Sunny Hostin Questions Britney Spears’ Post-Conservatorship Life On ‘The View’: “Is She Still Suffering? Sometimes I Wonder”

The View continues to dissect the latest news on Wendy Williams as the talk show host and radio personality’s diagnosis and documentary dominate headlines. On this morning’s episode, the panel discussed the release of part two of the Lifetime doc Where Is Wendy Williams?, which chronicles the star’s health struggles and life under a financial guardianship.

During the discussion, both Sara Haines and Sunny Hostin mentioned Britney Spears, who was similarly placed under a 13-year conservatorship. While Spears’ conservatorship was lifted in 2021 after she struggled for years to end it, Williams has now been living under a guardianship for two years.

Haines said Where Is Wendy Williams? “highlights a problem we first saw with Britney Spears,” admitting that she learned about the potential issues posed by unjust conservatorships “when Britney Spears went through it.”

During her conservatorship, Spears alleged she was not allowed to remove her IUD, was forced to take medication and was taken advantage of financially, among other claims. Williams — who has been diagnosed with dementia and aphasia — has not publicly spoken out against her guardianship, but her family has been vocal about their efforts to free her.

When it was Hostin’s turn to share her take, she called Williams a friend after working with her on her radio show, and confessed it was “very painful” for her to watch Where Is Wendy Williams?

Hostin reminded viewers that Williams signed on to film the doc “before she was incapacitated” and wanted to create a project “about her comeback,” before noting, “She is in the guardianship, her family clearly loves her … They want to get closer to her.”

Citing a stat from Williams’ doc that 90% of people under guardianships never get out, Hostin remarked, “That’s a system that may be broken.”

When Haines said the documentary demonstrated how Williams “was better … at times” when she was with her family instead of with her guardian, Hostin mentioned Spears’ case.

The legal analyst said she was “horrified” to learn of Spears’ conservatorship and joined the #FreeBritney movement to fight for the pop star’s control over her own life. She then told the panel, “We’ve seen a free Britney now out of the conservatorship. Is she still suffering? Sometimes I wonder. It seems that she is still suffering.”

Haines interjected, “Suffering is going to be inevitable. It’s whether she’s capable of making decisions in her life,” but Hostin asked, “And is she capable? Because we’ve seen some things that have happened that’s questionable.”

While fans have expressed concern for Spears in multiple instances since her conservatorship ended in 2021, she has repeatedly insisted she is OK.

“Since everyone thinks they know my story. THINK AGAIN !!!” she wrote on Instagram last year. “Nope I’m not having a breakdown … I am who I am and moving forward in my life. I have never felt better !!!”

The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.