyeliner was from last night — which always seems to be the case with Britney. We went to the studio together, and she was working with producer B.T. She got in the booth and sang, and it was surprisingly effortless for her.

How would you compare the girl then to the girl now?
What's most different was the experience. I had interviewed her a handful of times since that first story, and we'd even talked about doing a book together a couple years ago. I mean, she used to send me Christmas cards and thank-you notes and stuff. Which, by the way, is super rare for anyone to do after you've written about them. Given all this background, I was really suprised by the restrictions on my access to her. I was like,"'What's the problem here?" That made me immediately uncomfortable. So to answer your question is tough, because compared to my previous experiences with her, this one was so much more micro-managed. I saw her several times over the course of September and October, but I was only allowed to speak with her on two of those occasions. My impressions are based on the very limited constraints that were put on us. That said, the first time I saw her on this story, my first impression was that she looked great. She looked like Britney. But there was much more of a sense of "can we get this over with" and her manager had to sit in. It wasn't possible to engage with her in the ways I was used to, both in my past interviews with her and compared to what it's normally like in general to talk in-depth with a subject.

You've heard her quote from the documentary Britney: For the Record about how she feels like a prisoner. Did you get that vibe from her?
The thing is, when I met with her, I wasn't looking for that. I had started to feel uncomfortable with all the restrictions, like submitting my questions for approval and not being left alone with her. And whenever I asked who was making these rules, I was told it had to do with the conservatorship. Like most people, I didn't know much about conservatorships or how they're supposed to work. Of course, the funny coincidence is that the most famous conservatorship in recent years isn't even Britney's: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were being run by a government conservatorship. And we see how brilliantly that turned out.

Anyway, I had done some preliminary research into it, but I was not yet aware how hard Britney had tried to fight it initially and why. As my research progressed, it started to become clear to me that this might not be something that should still be in place. Because it is designed, ideally, to protect people who are seriously ill. We're talking about people who are non compos mentis, according to the lawyers I consulted. Or they're in a vegetative state. Or they're just so old that they can't take care of themselves anymore. But Britney? It was making less and less sense as time went on.