'I think she is so smart, so capable. She should absolutely be free to live her life,' the actress tells ET.
Ariel Winter fully supports Britney Spears and her ongoing battle to end her conservatorship.
In a new interview with ET, the 23-year-old actress opens up about why she's team #FreeBritney, one year after publicly calling out the singer's father/conservator of her estate, Jamie Spears, on social media. Though Winter has never been in a conservatorship herself, she fought her own family battles at a young age and was victorious when she was legally emancipated in 2015.
"I support Britney. I think Britney is incredible. Her story's incredibly moving. I listened to her testimony," Winter told ET's Katie Krause, referring to the speech Britney gave while addressing the court on June 23. "I think she is so smart, so capable. She should absolutely be free to live her life, be in control of her life, in control of herself. I think it's absurd that this is the situation that she has to be in. I think the justice system, unfortunately, is corrupt."
"I feel for her. I hope she gets to be in control of her life, her situation, everything, as soon as possible," she added. "I truly hope that people who have kept her away from doing that do suffer some sort of consequences, because she deserves all the happiness, the freedom, the love and the control of her life that she should have."
Last July, Winter urged her fans via Instagram Stories to educate themselves on Britney's conservatorship battle, sharing a post with information about the restrictions the pop star is under and the #FreeBritney movement. "What her 'father' and team is doing to her is absolutely disgusting and devastating," the Modern Family star wrote at the time. "Please read and share."
"It's hard to speak on anyone else's situation," Winter told ET. "I wish that she would have been able to be free from her situation sooner ... I hope that things do change and get better for her as soon as possible."
As for Winter's own personal life, she said she's "doing quite well" right now, but admitted that just like everyone else, she struggled a bit during the coronavirus pandemic. She told ET that she started trauma therapy within the past year, something that's "been really difficult" but will have a "positive" impact in time.
"The pandemic was hard. For some, harder than others" she said. "It's devastating to see the effect it's had on a lot of people, especially mental healthwise. For me, I'm very fortunate. I've been in therapy twice a week for eight years. It's the best part of my week."
"I'm on medication. I think it's important to fully normalize mental health and the use of mental health medications," she added. "So, I've tried to share that with my followers. I don't particularly like the fame aspect of the industry. I don't like getting my picture taken when I didn't consent to get my picture taken. I like to have a bit of a private life, so I try to keep that, as well. But, I do want people to know that life is difficult for everyone in general."
Winter has also been keeping herself busy with her new venture with GoKidGo and R.L. Stine's Story Club, which she describes as "a podcast network for children that created a first of its kind, Avengers-like universe, repeating characters and storylines." Winter is the voice of the new podcast Ivy's Chilling Tales.
"Basically, kids can listen to a variety of podcasts that are engaging and creative and fun for everyone," she shared. "It's only been out for a few weeks, but we have several thousand subscribers, growing every day. So anyone who's watching this, please subscribe to R.L. Stine's Story Club, free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, everywhere else podcasts are!"
RELATED CONTENT:
