Amber Tamblyn Relates To Britney Spears’ Experience, ‘I Was Everyone’s A.T.M.’

By Jamie Samhan. Published: 26 Jun 2021 4:08 PM Last updated: 26 Jun 2021 4:14 PM

Amber Tamblyn, Britney Spears — Photo: Getty/CPImages

Amber Tamblyn feels for Britney Spears.

The “Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants” star wrote an op-ed for The New York Times about growing up in the entertainment industry, just like Spears did.

“Having seen some of the complications and consequences that come with finding fame and financial success at a young age, I can attest to how challenging this combination of factors can be to navigate, even for those with the best of intentions,” Tamblyn wrote in the piece titled “Britney Spears’ Raw Anger, And Mine”.

Tamblyn first starred in “General Hospital” at 11-years-old.

“I also know how much potential they have to turn toxic, and how vulnerable they can make a young woman,” she said. “As I made more and more money, the circle of those I supported opened up to include extended family members and friends. I was everyone’s A.T.M.: a bank that was, nonetheless, unconditionally loved. Still, as I got older, it got harder to trust the source of that love.”

Tamblyn explained her parents were basically on her “payroll” as her business managers and while they were “supportive and ethical in every way,” it affected their relationship.

“As someone who has experienced a small taste of what Britney has gone through, I know that what she has done is a profoundly radical act,” she added. “When I see her giving her testimony now, I can’t help but think back to that bald Britney in 2007, raw in her rage and tired of being everyone’s spectacle.”

Tamblyn called one of most “disturbing claims” was that Spears was forced to get an IUD which she is not allowed to remove.

“I’ve experienced my own version of this dynamic. Growing up, my weight was openly discussed by everyone, from family members to Hollywood creatives,” she continued. “I’d grin and bear it, because staying silent — and thin — meant I would get hired again; getting hired again meant people would be proud of me and that I would have the money that was needed to keep the ship afloat.”

She concluded, reminding women “that our autonomy, both bodily and fiscal, is worth fighting for. We can’t unknow her truth now — as told in her own voice, not a voice that’s been written for her, curated for her, or projected onto her. Now, it’s really up to us to listen.”