There are very, very few real-life circumstances in which the best move is to call a “welfare check” on someone.
And there are almost zero realistic scenarios where calling one on a celebrity whom you do not know is in any way acceptable.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what a group of self-styled “fans” of Britney Spears did recently.
Britney was fine … except that the police showed up at her door. And frankly, as far as these things go, she was lucky. (She’s a star)
All of this started with Britney Spears having a hard time on Instagram. This is sadly not a new thing.
Being in the public eye means a lot of weirdos will not give you a moment’s peace on social media.
And everything about salacious headlines and her conservatorship-to-freedom journey has made her a major target.
So, what did Britney do? She deactivated her Instagram. Britney has done this before when things get overwhelming.
There are cases where an abruptly deactivated social media account can be a genuine bad sign. For example, it can happen with children in abusive households. It can also happen with people who are at risk of suicide.
But Britney has done this before. She just needed a break from the platform. So it’s not big deal. Right?
It’s a huge deal … if you’re hysterical, desperate to involve yourself in someone else’s story, and don’t mind causing problems on purpose.
Unfortunately, there are people who match this exact description. And some of them claim to be “fans” of Britney.
In the wake of Britney’s latest Instagram deactivation, some ostensibly well-meaning individuals decided to call the police.
“We asked Ventura county police for a wellness check,” the video announced. Yes, it was on Instagram Live.
Here’s a tip: if you are genuinely concerned for someone’s well-being and you are not chasing clout … don’t livestream your phone call.
We know that there are social media pressures that drive people to take harmful actions for views. These pressures do not excuse the behavior.
So, what happened next?
Even though these individuals do not actually know Britney or have any real-life reason to believe that her safety was in peril, they managed to convince authorities to do a “wellness check.”
What is that? Well, contrary to what the name would imply, it’s when police show up at your house. For many people, it’s terrifying. For some, it’s deadly.
Seriously — you can find headline after headline, even if way too many journalists write “wellness check leads to shooting” as if the police officer were just a witness somehow.
People call “wellness checks” on relatives, on coworkers, and more. And sometimes, the result is that a person — whether they were just fine or needed help — ends up gunned down in their own home.
It’s not quite the same as swatting someone, but a wellness check can become a death sentence.
Fortunately for Britney, she is white, rich, famous, and lives in an affluent community. Police are statistically less likely to murder her in her own home.
And they did not. But they did, however, show up at her house at nearly midnight.
That is scary. It can also be annoying and invasive.
TMZ now reports that Britney felt “annoyed” by the intrusion. However, their sources say that it was not entirely surprising.
Britney has been dealing with this kind of nonsense for a very long time — which is downright tragic.
Police then went on to confirm that yes, Britney is perfectly fine.
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