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Britney Spears’s memoir, The Woman In Me, was by far one of the most highly anticipated books of the year, and quickly became the biggest selling celebrity memoir in history, shifting more than a million copies in its first week.
And so, less than a month after its release, it’s come as no surprise to hear that Hollywood is keen to take Britney’s story to the big screen.
Earlier this week, Page Six reported that a number of A-list heavyweights are in competition to bag the rights to Britney’s book in order to turn it into a film or TV series.
According to an inside source, hefty bids for the rights are beginning to pile up as plans for a screen adaptation of the memoir are “beginning to take shape.”
On Nov. 12, The Ankler initially reported on the rumors, publishing claims that Britney is “overwhelmed by the response” and is planning to “hold off on making any major decisions about where the rights end up until she has time to catch her breath.”
It was previously rumored that Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes — who also wrote Britney’s 2002 movie Crossroads — was first in line for the highly coveted job. However, a representative for Shonaland confirmed to Page Six this is not the case.
So, while the bidding war plays out behind the scenes, Britney’s fans have taken to social media to share their thoughts on which of the celebrity contenders might be best suited to tell her story onscreen.
Among the commentary, a lot of people have taken issue with Brad Pitt’s alleged desire to be involved, bringing up his personal and professional history.
In 2022, Brad’s production company, Plan B Entertainment Inc., was behind films like Women Talking, She Said, and the Marilyn Monroe biopic, Blonde — all of which deal with women’s stories of abuse.
Notably, after the release of She Said — which tells the true story of the New York Times journalists, Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who exposed sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein — people started raising questions about Brad’s involvement, calling it hypocritical.
In case you didn’t know, Brad has been accused of continuing to work with Harvey Weinstein, even with the knowledge that he was harassing women in Hollywood.
In another New York Times piece published in 2017, Gwyneth Paltrow claimed she told Brad about an encounter she had with Weinstein while she and Brad were dating, whereby the producer placed his hands on her in a hotel suite and suggested they “head to the bedroom for massages.”
Brad later claimed to have confronted Weinstein about his apparent behavior towards Gywneth, allegedly leading to him being blacklisted from being cast in Miramax roles. However, years later he starred in the 2009 hit movie Inglourious Basterds, which was distributed by Weinstein.
Similarly, Brad’s ex-wife Angelina Jolie said she was left “hurt” when Brad apparently approached Weinstein to be a producer on the 2012 movie Killing Them Softly, despite knowing that she’d also had a “bad experience” with him and had vowed never to work with him again.
In 2021, Angelina told the Guardian she “stayed away and warned people” about Weinstein, adding: “I never associated or worked with him again. It was hard for me when Brad did.”
Sources have denied that Brad and Weinstein worked together directly at this time, saying instead that the Weinstein Company’s distribution of the film was managed through CAA.
On top of all this, Brad has also been faced with his own abuse allegations since his divorce from Angelina, who accused him of “physically and verbally” assaulting her and their children on a private plane in 2016, days before they split.
He was cleared of any wrongdoing following the initial investigation. However, Angelina has since sued the FBI for its handling of the case, sharing more details about the alleged encounter in the process.
Brad has not commented directly on the allegations, although his lawyer, Anne Kiley, said in a statement last year that he “has owned everything he’s responsible for from day one.”
So, in light of all this context, you can probably understand why people aren’t all that happy about the prospect of Brad producing Britney’s film — with fans accusing him of “constantly throwing his name on stories about the exploitation and abuse of women” as a means of “rehabilitating” his public image.
“Brad Pitt… biopics about mistreated women are not a vehicle for you to repent or mend your public image go find something else,” one fan tweeted, calling for him to stay away from Britney’s story.
“is brad pitt really the person you want to produce the story about an abused woman?” questioned another, calling it “sick.” “cos he’s produced she said, Blonde, and Women Talking….theres a pattern to ‘rehabilitating’ his image as this feminist and harbinger of women’s stories.”
Reflecting on the films he produced in 2022, one fan accused him of always being in “women’s business,” while another echoed that he’s “the last person” who should ever be allowed to tell Britney’s story.
Well, luckily, there’s reason to believe that Britney might be likely to choose someone else — namely, Reese Witherspoon.
As reported by Page Six, Reese — whose $900 million production company, Hello Sunshine, specializes in telling women’s stories — is one of the top names in contention for the rights to Britney’s book.
Funnily enough, a number of fans have pointed out that Britney made her love for the actor known in a passage of her memoir, in which she said Reese “was a great example” to her throughout her life.
“She’s sweet and she’s nice, and she’s very smart,” Britney wrote in the book. “Once you start to see yourself that way — as not just someone who exists to make everyone else happy but someone who deserves to make their wishes known — that changes everything.”
She continued: “When I started to think that I could be, like Reese, someone who was nice but also strong, it changed my perspective on who I was.”
Reese has yet to publicly comment on the reports that she’s hoping to adapt Britney’s book, but BuzzFeed has reached out for comment and we’ll be sure to let you know when we learn more.
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