title: The Game Awards 2018

text: "God of War" and "Red Dead Redemption 2" received eight nominations each, the most in Game Awards history at the time. At the show, "Red Dead Redemption 2" tied for the highest-awarded game in the show's history with four wins, and "God of War" was awarded Game of the Year. Several new games were revealed, including "Far Cry New Dawn", "Hades", and "The Outer Worlds". In association with the event, sales were held on most digital storefronts for nominees and former winners. The 2018 was viewed by over 26.2 million streams, the most in its history to date, with four million concurrent viewers at its peak. It received a generally positive reception from media publications, with praise directed at the opening speech and announcements but some criticism for the focus on reveals over awards.


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: As with previous iterations of The Game Awards, the show was hosted and produced by Canadian games journalist Geoff Keighley. He returned as an executive producer alongside Kimmie Kim, and Richard Preuss and LeRoy Bennett returned as director and creative director, respectively. Keighley began working on The Game Awards 2018 immediately after the previous ceremony by conducting a postmortem and booking the Microsoft Theater. He shifted into full work in July 2018 following E3. He spent months traveling to studios around the world to secure announcements and trailers, and meeting with developers to discuss how to reveal their games; he spent July and August meeting with distribution partners in China and visiting ten game studios (including FromSoftware, Kojima Productions, and PlatinumGames) in Japan, followed by some time in Europe. He visited Rockstar Games's New York headquarters in September to discuss how to represent "Red Dead Redemption 2" at the show.


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: The core team working on the show throughout the year consists of four or five people. The budget for 2018, determined in July, was several million dollars; Keighley personally funded the show while raising money from publishers and sponsors. Concepts were being considered by August, including the involvement of Hans Zimmer, who was originally involved in the previous show but dropped out due to other commitments. Keighley began to book presenters in October, having secured developers such as Josef Fares and Jeff Kaplan by mid-month; he spoke to Peter Jackson about a collaboration but it fell through. For the 2018 ceremony, the production team focused on stage lighting for immersion. Once the team approved Bennett's designs in September, they turned to the budgeting phase, where ideas were often cut. In late October, eleven members of the production team moved into a four-building office complex in Santa Monica, transitioning from virtual meetings; hundreds of people ultimately contributed to the production by December.


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: Keighley estimated he worked on the show for around 18 hours each day from August to November, and 19 hours for the final month. Kim felt she had a yin and yang dynamic with Keighley. She worried he would spend too much time concerned about minute details; Keighley agreed, noting he enjoyed the work and does not regret it but wanted to employ more people in future to shift his focus. Kim aimed for the show to be around 80 or 90 percent completed before Thanksgiving in November, when the team took a week off. To maintain secrecy, a security crew supervised rehearsals. Keighley kept secrets from his team and senior production members only learned of some announcements in the days before the show; trailers were only listed under code names with expected durations. Keighley wrote most of his own scripts, while Gabe Uhr and Kyle Bosman wrote for the presenters. During rehearsals, Keighley remained close to the Microsoft Theater by staying at the Ritz Carlton hotel across the street.


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: The show was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on December 6, 2018. It was live streamed globally across more than 45 digital services. Tencent's Stephen Ma joined the awards as an advisor; the ceremony was live on more than 15 platforms in China. The ceremony began with a group speech by Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aimé, PlayStation's Shawn Layden, and Xbox's Phil Spencer. Keighley had wanted to gather the three leaders since the show's inception in 2014 as he felt it was a metaphor for bringing the industry together. While all three leaders personally agreed to the speech, it took several months of negotiations before confirmation; Keighley felt it had "fallen apart" in the days before the show but "magically it came back together" in time. The Game Awards Orchestra opened the show with its new theme song, an original composition by its conductor Lorne Balfe, who had worked with Keighley on the Spike Video Game Awards. He wrote the piece to represent Keighley's work and the general gaming community. Balfe suggested Zimmer and Harry Gregson-Williams perform alongside "Celeste" composer Lena Raine and "Anthem" composer Sarah Schachner to illustrate the industries of film, television, and video games combined. Schachner worried how "Anthem"s score would translate to an orchestral performance but, after arranging a shortened version of the game's theme, found "it started falling into place". For the Game of the Year medley, Balfe was forced to wait until the nominees were determined in mid-November; immediately after the announcement, the production team began contacting studios for the game soundtracks.


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: During the event, sales on some nominated and previously-winning games were held on the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Store, Steam, and Xbox Games Store. Announcements on recently released and upcoming games were made for:


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: Keighley was contacted by Supergiant Games's Greg Kasavin and Amir Rao after the 2017 ceremony; they met at the D.I.C.E. Summit in February 2018 and pitched the reveal and early access launch of "Hades". The "Mortal Kombat 11" reveal was in the works for almost a year. The developers of "The Last Night" were in contact with Keighley to show the game but were forced to pull out a month or two prior due to a publisher dispute.


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: The nominees for The Game Awards 2018 were announced on November 13, 2018; the announcement received more traffic than anticipated, with five times more visitors than usual, crashing the website for several hours. Any game released on or before November 16, 2018 was eligible for consideration. The nominees were compiled by a jury panel with members from 69 media outlets globally. Winners were determined between the jury (90 percent) and public votes (10 percent); the latter was held via the official website and on social media platforms and technologies such as Amazon Alexa, Bilibili, Discord, Facebook Messenger, Google Assistant, and Twitter. Votes held on the official website and shared on social media were given an additional 10 percent weighting in the fan vote calculation. More than 10.5 million votes were registered, a 50 percent increase over the previous year.


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: The Trending Gamer award from previous shows was effectively split into two: Content Creator of the Year for those creating new and innovative video game content, such as live streamers and video creators; and the Global Gaming Citizens program, to recognize honorees improving their communities through video games. Additional esports awards were added for the 2018 show. Submissions for Best Student Game were open in September and October. They were judged by a panel of industry members including Jenova Chen, Todd Howard, Hideo Kojima, and Vince Zampella.


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: "God of War" and "Red Dead Redemption 2" both received eight nominations each, the most in the show's history at the time. Other games with multiple nominations included "Marvel's Spider-Man" with seven, and "Assassin's Creed Odyssey", "Celeste", and "Fortnite" with four each. Sony Interactive Entertainment had 20 total nominations, more than any other publisher, followed by Rockstar Games with eight and Square Enix and Ubisoft with seven each.


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: "Red Dead Redemption 2" received the most awards with four wins, tying for the highest-awarded game in the show's history to date. "God of War" won three awards, while "Celeste" and "Fortnite" won two. Rockstar Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment were the most successful publishers, with four wins each, while Epic Games and Maddy Makes Games won two.


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or introduced trailers. All other awards were presented by Keighley. Aisha Tyler was announced as a presenter but she was forced to drop out to film for "Criminal Minds".


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: "VentureBeat"s Dean Takahashi felt the nominations success of "God of War" and "Red Dead Redemption 2" demonstrated "the power of long development cycles with huge teams"; the games took seven and eight years to develop, respectively. BBC's Louise Blain found the amount of single-player nominees "refreshing" following discussions of ongoing games being the future of the industry. Some journalists were pleasantly surprised by "Celeste"s Game of the Year nomination. "Den of Geek"s Matthew Byrd observed a lack of variety in the nominees but considered them all high quality; he described Best Independent Game as "a stacked category" though noted "Celeste" was guaranteed to win due to its Game of the Year nomination.


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: Several journalists highlighted the shared speech of Fils-Aimé, Layden, and Spencer as a highlight of the ceremony; "Destructoid"s Chris Hinton wrote it "absolutely bolstered the image of The Game Awards". "VentureBeat"s Takahashi praised the show for its surprises and wrote it demonstrates "gaming's bright future". He was pleasantly surprised by "God of War"s Game of the Year win, though noted he personally voted for "Red Dead Redemption 2", and said his favorite moment was Christopher Judge imitating his performance as Kratos on stage to Sunny Suljic, who portrayed Kratos's son Atreus. "Push Square"s Sammy Barker wrote the show was "very close" to hitting its ceiling and praised the blend of celebration and announcements.


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: "Shacknews" staff found the show an improvement over previous years, particularly in its presentation and professionalism, though "God of War"s win polarized the crew. "Kotaku"s Heather Alexandra found SonicFox's acceptance speech among the most heartfelt moments of the show. "Destructoid"s CJ Andriessen criticized the show's heavier focus on announcements than awards, noting trailers received more screen time than winners. "The Verge"s Megan Farokhmanesh highlighted the show's problematic winners, such as Ninja's use of racial expletives and refusal to stream with women and "Red Dead Redemption 2"s use of crunch practices.


title: The Game Awards 2018

text: The Game Awards 2018 was the most-viewed ceremony to date. Over 26.2 million streams were used to view the show, an increase of 128 percent from the 2017 ceremony's 11.5 million. At its peak, the show had over four million concurrent viewers, including 1.13 million on Twitch. The stream on Twitter had 1.3 times as many unique viewers as the previous year. The show was the top worldwide trend on Twitter; the use of the hashtag #TheGameAwards increased 1.6 times over the previous show, and the overall conversation increased 1.9 times. On Weibo, the 310,000 unique posts related to the awards received more than 56 million views. Over 3,300 Twitch users co-streamed the show, an increase of 140 percent.


title: Karren Brady

text: Karren Rita Brady, Baroness Brady, (born 4 April 1969) is a British business executive and television personality. She is a former managing director of Birmingham City F.C. and current vice-chairman of West Ham United F.C., and an aide to Alan Sugar on "The Apprentice". She is a Conservative member of the House of Lords and has been a Small Business Ambassador to the UK Government.


title: Karren Brady

text: Her appointment with Birmingham City began in March 1993, when she was 23. In 2002 she became the first woman to hold such a post in the top flight of English football when the team was promoted. She oversaw the company's flotation in 1997, thus becoming the youngest managing director of a UK plc. She left in 2009. In January 2010 she was appointed vice-chairwoman of West Ham United following Sullivan and Gold's purchasing of the club. Brady is a regular writer for the "Woman & Home" magazine and "The Sun". She has also published four books including two novels. Her most recent book, "Strong Woman", published in March 2012 and aimed at inspiring women in business, was a "Sunday Times" Bestseller. On 22 September 2014, Brady was elevated to the House of Lords as a Conservative life peer, taking the title Baroness Brady.


title: Karren Brady

text: On 17 July 2017, she was appointed by Sir Philip Green to chairman of Taveta, owners of the Arcadia Group.


title: Karren Brady

text: Brady was brought up in Edmonton, London, and the family house was near the Tottenham Hotspur football ground. Her Irish father, Terry Brady, had made his fortune in printing and property development. Her mother, Rita, is Italian, and she has an older brother, Darren. She attended Salcombe Preparatory School in Southgate until she was 11, followed by Poles Convent, a boarding school in Ware, Hertfordshire, and Aldenham School, Elstree, a boys' school which accepted girls in the sixth form, where she gained four A-levels.


title: Karren Brady

text: Brady's career began as a trainee at the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi having been rejected for a place on a journalism course at Harlow College. Despite the course rejection, Brady said in a 2018 interview that she made a conscious decision not to go to university, as she was keen to get out in the world and make her mark. A year later, on joining the London Broadcasting Company (LBC) as an advertising account executive, she targeted the advertising business of one of her father's largest clients, publisher David Sullivan, owner of the "Daily Sport" and the "Sunday Sport". Sullivan spent more than £2,000,000 on advertising in six months and was so impressed with Brady that he gave her a job.


title: Karren Brady

text: Sullivan offered her a job with Sport Newspapers, and she became one of his directors at the age of 20. While in Sullivan's employ, Brady spotted an advert in the "Financial Times" for the sale of Birmingham City F.C. when the club was in receivership and persuaded Sullivan to buy it and let her run it. When Sullivan commented that she would have to be twice as good as a man to do that, Brady replied quickly: ""Well that's not difficult."" Sullivan later commented that he agreed to the deal because such a young, female director would attract publicity to the club, and also because Brady was a “sacker”. Brady was 23 when she started work as managing director of Birmingham City F.C. in March 1993. She encountered sexism in the role. The first time she got on the team bus, a player said ""I can see your tits from here"". Brady replied “"When I sell you to Crewe, you won't be able to see them from there will you?"" She sold the player shortly afterwards.


title: Karren Brady

text: In 2008, Sullivan and Brady were arrested by City of London Police, interviewed and released on bail as part of the investigation into the 2006 allegations of corruption in English football, which also involved similar actions against players and officials from other clubs; club chairman David Gold was interviewed as a witness. The club stated that no charges had been brought and that Brady denied any wrongdoing. The investigation involved tax and national insurance offences relating to two players. Gold said that it was ""utterly wrong that this highly professional businesswoman has been made a victim in a witch-hunt against football"". In August 2009 it was confirmed that no further action would be taken. She left Birmingham City two months later after Sullivan and Gold sold the club to Carson Yeung for £81.5 million. The same month she was appointed as a non-executive director to the England 2018 World Cup bid advisory board.


title: Karren Brady

text: In January 2010, she was appointed Vice-Chairman of West Ham United by new Joint-Chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold. Writing in her newspaper column Brady said "To West Ham fans I'll make a single pledge – while we are on the board, we will hang in the Tower of London before your club again goes through the financial turmoil which so nearly brought it down". Brady said she liked the idea of changing the club's name to West Ham Olympic. David Gold subsequently said that the club would always be West Ham United under his chairmanship but "What you might do is call the stadium West Ham Olympic stadium. I can make a case for that." Brady was responsible for negotiating a move on behalf of West Ham United from their Boleyn Ground to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London. Initially the intention was for West Ham to take ownership of the stadium, this bid collapsing in October 2011 following a legal delay caused by a rival bid by Tottenham Hotspur. Investigators working on behalf of Tottenham were subsequently charged with fraud for obtaining illegally the private telephone records of Brady. In December 2012, West Ham were announced as the highest ranked bidder to become the anchor concessionaire and tenant of the Olympic Stadium. Of the move Brady said ""We are ambitious for our great club and aim to set the benchmark for visiting away and neutral supporters from across the globe to come and enjoy the iconic Stadium and be part of our Premier League club experience"".


title: Karren Brady

text: West Ham United were named as anchor concessionaires for the Olympic Stadium on 23 March 2013. In July 2013, Brady gave evidence before a House of Lords committee, where she said the club has debts of £70m that would need to be paid before the proposed move to the Olympic Stadium in 2016. Brady oversaw the club's move from the Boleyn Ground to the Olympic Stadium in the summer of 2016. Subsequently renamed as London Stadium, the move saw West Ham United increase their capacity from 35,000 to 57,000 seats – which were completely sold out before the start of the 2016–17 campaign, giving the Club the third biggest home attendance in the Premier League. Following the move to the Olympic Stadium, some supporters who wanted to stay at Upton Park targeted verbal abuse towards Brady and other board members during crowd disturbances during West Ham's home 2–4 defeat to Watford on 10 September 2016. In October 2016, Brady received further criticism after describing West Ham's move to the London Stadium as "a chance to rebrand the club". Brady later clarified her comments, made at the Leaders Sport Business Summit, and went on to describe West Ham's move to the new stadium as "part of our ambitious strategy to take our Club to the very top of the world’s most-popular sport."


title: Karren Brady

text: Brady has also been the chairman of Bauer's Kerrang!, and had a seat on the board of Sport England. She was a non-executive director of Channel 4 television but resigned to take a position at Syco, the company jointly owned by Simon Cowell and Sony. In September 2010 she joined the board of Taveta Investments Ltd. with Sir Philip Green, resigning from a non-executive position with Mothercare where she had been for seven years. She is an Ambassador for Barclays Life skills, which aims to offer young people workplace experience. She is also the Patron of the Life After Stroke Awards and an Ambassador for Well Being for Women.


title: Karren Brady

text: Brady has long been renowned for championing the cause of women in business. She has repeatedly called upon her fellow female professionals to help those trying to make their way in the business world. She explained in this Guardian column: “Any board executive can forget just how many people helped them get where they are. Those women who have got to the top need actively to ensure there is a pipeline of younger women, whether by networking or mentoring, who in turn is encouraging those below them. Women in the boardroom must not forget how many challenges and difficulties we have overcome, and we should share our coping strategies.


title: Karren Brady

text: “It is critical to create opportunities to identify talented women in business, then support them to develop their confidence to aim for the boardroom. We need to look outside the corporate mainstream, at female entrepreneurs and self-employed businesswomen, who can inject different insights and diversity to any board.”


title: Karren Brady

text: Similarly, Brady famously told the Independent: "If you don't have a woman on your board you should write to your shareholders and explain why. Tell us how many women you've interviewed and what skills they've been lacking, because that will give us some basis to teach the new generation of women in business."


title: Karren Brady

text: Brady was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to entrepreneurship and women in business.


title: Karren Brady

text: In March 2007, Brady appeared as a celebrity contestant on "Comic Relief Does The Apprentice" and was team leader for the girls' team, raising more than £750,000 for Comic Relief. In June 2008, Brady was a guest interviewer in series four of "The Apprentice" – interviewing the final five. After the show, it was revealed that Brady had fulfilled a promise she made to Lord Alan Sugar on screen, and offered a job to Claire Young, who finished as runner-up in the series, after being impressed by her interview. In 2009 she interviewed candidates again in The Apprentice Season 5, as seen on BBC 1.


title: Karren Brady

text: On 30 August 2009, she was revealed as Sugar's new assistant in the sixth series of The Apprentice, replacing Margaret Mountford, who had left the series (and who returned in series 6, 7, 8 and 9 as a guest interviewer, the same role that Brady had fulfilled in her first appearance in the main UK apprentice series).


title: Karren Brady

text: Brady hinted that she would be interested in a career in politics in the future during an interview with "The Daily Telegraph" in March 2013. In an interview with "The Daily Telegraph", Margot James, MP, said: "I think she'd be a great asset. I have a great respect for her success in business.". The feature also suggested that Brady should be made a peer to bring more women into politics and to resolve the UK's financial problems. ‘But Baroness Brady would be able to make an invaluable contribution to both business and politics. David Cameron should give her a peerage without delay – and she should accept it.’ On 30 September 2013, Brady addressed the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester on the subjects of small businesses and supporting George Osborne's policies as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and she was also appointed the government's Small Business Ambassador.


title: Karren Brady

text: On 8 August 2014, it was reported that Brady would become a Conservative life peer in the House of Lords. On 22 September 2014 she was created Baroness Brady, "of Knightsbridge in the City of Westminster". On 26 October 2015, Brady was involved in a controversial House of Lords vote over proposed cuts to tax credits, voting with the Government in favour of the plan.


title: Karren Brady

text: In February 2019, "the Daily Telegraph" reported that she was facing questioning about her role in non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) relating to allegations of misbehaviour on the part of the businessman Philip Green.


title: Karren Brady

text: In 1995, Brady married Canadian footballer Paul Peschisolido, who played for Birmingham City for two seasons, 1992–93 and 1993–94. In 1996, she had her first child, a girl named Sophia. She had around six weeks off work after the birth of her second child, a boy named Paolo. Brady lives in the Knightsbridge area of London with her husband. They also have a property in the village of Knowle in the West Midlands and her husband own a house in Canada.


title: Karren Brady

text: In 2006, Brady underwent a full-body MRI scan as part of a medical screen, which unexpectedly discovered a potentially fatal cerebral aneurysm. Doctors told Brady at the time that she had a 30 per cent chance of dying from the condition, and that it was a miracle that she had survived the births of her two children. In February 2006, she underwent urgent neurosurgery to prevent the aneurysm from rupturing. She made a full recovery, and was back at work about one month later.


title: Karren Brady

text: Despite claims that Brady is a supporter of Arsenal, she states on her official website that her footballing loyalties have only ever been with the two clubs she has represented.


title: Bad Sisters (TV series)

text: Bad Sisters (originally titled Emerald) is an Irish black comedy television series developed by Sharon Horgan, Dave Finkel, and Brett Baer. Set in Dublin and filmed on location in Ireland, it is based on the Flemish series "Clan", which was created by Malin-Sarah Gozin. The first two episodes aired on 19 August 2022. Apple TV+ renewed the series for a second season on 8 November 2022.


title: Bad Sisters (TV series)

text: The five Garvey sisters—Eva, Grace, Ursula, Bibi, and Becka—live in present-day Dublin. After Grace's abusive, controlling husband John Paul dies unexpectedly, the sisters find themselves at the center of a life insurance investigation. The series flips between timelines—one before John Paul's death, in which Grace's sisters plot to murder their brother-in-law, and another after his death, in which a determined insurance agent tries to prove the sisters' malicious involvement to save his struggling business.


title: Bad Sisters (TV series)

text: In September 2021, it was officially announced Sharon Horgan would co-write, produce and star in what was then titled "Emerald" for Apple TV+ as developed by her production company Merman. Malin-Sarah Gozin, the creator of the series' inspiration "Clan", joined the project as an executive producer alongside Bert Hamelinck and Michael Sagol for the Belgian Caviar Films. Other producers were Faye Dorn and Clelia Mountford for Merman as well as Brett Baer and Dave Finkel. The series was created as part of Horgan's Apple TV+ deal.


title: Bad Sisters (TV series)

text: The cast was initially believed to include Assaad Bouab, Eve Hewson, and Brendan Gleeson in early reports. The cast was later confirmed in March 2022, with Anne-Marie Duff, Eva Birthistle, and Sarah Greene, and Hewson set to star alongside Horgan. Claes Bang, Brian Gleeson, Daryl McCormack, Bouab, and Saise Quinn complete the ensemble.


title: Bad Sisters (TV series)

text: Principal photography took place in 2021. Cast and crew were reported filming in and around Dublin at locations such as Sandycove, the Forty Foot, Howth, and Malahide in August. They would also film in Belfast.


title: Bad Sisters (TV series)

text: The title sequence depicts a physical Rube Goldberg style machine made from dangerous objects and props from the show that foreshadow narrative elements in the main storyline. The sequence was mostly hand-made, designed and made by Peter Anderson Studio. The theme music is a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Who by Fire" performed by PJ Harvey.


title: Bad Sisters (TV series)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8.2/10, based on 52 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Dark secrets are a family affair in "Bad Sisters", a riotously funny murder mystery that makes fine use of its gifted ensemble while exemplifying creator and star Sharon Horgan's penchant for salty warmth." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 79 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews". IndieWire graded it "B" and says:


title: Bad Sisters (TV series)

text: Aside from a few minor red herrings, “Bad Sisters” sets a trajectory and sticks to it for much of the run. As a dramedy of errors, “Bad Sisters” doesn’t always feel like the freshest or most elegant execution. But as a family showcase, the engine is there to power this show through an ordeal of any length.


title: Bad Sisters (TV series)

text: ...it’s a bit of an oddity — easy to breeze through but a little too mordant to be sincere, a little too heavy to be hilarious, a little too sour to be purely fun.<ref name="hollywoodreporter/1235196409"></ref>


title: Bad Sisters (TV series)

text: The setup of Bad Sisters is deliberately absurd, a throwback to sillier shows such as Desperate Housewives and Why Women Kill. The ease with which the Garvey sisters decide to kill John Paul, and their resoluteness when their attempts repeatedly and catastrophically fail, are pure fantasy.<ref name="theatlantic/671290"></ref>


title: Bad Sisters (TV series)

text: "Bad Sisters" is less about the mystery than its cutting, empathetic take on all the relationships that tangled into such an overwhelming knot along the way.<ref name="variety/1235344640"></ref>


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The Volkswagen Caddy is a panel van and leisure activity vehicle (M-segment) produced by the German automaker Volkswagen Group since 1980. It is sold in Europe and in other markets around the world. The Volkswagen Caddy was first introduced in North America in 1980 and in Europe in 1982. The first and second generations also had pick-up (coupe utility) variants.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The following vehicles are related to the Volkswagen Caddy and are also manufactured by the Volkswagen Group.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: Released in 1979, the first Volkswagen Caddy is a coupe utility and van based on the Volkswagen Group A1 platform, shared with the small family car Volkswagen Golf Mk1.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The Caddy came to fruition when Volkswagen of America was experimenting with Golf derivatives, developing an estate and a pickup truck with a bed. VW of America's engineering team was led by Duane Miller, who acknowledged the initial design was completed in partnership with Sheller Globe.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: Volkswagen of America was interested in the pickup, and Volkswagen released the Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup in North America, produced at the Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant in Pennsylvania from 1978 to 1984. Trim levels such as LX and Sportruck were available.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: In North America, the Rabbit Pickup was equipped with one of two engines: a 1.6L diesel with or a 1.7L petrol with . One unique feature of the diesel was that it came with a five-speed gearbox, with the fifth gear, carrying a 0.76:1 ratio, labeled as "E" for "Economy". Fuel consumption was rated at on the EPA city/highway cycles for the petrol engine with the four-speed manual and a corresponding for the five-speed diesel. Observed fuel consumption for the diesel with no load and driven at a steady in fifth gear was , dropping to at . The maximum interior width of the bed was and the rated payload was .


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The first cars under the name Rabbit Pickup were sold in the United States in late 1979 for the 1980 model year, delayed from a planned spring 1979 rollout. It was not sold as the Caddy until three years later, when the model was introduced to Europe as the Caddy. Cosmetically, the North American Rabbit Pickup had rectangular headlamps, while the rest of the world received round headlamps.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup competed with compact pickups, such as the Ford Courier, Datsun Truck, Toyota Hilux, Dodge Rampage and Subaru BRAT.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The Caddy nameplate was never used in North America. Its first use was in 1982, when the vehicle was released in Europe. European Caddys were built in Volkswagen's plant TAS in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (at the time SFR Yugoslavia), between 1982 and 1992. A fiberglass-reinforced plastic box cap was available to cover the open bed, turning the Caddy into a small panel van with an enclosed of cargo volume, and it also could be used as a caravan with an appropriate in-bed unit.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The original Caddy also was produced in Uitenhage, South Africa from 1981 until 2007, alongside the first generation Golf itself (which was sold until 2009).


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: Worldwide production of the first-generation "Typ" 14 Rabbit Pickup/Caddy totaled more than 207,000 vehicles. For the pickup truck market, Volkswagen sold the Taro, a rebranded Toyota Hilux, from 1989 to 1997; the Caddy name continued in 1995 as a slightly smaller panel van and multi-purpose vehicle developed with Škoda and SEAT.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: However, during its long production in South Africa it has been available with the following engines:


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: Released in 1995, the Volkswagen Caddy "Typ" 9K, or Volkswagen Polo Caddy, was a light van, designed by Volkswagen's Spanish subsidiary SEAT, and derived from the SEAT Ibiza 6K, on the Volkswagen Group A03 platform.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: It was built in Spain, at the Martorell factory of SEAT, from 1996 to 2004. Its twin, the SEAT Inca, was quickly phased out when the SEAT marque was realigned as the "sporty" branch of the Volkswagen Group.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: It was in production in Argentina until 2008 for the Latin American market. It received a cosmetic facelift in 2005, similar to the post 1999 Volkswagen Polo Mk3.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: Note: The electronic differential lock (EDL) employed by Volkswagen is not a differential lock at all despite its name. Sensors monitor wheel speeds, and if one is rotating substantially faster than the other (i.e., slipping), the EDL system momentarily brakes it. This effectively transfers all the power to the other wheel.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: Released in 1996 to complement the "Typ" 9K Caddy range, the rebadged Škoda Felicia Utility was the entry level light commercial vehicle for the VWCV range.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The third generation of Volkswagen Caddy debuted at the end of 2003, at the RAI Commercial Vehicle Show in Amsterdam, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles debuted the "Typ" 2K Caddy panel van.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The "Typ" 2K shares 50% of its modules with the Volkswagen Golf Mk5 and Volkswagen Touran. The new model Caddy has a more aerodynamic design, the angle of the windscreen and A pillar is more horizontal, making the dashboard bigger and the bonnet (hood) smaller.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: There are two body sizes: "normal" and Maxi. These can both be configured as a Panel Van, a Window Panel Van, Kombi (spartan passenger version), Caddy Life (family version), and a Camping version called the Caddy Tramper or Caddy Life Camper.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: A Caddy Life or Kombi seats up to five in two rows while a Caddy Life Maxi or Kombi Maxi seats up to seven in three rows. The Life version has interior trimmings like that of a conventional five seater wagon while the Kombi is a naked panel van with windows and seats. The difference in road noise between the two is described by some as substantial.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The Caddy Panel grew in size over the Caddy "Typ" 9K, it measures in length , width , height , wheelbase , has a payload, and a loading volume of 3.2 m. The current shape "Typ" 2K Caddy, on sale in Europe since 2003, is a leisure activity vehicle with Volkswagen Golf Mk5 front suspension.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: It resembles the compact MPV Touran, and is assembled at the Poznań factory in Poland. In May 2007, British Gas signed a landmark deal which saw 1,000 vans being supplied to the firm, which were fitted with a bespoke racking system and a speed limiter, designed by Siemens. The deal was renewed in September 2015.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The Caddy Life, a seven-seat passenger oriented People Mover, debuted at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show. It comes with twin sliding doors and a payload.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: Caddy Life has a flexible seating system. The two rear bench seat rows can be taken out of the vehicle altogether to give the vehicle 2850 litres of cargo room; in addition, the Caddy Life has a towing capacity.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: In 2005, a Special Edition Caddy Life Colour Concept with two distinctive colours, Red Spice and Ravenna Blue, was released with upholstery fabrics, floor mats and a variety of other elements on the dash panel in the same colour as the exterior body, and a leather trimmed steering wheel, gear and handbrake lever.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: Debuting at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles presented the Caddy Maxi Life the people mover version of the Maxi range. The Caddy Maxi range carried over all of the Caddy engine and debuted the 2.0L TDI engine producing .


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The Caddy Maxi family is longer version of the Caddy with 4.2 m loading space, this is due to extensions of the wheelbase which measures an extended, rear overhang now , plus the growth between the sliding doors and the rear axle now at and payload is up to to on commercial versions.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The Caddy Maxi Tramper, the camping version of the Caddy Maxi, debuted at the 2008 AMI Leipzig Motor Show along with the Caddy Maxi EcoFuel Study.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: Based on the Caddy Life the Tramper or Camper (Australia) package comes with two seats and a table, a fold out awning that is packaged within the rear tailgate, a bed that is made by folding down the seats measures 1.10 m x 2.0 m, also curtains are standard for privacy, options include a seven-litre cool box.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The Caddy Carrera Cup Edition is a limited (250 units) version for the Swedish market. It is based on the 2.0L TDi model with black 17 inch wheels with 225/45R17 tires, a new body kit, white body with red trim, black and red leather sport seats, a fire extinguisher under the passenger's seat, a sport leather steering wheel and gear knob.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: At the 2008 IAA (Hannover Motor Show), Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles revealed the all wheel drive Caddy 4Motion range teamed with the 1.9 TDI engine and manual transmission.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: Since its introduction in the Australian market in 2003, the Caddy range has taken the market lead for small vans, with a 42% share in 2007. Even with the more premium pricing over its competition, buyers are still willing to pay more for the TDI and DSG transmission options.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: Towards the end of 2010, the Caddy underwent a facelift to match the new design language of Volkswagen vehicles. Changes included a front with new headlights and grille from the Touran Mk2 which is similar to the Volkswagen Golf Mk6.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: In 2015, it underwent a second facelift consisting of a new front fascia, roof spoiler and a new interior to keep it competitive alongside its more modern rivals.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: Referred to as Caddy 2K SA (or Mk4/MkIV). It is not based on the new Volkswagen Group MQB platform, but it may be differentiated when compared to the new Touran front end.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: In 2012, Volkswagen launched the "Cross Caddy" model with a series of crossover-inspired aesthetic changes. In 2015, the "Caddy Alltrack", the successor to the CrossCaddy, debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: Volkswagen Group tuner Abt Sportsline unveiled a battery-electric conversion of the Caddy ("Typ" 2K) at the IAA 2018 Commercial Vehicle show in Hanover; the "ABT e-Caddy" is based on the long-wheelbase Caddy Maxi, and is driven by an electric traction motor that develops and of torque. Driving range is (NEDC), drawing from a lithium-ion battery with 37.3 kW-hr of capacity.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The fourth-generation Caddy was unveiled in February 2020. For the first time, it is based on the Volkswagen MQB platform. The switch to MQB has enabled VW to offer new tech to the Caddy lineup, including Travel Assist, the new oncoming vehicle braking when turning function, connected infotainment systems and digitalized controls. VW is offering the estate and MPV in Kombi, Caddy, Life, Move, and Style trim levels, while the delivery van will be offered in multiple trim levels; for each variant, "Maxi" is appended to the name to designate the long-wheelbase variant. It went on sale in November 2020.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The design team responsible for the "Typ" SB was led by Albert Kirzinger. Overall length and width have increased by , respectively, while height has decreased by compared to the "Typ" 2K.


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The Caddy is available in a light commercial vehicle (LCV) variant with two seats (Caddy Cargo) or a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) with five or seven seats (Caddy/Caddy Life). There is also a five-seat model prepared for camping, with a slide-out kitchenette in lieu of the third seating row of the MPV (Caddy California). All versions are available with regular or extended wheelbase (Maxi).


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: The Caddy Cargo "Typ" SB is now able to accommodate a EUR-pallet; the opening at the rear hatch was widened to and the interior width between the wheel arches was increased to . With sliding side doors that are , wider than the standard Caddy Cargo, the Caddy Cargo Maxi is able to accommodate a second EUR-pallet loaded cross-wise in the cargo area. Maximum cargo width is for both variants, interior height is , and the loading lengths are , for the standard and Maxi, respectively, making the cargo volumes .


title: Volkswagen Caddy

text: In 2021, the Ford Tourneo Connect was announced as a rebadged Caddy, the first model developed under the Ford-Volkswagen partnership. Prior Ford MPVs in this size class have been based on the Ford Transit Connect. The Tourneo Connect shares the Volkswagen Caddy's engine lineup, with the EA288-evo rebranded to EcoBlue and the EA211-evo rebranded to EcoBoost. Deliveries are scheduled to commence in Spring 2022.


A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is a 1988 American fantasy slasher film and the fourth installment in the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise. The film was directed by Renny Harlin and stars Robert Englund (as Freddy Krueger), Lisa Wilcox, and Danny Hassel. Following the death of Nancy Thompson, Krueger reappears in the dreams of Kristen Parker, Joey Crusel, and Roland Kincaid. After completing his revenge against the families who killed him, Krueger uses Kristen's best friend, Alice Johnson, to gain access to new victims in order to satiate his murderous needs. The film is a sequel to "" (1987) and was followed by "" (1989). It is often popularly referred to as "the MTV Nightmare" of the franchise.


title: A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

text: "The Dream Master" was released on August 19, 1988, and grossed $49.4 million at the domestic box office on a budget of $6.5 million, which made it the highest-grossing film in the franchise in the United States until the release of "Freddy vs. Jason", a crossover with the "Friday the 13th" franchise, in 2003. It received mixed reviews from critics.


text: In 1988, a year after the events of , Kristen, Kincaid, and Joey have been released from Westin Hills and are back to their lives as normal teenagers with their families. However, Kristen believes Freddy Krueger will come back and when she dreams that she is in Freddy's old boiler room, she summons Joey and Kincaid into the dream. Kincaid and Joey are upset that she has reverted to her old ways back when they were at Westin Hills. To keep her calm, they take her to the boiler and show her that it is ice cold. Kristen had also summoned Kincaid's dog Jason into the dream. The dog jumps out of the boiler, bites Kristen, and they all awaken in their rooms. The next day, Kristen meets up with her boyfriend, martial arts enthusiast Rick Johnson (Andras Jones), and their friends—Rick's shy and quiet sister Alice (Lisa Wilcox), Sheila (Toy Newkirk), an asthmatic genius, and Debbie (Brooke Theiss), a tough girl who does not like bugs. Kincaid and Joey confront Kristen at school about the dream. They tell her to let it go, that their days of fighting in dreams are over, and if she keeps going at it she might accidentally bring Krueger back.


text: That night, Kristen stays awake to keep herself from dreaming, but Kincaid falls asleep. He awakens in a junkyard, where Freddy has been accidentally resurrected. Kincaid puts up a good fight against Freddy, but Freddy overpowers him. Kincaid screams for Kristen but Freddy reaches him and kills him. Joey watches MTV and listens to music in his room. He begins to fall asleep and discovers a model from one of his posters swimming in his waterbed. Freddy jumps out of the waterbed and attempts to drown Joey. Joey screams for Kristen to help him but Freddy stabs and kills him. At school the next day, Kristen panics when she notices that Joey and Kincaid are missing and accidentally knocks herself out as Rick attempts to calm her. Freddy tries to attack Kristen as the school nurse wakes her up. Kristen feels guilty about staying awake when she learns that Kincaid and Joey were found dead. She later tells Rick, Alice, and Alice's crush Dan Jordan (Danny Hassel) about Freddy. She vows to avenge Kincaid and Joey.


text: Kristen realizes that her mother has put sleeping pills in her dinner but falls asleep as she tries to run out of the dining room. Kristen starts to dream; Freddy overcomes her attempts to repel him and forces her back to his home. Since Kristen is the last of the Elm Street children still alive, Freddy goads Kristen into summoning one of her friends into the dream, so that his fun can begin anew. She calls Alice into her dream, and Freddy throws Kristen into his boiler but before she dies, Kristen gives Alice her dream power. Alice wakes up with the sense that something is wrong and takes Rick to Kristen's house. When they get there, they see that Kristen's bedroom is on fire with her in it.


text: Later, Alice falls asleep during class and inadvertently brings Sheila into her dream. Freddy kills Sheila and makes it look like an asthma attack. Rick starts to believe Alice, but the following day, he has a dream where an invisible Freddy attacks him in a martial arts dojo. Rick fights him, and manages to knock his knife glove off. However, the glove levitates and stabs him, killing him. With each death, Alice changes—she gains the abilities and personalities of her dead friends. She makes plans with Debbie and Dan to fight and kill Freddy together, but when her father keeps her in, Alice falls asleep. Through Alice, Freddy stalks Debbie, transforms her into a cockroach, and crushes her in a roach motel. Using Debbie's temper, Alice tries to ram Freddy but collides with a tree in reality, injuring Dan. As Dan is rushed into surgery, Alice returns home and readies herself to join him and face Freddy.


text: In a dream, Alice rescues Dan, and the two find themselves in an old church. Dan gets injured in the dream which prompts his surgeons to wake him up. Alice now has to face Freddy alone. Freddy has the upper hand due to his experience, but she uses her friends' dream powers against him. When he is about to win, Alice remembers a nursery rhyme called "The Dream Master". She recites it and forces Freddy to face his own reflection which causes the souls within him to revolt. The strain tears Freddy apart. Alice's friends' souls are released and leave Freddy as a hollow husk. Months later, Dan and Alice are on a date when Dan tosses a coin into a fountain. For a moment, Alice sees Freddy's reflection in the water (implying that Freddy is still alive), but she ignores it. Dan asks her what she wished for, but Alice does not tell him as they walk away from the fountain.


text: Robert Shaye appears uncredited in a cameo role as Alice's teacher talking about a positive and a negative gate of dreams and Aristotle's dream philosophy.


text: Franchise originator Wes Craven presented his own pitch for the fourth Elm Street film, but producers Sara Risher and Robert Shaye turned it down, instead going with the 'Dream Master' pitch as a progression of the Dream Warriors concept from the previous film. Risher explained that: Initially, I approached Wes for an idea for the fourth film. I always go to Wes first each time. His idea was illogical. It was about time travel within dreams that broke all the rule of dreams. We decided not to go with that. When we decided to go with [William] Kotzwinkle's 'Dream-master' idea, which we thought was terrific, I told Wes we were doing that. Shaye felt that Craven's idea did not have the impact the producers were looking for. Craven and his writing partner Bruce Wagner were later contacted about doing rewrites for the script, but turned down the offer as Craven felt that they should have been approached as artists of the original material. Brian Helgeland was at New Line Cinema around Christmas 1987 about a script named "Highway to Hell", a pitch that was turned down by them and would not be realized until 1992; the company was desperate to get "Nightmare 4" going as they lacked both a script and a director for the film at the time. Mike De Luca begged Helgeland to have a try at it and come up with a script within two weeks; he went to his parents' house and finished the script within nine days, sending it to New Line Cinema with FedEx. Helgeland's script was a rewrite of William Kotzwinkle's original script. Ken and Jim Wheat were brought in next for further polishes; the Writers Guild credited the shooting script to the Wheat brothers.


text: In an interview with "Midnight's Edge", director Tom McLoughlin said that after completing "", New Line offered him the job on "The Dream Master". His one caveat was that he wanted creative control. The studio could not adhere to the demand, specifically because they had already begun filming without any director. McLoughlin said, "When I finished "Friday", I was offered "Nightmare 4" and went to New Line, met with them, and I said, 'I love Freddy, I would love to do one of these, but I really want to do what I just did, where I had creative control'," he explained. "And they go, 'Well, we're already shooting.' 'What?' 'Yeah, we're already shooting, we're shooting like two different units for the visual effects' and something else, puppets or something. And I said, 'Without a director?' 'Yeah, we kind of know how we're going to make these things.' And I went, 'That's not the way I work.' So I turned it down, which of course made ("Nightmare 4" director) Renny Harlin's career."


text: Eventually, the director's work was given to Finnish-born Renny Harlin, who had previously directed only two low-budget feature films: a Finnish action film "Born American" in 1986 and an American horror film "Prison" in 1987. Rachel Talalay claims that she and the other producers felt that since the audience was so familiar with Freddy at this stage, it would be harder to replicate the scare factor of the first two films; instead they decided to continue in the same vein of "Dream Warriors" rather than focus on pure horror. Harlin felt that Freddy had become the James Bond of the series, the one the audience roots for, saying: We've reached a point where the audience sees Freddy as the hero. They come to these movies to hear his funny lines and see him do those amazing things. And because of that popularity, I'm faced with showing Freddy in a more heroic light and giving him more screen time. People will still fear him, but they will also be cheering him on.


text: Rick Johnson was originally slated to die in a Freddy-induced elevator accident in the dreamworld. According to the producers, this scene had to be cut for budget concern reasons and was rewritten with the infamous karate dojo scene seen in the theatrical picture.


text: The role of Kristen Parker in "Dream Warriors" had been the debut role for Patricia Arquette, but was recast with actress Tuesday Knight for the sequel; producer Sara Risher said she was disappointed at the time that Arquette could not reprise her role, commending her as an "integral part to "Nightmare 3"" and as well-liked by the rest of the crew. In "Assault of the Killer B's: Interviews with 20 Cult Film Actresses" it is stated that "Patricia Arquette reportedly fought the [horror genre] label, turning down a hefty offer to reprise her heroine role, instead favoring more dramatic roles and becoming a respected thespian in the Hollywood community". Knight had been the first new actor to be cast for the film other than the four returnees from the previous film. Returning actors Rodney Eastman and Ken Sagoes expressed disappointment that the character of Kristen had to be recast and of the defaulted reunion with former co-star Arquette, while Knight on her part has admitted to having felt out of place due to the recasting. On the auditioning for Alice, Lisa Wilcox recalls that "I did a screen test with Tuesday Knight, who'd already been cast as Kristen Parker. We did the scene where we're sitting outside the school talking about having matching luggage. Then I did another screen test with Brooke".


text: Over 600 actresses auditioned for the role of Alice, which was eventually given to Lisa Wilcox. Wilcox had previously auditioned for a role in the previous film, "Dream Warriors", but failed to land it. In "", director Harlin describes that he and the producers were looking for "somebody [he] could make seem timid and vulnerable in the beginning and who can then in a believable way become kind of like Sigourney Weaver in Aliens or something like that", and that "[he] found lot of sort of hardcore tough chicks but [he] could never believe they could be weak and vulnerable – then [he] found a lot of mousy girls that when they try to be tough and strong capable, they fell on their face." According to Wilcox, the casting directors failed to find the right actress initially, and so went through the pile of rejects that she had been put in. The reason for this first rejection, as she was told initially by the casting manager, was that she looked too much like "a cheerleader", and was deemed too pretty to play the part of the introverted, mousy girl Alice started off as. Wilcox then countered by toning down her looks as much as she possibly could: I basically wimped myself out. I wore no makeup, wore my worst color (which is yellow) and just showed up looking like hell. Their reaction was, "Is "that" Lisa Wilcox?" After they got over their shock, they gave me the role.


text: Ellie Cornell has claimed that she was in line for auditioning for a lead role in the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise in 1988. In "Horror Films of the 1980s", she describes that New Line Cinema was looking for an 'Ellie Cornell prototype', a 'girl next door', but she had already landed the role of Rachel Carruthers in "" shortly before the auditioning for the role in "Dream Master" took place. Lezlie Deane, who later starred as Tracy in "", also auditioned for roles in "Dream Master" and "Dream Warriors".


text: The creative process was bogged down by the untimely 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, running from March 7 to August 7, 1988, forcing Harlin and the producers to improvise much during the filming. Lisa Wilcox and Andras Jones wrote their own dialogue for Alice and Rick after the death of Kristen while watching their old home videos, such as "I saw it happen in my dream". Many of the nightmare scenes were made up from ideas that Harlin came up with rather than from the writers' script.


text: This film features the car junkyard set from "." This set was conceptualized by production designer Mick Strawn, who worked as art director and handled effects on the previous film. Strawn also came up with the truck crash scene and the kaleidoscope hallway. The junkyard set is the only set used in more than one film. The set was built and filmed at a landfill in Pacoima, California.


text: According to the "Never Sleep Again" documentary, producer Rachel Talalay recounted a meeting between director Renny Harlin and James Cameron; Cameron enquired how Freddy was being resurrected for this film to which Harlin replied "a dog pisses fire".


text: There are two different releases of the music featured in the film. One is the music score, composed by Craig Safan, while the other was a soundtrack album with mostly rock or pop-oriented songs by various artists. The film score by Safan along with every other score in the film series was re-released in 2017 on the label Death Waltz Recording Company in an 8-CD box set named "A Nightmare On Elm Street: Box Of Souls".<br>


text: Nine songs were played during the film that were not on the soundtrack album. Tuesday Knight, who acted in the film, contributed the song "Nightmare" to the film's soundtrack. She did not know until she watched "Dream Master" in the theater that it been chosen to be the actual title/intro song. "Nightmare" does not appear on the official compilation released for the film. The master record of this song, previously thought for many years to have been lost or destroyed, has since been "uncovered in a box deep within the bowels of Warner Brothers" according to Knight.


text: Producer Rachel Talalay would recall in 2010 that the inclusion of Sinéad O'Connor's song, "I Want Your (Hands on Me)" (from her debut album "The Lion and the Cobra"), was a contentious issue as the licence fee for the song was twice that of the others due to O'Connor's emerging success on MTV; producer Bob Shaye eventually relented and the song was included twice in the picture.


text: Since the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series was popular, many of the songs on the soundtrack had music videos:


text: The film was released on August 19, 1988, on 1,765 theaters in North America. The film ranked number one on its opening weekend and grossed $12,883,403. On the second weekend, the film still ranked number one and grossed $6,989,358. It was in first place on the third weekend, then at second, fourth, and sixth in the next three weeks until it dropped out from the top ten list on the seventh weekend at number eleven. The film grossed $49,369,899 at the US box office and was the 19th-highest-grossing film of 1988. It was the highest-grossing "Nightmare on Elm Street" film until "Freddy vs. Jason" was released in 2003. It is currently the third-highest-grossing film in the "Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise.


text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 53% approval rating based on 30 reviews, and an average rating of 5.02/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" marks a relative high point in this franchise's bumpy creative journey, although the original remains far superior." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


text: Upon its release, critic Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" praised the story line, performances, and special effects, stating that the film: "is by far the best of the series, a superior horror picture that balances wit and gore with imagination and intelligence. It very effectively mirrors the anxieties of the teen-age audience for which it is primarily intended." Thomas then went on to commend Wilcox's portrayal of Alice, stating,


text: It matters not to Freddy that these kids' parents had nothing to do with his torching. In essence, however, the film is about how a shy, lovely teenager named Alice (Lisa Wilcox) with a widowed alcoholic father gradually gathers the courage to assert herself in taking on Freddy—and in the process wins the love of the handsomest boy (Danny Hassel) in her school. If the nightmare sequences are impressive with their Inferno-like images, the film's young cast is no less so. Nightmare 4 provides Wilcox with an exceptionally challenging screen debut. While criticizing the plot for being derivative of the previous films, critic John H. Richardson of "Los Angeles Daily News" described the film's special effects as "downright brilliant, matching and even improving on the amazing effects in "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors"."


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On February 1, 2008, American entertainer Britney Spears was involuntarily placed under a conservatorship by Judge Reva Goetz, with her father, James "Jamie" Spears, and attorney Andrew M. Wallet, as conservators. The conservatorship lasted until November 2021.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: The management of the conservatorship by Jamie, Wallet, and Spears's former business manager Lou M. Taylor, among other parties, generated controversy almost immediately. While Spears was held on an involuntary psychiatric hold in early 2008 for alleged mental health concerns, there was initially a temporary conservatorship intended to last only days. It was extended to months and eventually made permanent, against the objections of Spears.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In 2019, Spears's career was put on hiatus when her father was hospitalized and she checked into a mental health facility, citing stress over her father's health. Shortly thereafter, details of the conservatorship leaked from inside the management team. Spears's longtime discontent with the conservatorship came to light in personal accounts and investigative reporting. Jamie's legal team maintained that the conservatorship was in Spears's best interests, and sought to keep it in place. In 2020, a social movement calling for termination of the conservatorship, #FreeBritney, attracted worldwide media attention, and grew dramatically following the release of a 2021 television documentary on the issue.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In June 2021, Spears made her first public statement in court proceedings and asked to terminate her conservatorship. She accused her father, family, and management of abuse, detailing instances of mistreatment, coercion, and conflict of interest. On July 14, Judge Brenda Penny granted Spears the right to choose her own attorney, former federal prosecutor Mathew Rosengart of Greenberg Traurig. On September 7, Jamie and his team reversed position, filing to terminate the conservatorship to allegedly avoid discovery and deposition. Judge Penny suspended Jamie on September 29, replacing him with accountant John Zabel; this allowed the conservatorship to continue until its termination. On November 12, Judge Penny formally terminated the conservatorship.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: The dispute and subsequent victory made Spears a symbol of conservatorship law reform and human rights across the United States, and served as precedent for legislation designed to combat such abuse on a state and federal level. The revelations of abuse and mistreatment endured by Spears during this arrangement as well as years in public life led to a reassessment of her legacy and public image, which was heavily distorted by the media and tabloids in years leading up to her highly publicized breakdown.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: Britney Spears is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Spears has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including over 70 million in the United States, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: For a number of years, Spears's personal struggles were widely publicized by the media. Amid these struggles, and potentially as early as 2005, Spears's father Jamie had "prayed and fasted" with business manager Lou M. Taylor to place Spears in a conservatorship.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In September 2006, Spears gave birth to her second son, Jayden James, with then-husband Kevin Federline. It was speculated that Spears suffered from postpartum depression. In November, Spears filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. She and Federline reached a global settlement in July 2007 and agreed to share custody of their two sons.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In January 2007, Spears lost her aunt, with whom she was close, to ovarian cancer. In February, she shaved her head in a Los Angeles hair salon and assaulted paparazzi with an umbrella. In the following weeks and months, she was in and out of treatment facilities, and was often seen with associate Sam Lutfi, later accused of being a negative influence and against whom many restraining orders were issued. She also began a brief relationship with paparazzo Adnan Ghalib.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In April, Spears fired manager Larry Rudolph and mocked his team, sarcastically referencing a woman telling her to "go to the light and see Jesus". This was a decision her family disagreed with. However, Spears embarked on The M+M's Tour in May. In September, she was charged with misdemeanor counts, including a hit-and-run, after crashing into a parked car; that same month, she performed "Gimme More", the lead single to her then-upcoming fifth album, at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. The performance was extensively panned by critics, who criticized her choreography, weight, and stage presence; it also generated a viral response in Cara Cunningham's "Leave Britney Alone!" YouTube video.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In October 2007, Spears lost custody of her two sons for undisclosed reasons. Later that month, she released "Blackout" (2007)"." It was her first album not to reach the top of the "Billboard" 200 because of a last-minute change in how album sales were counted, yet it has become widely considered her best and most influential work. Two months later, it was revealed that the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services was investigating "multiple child abuse and neglect" allegations in court documents related to Spears's and Federline's custody battle.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: Conservatorship is a legal concept in the United States whereby a guardian is appointed by a judge to manage the financial affairs and/or daily life of another person because of physical or mental limitations. A person under conservatorship is a "conservatee," a term that can refer to an adult. A conservatorship may also apply to corporations and organizations. Spears was under a probate conservatorship, a type of conservatorship that mostly lasts indefinitely. The conservatorship may be of the "estate", wherein the conservator manages the conservatee's financial affairs and other monetary transactions. It may also be of the "person", wherein the conservator takes charge of overseeing the daily activities, such as health care or living arrangements, of the conservatee.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: Spears was under both a conservatorship of the estate and of the person. As of September 2021, John Zabel was the conservator of Spears's estate; Jamie Spears served as conservator of the estate from 2008 until his suspension in 2021, and co-conserved with attorney Andrew M. Wallet from 2008 until his resignation in 2019. Briefly, Bessemer Trust was approved to co-conserve Spears's estate alongside Jamie in 2021 but withdrew days after her June 23 public testimony and official approval.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: Care manager Jodi Pais Montgomery was the conservator of Spears's person; previously, Jamie was the sole conservator of the person from 2008 until resignation in 2019. Spears's former fiancé and agent Jason Trawick also served briefly as co-conservator of the person from 2012 until 2013.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On January 4, 2008, Spears isolated herself and one-year-old son Jayden James in a bathroom, refusing to relinquish custody to Federline and his representatives as her visitation time ended. Spears's elder son Sean Preston had already been surrendered to her bodyguard. Federline called the authorities, who responded to Spears's residence. She was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center amid paparazzi attention, placed under a 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold, and had her mental state evaluated. During the hold, Spears lost visitation rights, and Federline gained sole custody. Spears was released after 24 hours when doctors determined she was stable.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: After her hospitalization, Jamie, his lawyer Geraldine Wyle, and Taylor exchanged alleged emails discussing potential conservators, including Taylor herself or her management company Tri Star Sports & Entertainment Group. They discussed judges for the case, specifically voicing concern for one who "[would] not give Jamie the power to administer psychotropic drugs" to Spears.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On January 31, Spears was placed under a second hold at the UCLA Medical Center. She was escorted from her home by a motorcade of ambulances, helicopters, and police. The reason for this second hold is disputed. A Spears source stated it was due to her refusal to take prescribed drugs, while other sources say it was requested by her psychiatrist after he determined its necessity. Lutfi said she went "willingly". In 2021, family friend Jaqueline Butcher cited a motivation for the hold (and later, conservatorship) as a means to remove Spears from Lutfi's influence, and that it came at her doctor's request.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On February 1, Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz placed Spears and her estate in a temporary conservatorship at the request of Jamie, who became co-conservator alongside attorney Andrew M. Wallet. The approval process under Goetz reportedly took ten minutes. The petition claimed that Spears suffered from dementia; this was not corroborated by medical documents, including examinations that included the name of a doctor, J. Edward Spar.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On February 4, Spears while hospitalized contacted Adam Streisand to represent her, but he was released from court after lawyers determined Spears "lack[ed] the capacity to retain counsel". At this point, Samuel D. Ingham III became Spears's court-appointed attorney, while Vivian Lee Thoreen had begun to represent Jamie. The conservatorship was intended to last until this date; despite this, it was still in place on February 6, when Spears was released from the hold.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On February 22, Spears hired attorney Jon Eardley, who argued that her civil rights were being violated under the conservatorship, as it was established without "necessary five days notice" to Spears, and thus was invalid; he attempted to take the issue to federal court. Again, an attorney for Jamie filed that Spears was not fit to hire counsel, and Eardley was released from court on February 25.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On March 10, Goetz gave Spears a $1,500 weekly allowance and had her legal fees reduced as a result of financial obligations to Federline regarding custody. Spears continued to undergo psychological evaluations. Additionally, she was allowed to retain her entertainment lawyer, permitting her to appear as a guest star in the American TV sitcom "How I Met Your Mother".


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On July 18, Spears regained visitation rights, with the chance to gain more as her health improved. Around this time, Spears began to work on "Circus" (2008). On July 31, the temporary conservatorship was extended to December 31. It was reported that Spears's behavior had improved, and she was able to spend more time with her sons.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In September, Lynne released "", a memoir which "mended" her relationship with Spears. The book addressed Spears's and sister Jamie Lynn's childhood and fame from Lynne's perspective. Discussing Spears's troubles, Lynne alleged that Lutfi crushed pills and put them in Spears's food in an attempt to control her drug usage. On October 28, the conservatorship was made permanent by Goetz to protect Spears from "undue influence", giving Jamie indefinite control over Spears's estate and personal affairs. Spears did not publicly oppose the decision.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On November 30, MTV broadcast a documentary, "" (2008). In the film, Spears expressed discontent about life under conservatorship, saying, "There's no excitement, there's no passion [...] I have really good days, and then I have bad days. Even when you go to jail, you know there's the time when you're gonna get out. But in this situation, it's never ending. It's just like "Groundhog Day" every day."


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In December, Spears was profiled for "Rolling Stone" by journalist Jenny Eliscu, who was in contact with Lutfi during the process. She later allegedly used this connection to assist Spears in a third attempt to retain counsel in 2009. On December 12, the court approved $1.5 million in payouts to the conservators, attorneys, and others connected to the case. This included Spears's brother Bryan, who received $200,000 for his role as the head of a trust in Spears's name. Jamie's monthly pay was increased from $12,000 to above $16,000 per month.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In 2009, Spears began dating agent Jason Trawick. She also embarked on her Circus Tour, one of the highest-grossing tours of the decade, which was managed by her professional team including Lou Taylor, who became her business manager. It was alleged that at one show Spears was "distressed" that a contact high from weed would lead her to fail a drug test, preventing her from spending time with her children; her management ultimately decided that show would continue.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In January, Lutfi's sister Christina provided Spears with a phone she was not allowed to have; it was later found by Jamie. At the same time, Lutfi and Ghalib contacted a third attorney, John Anderson. By January 27, journalist Jenny Eliscu had assisted Spears in signing the legal documents requesting to replace Ingham with Anderson, allegedly meeting with Spears in the bathroom of the Montage Beverly Hills. Anderson notified Jamie of the petition; however, the next day, he abruptly resigned, an action which was the result of yet another decision in which Spears was deemed incapable of retaining counsel.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In February, Sam Lutfi began to pursue a defamation lawsuit against the Spears family due to Lynne's claims in "Through the Storm". In March, an alleged voicemail by Spears was leaked online. Despite testimony from Christina, who stated Spears was "afraid of her father", the voicemail and other attempted phone communications between Lutfi and Spears, as well as her ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib and Eardley, resulted in three-year restraining orders granted by Judge Aviva K. Bobb.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: By March 23, over $2.7 million of Spears's wealth had been used to compensate the lawyers since the beginning of the case. On March 27, Jamie attempted to sue the BreatheHeavy fan website for copyright infringement after owner Jordan Miller accused him of orchestrating an "imprisonment" and "exploitation" of Spears while stating "Free Britney". Reports said that Jamie intended to shut down the website.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In 2010, Lou Taylor began to professionally represent Spears's estate, which had then been conserved by Jamie and Andrew Wallet for two years.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On March 30, 2011, amid the rollout of "Femme Fatale" (2011), Spears's estate was sued for over $10 million by licensing firm Brand Sense Partners after it failed to pay the 35 percent commission agreed with cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden, Inc. The firm described the estate's business practices as "wanton, willful and oppressive". The court had ruled Spears unfit to be deposed or to testify, but the firm countered that "the notion [...] is a sham. Ms. Spears currently has the mental, emotional and physical capacity to endure the strain of" various career and personal activities.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In May, Lutfi continued to pursue a defamation suit against Lynne, requesting Spears give a deposition and alleging that an evaluation might disprove the family's claims of her mental impairment. His experts argued that "she responds logically and coherently to questions, evidencing logical thinking and mental competency", citing "Britney: For the Record" and a TV interview Spears had with Ryan Seacrest.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: By July 21, the Britney Spears Foundation, established by Spears before the conservatorship, saw a significant loss in assets, including a donation of $50,000 to the Nashville Christian organization Mercy Ministries. These transactions left the Britney Spears Foundation, which was intended to establish a children's summer camp for underprivileged performers, with only $17 in assets. According to "The New York Times" in 2021, Mercy Ministries regularly received financial support from Lou Taylor and, at the time, promoted conversion therapy programs; the estate's donations were purportedly approved by Spears, despite her public support for LGBTQ+ issues and intention to refrain from religious donations.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On December 16, Spears announced her engagement to Jason Trawick. On March 12, 2012, it was reported in "Forbes", which was critical of the conservatorship, that the Brand Sense lawsuit had been settled.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In a court hearing on March 22, sources indicated that Spears was "confident in her capacity to take back the reins of her life", but that the conservatorship remained for "financial and legal reasons". Partly because of her engagement, plans were being considered to eventually return her control of her estate. Despite this, on April 25, Trawick was approved by Judge Goetz to become co-conservator of the person alongside Jamie, who was "thrilled" by the developments.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: The same day, Sam Lutfi scheduled a jury trial in his defamation case against the Spears family. In the lawsuit, Lutfi alleged that Spears's breakdown was caused by drug use, and again attempted to sue Lynne for her claims in "". Later that year, the lawsuit was discarded by Goetz, and it was again reported that the conservatorship kept Spears from testifying in court.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On May 14, it was announced that Spears would join "The X Factor" as a judge. Trawick was "deeply involved in the negotiations" of the $15 million deal, which Goetz approved. Louis Walsh, who replaced Simon Cowell on the judging panel for a handful of episodes, would claim in 2021 that Spears was being heavily medicated, alleging that it impaired her ability to function during the shows. However, "Forbes" again questioned the necessity of the conservatorship the next year, citing her accomplishments on the show.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In August, Spears allegedly expressed frustration over the continuation of the conservatorship amid "The X Factor". In October, it was reported that Spears's Internet and phone use were being restricted and monitored as a result of the Lutfi lawsuit.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In January 2013, Spears and Trawick called off the engagement, and he resigned as co-conservator of the person. Accounting records from 2012 were disclosed to the public in 2021, including a "consultation on dissolution of marriage". This led some to believe Spears and Trawick had secretly married before they called off the engagement. Trawick denied this, and legal experts, including Kevin Federline's representatives, debunked the rumors.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In March, Spears began dating David Lucado, causing her father to complete a background check on him. On March 29, the conservators sought approval from Judge Goetz for riskier investments for Spears's brand, which were granted. On October 17, Jamie asked the court for an increase in allowance; he had earned $16,000 a month since 2008, and requested an additional $2,000 per month.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In December, Spears released "Britney Jean" (2013) and began a at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas. The residency contract specified that the deal between the estate and Caesars Entertainment could be canceled were the conservatorship ended. Lou Taylor's company, Tri Star Sports & Entertainment Group, had "an important role [...] budgeting, planning, and assisting with the negotiation".


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On February 26, 2014, it was reported that Jamie's allowance request had not been granted, but he continued to petition for such; Andrew Wallet's salary as co-conservator was reported to be $35,500 per month. On March 14, the conservators allegedly took out an emergency $6 million loan, approved by Judge Goetz. On May 2, Jamie was approved to earn 1.5 percent of gross revenues from Spears's residency. On August 21, Spears split with Lucado after allegations of his cheating, which he denied; subsequently, Jamie banned Lucado from contacting Spears.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In 2015, Spears released a single, "Pretty Girls", with Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. According to Azalea, before having lunch with Spears, Spears's team searched Azalea's home to "make sure [she] wasn't trying to stash anything weird" and was not a "bad influence".


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In May 2016, Spears was allowed to participate in a deposition in the Sam Lutfi lawsuit, four years after the case originally went to trial. Two days later, "The New York Times" published an article regarding the eight-year-long probate conservatorship, suggesting that Spears's deposition was an indication that her conservators might begin a "major unfastening of the strictures she lives under". Lucado was cited in the article, saying that "if anyone could see her interactions with her kids, they would know that there is no need for a conservatorship over Britney's personal life".


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: The article also criticized the financial aspect of the conservatorship, citing Elaine Renoire, president of the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse, as saying "as long as she is bringing in so much money and as long as the lawyers and conservators are getting paid, there is little incentive to end it". The article also reported that Spears had been returned a number of significant freedoms since the conservatorship began, that she had made significant progress in her health, and that court proceedings and lawyers were in place to protect her from any abuse of power.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In 2016, Spears released her ninth studio album, "Glory" (2016), and promoted it alongside continuing to perform in her concert residency. The promotion of the album included performances at the 2016 "Billboard" Music Awards and the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards and appearances on late-night television and chat shows to promote the album. During an interview in support of the album on "The Jonathan Ross Show", Spears spoke of the conservatorship, but this was cut from the televised airing of the show. In 2017, Spears embarked on her first international concert tour in six years, . It lasted one month and was modeled on the Britney: Piece of Me residency.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In March 2018, it was reported that Jamie was considering ending the conservatorship by the end of her Piece of Me Tour. Sources close to Spears had echoed this, stating that she was "feeling confident enough to take control of her life again".


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In October, Spears announced Britney: Domination, her second Vegas residency, at Park MGM starting February 2019. Spears was expected to make over $500,000 for each show. The next day, Andrew Wallet asked the court for a raise amounting to $426,000 per year, citing Spears's "increased wellbeing and her capacity to be engaged", saying that "the next several years promise to be very lucrative". He called the conservatorship a "hybrid business model".


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On January 4, 2019, Spears indefinitely postponed Britney: Domination after her father was hospitalized for a life-threatening spontaneous colon rupture. Spears stated that she sought to "put [her] full focus and energy on [her] family at this time". MGM Resorts said Spears had begun "an indefinite work hiatus".


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In March, Wallet asked the court to resign from his position. The request was granted the next day. Wallet stated in court documents that "the conservatorship is engaged in numerous ongoing business activities requiring immediate attention" and "substantial detriment, irreparable harm and immediate danger will result to the conservatee and her estate if the relief requested herein is not granted on an ex parte basis". The action left Spears as the sole conservator of Spears's finances. Soon after, "Forbes" published an article questioning if the conservatorship process could continue indefinitely with the resignation of Wallet. The outlet also reported that Spears could not marry her boyfriend of three years, actor Sam Asghari, without approval from the conservatorship.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On April 3, it was reported that Spears had checked into a mental health facility a week prior, as a result of her distress over her father's health. Spears confirmed this through a post on Instagram, her first social media post in nearly three months, stating she needed to take "a little 'me time'".


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In mid-April, an anonymous paralegal contacted Tess Barker and Barbara Gray, co-hosts of the Britney Spears fan podcast "Britney's Gram," through a voicemail. Barker and Gray claimed to have independently verified the paralegal's identity. The paralegal claimed to have previously worked for Spears's conservatorship case, and contradicted public reports about the postponement of Britney: Domination and Spears's ongoing stay at the mental facility.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: The paralegal stated that Spears "was not taking her medication as prescribed" and refused to take new medication; as a result, Jamie had pulled his support for the Vegas residency, which was then postponed indefinitely. He also claimed that Jamie had "verbatim said, 'blame it on my illness'". The paralegal alleged that Jamie sent Spears to the mental facility in mid-January months earlier than the official statement had disclosed, and that "there is no end date, particularly in sight for this stay at this mental facility to end". Though the paralegal acknowledged he had not spoken with Spears herself, he said that the stay "was not a decision she made at all".


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: Spears fans shared the hashtag "#FreeBritney" on Twitter and Instagram, calling for Spears to be released from the mental facility. The situation was discussed on TV shows including "The Talk". Paris Hilton, a close friend of Spears, used the #FreeBritney hashtag in an Instagram comment. Spears's mother Lynne had also liked Instagram comments referencing Spears's situation.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: Fans including the hosts of "Britney's Gram" gathered outside West Hollywood City Hall in the first #FreeBritney rally. In response, Spears posted a video of herself on Instagram saying that "all is well" and captioning it with a statement that she appreciated the concern but asking for privacy "to deal with all the hard things that life is throwing [her] way".


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: Shortly after, Spears's mother Lynne Spears legally filed to receive updates on her daughter's conservatorship case; she previously had not played any legal or official role. On May 10, Spears and her mother appeared at the first status hearing for the conservatorship since her mental facility stay; it was reported that Spears spoke in the proceedings. Fans of Spears and #FreeBritney advocates also held a second rally at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, the location of the court proceedings, as they took place. Around this time, Spears was released from the mental facility and given a cellphone that only permitted phone calls.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: During this time, Spears's conservators and managers began to push back on #FreeBritney issues and conspiracy theories that the movement spawned. Jamie Spears began to petition the expansion of the conservatorship beyond California to other U.S. states and territories including her childhood state of Louisiana, as well as Hawaii and Florida; later, the conservatorship expanded to Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Jamie sued blogger and #FreeBritney advocate Anthony Elia, creator of the Absolute Britney website, for defamation after Elia claimed Jamie was manipulating Spears's Instagram page. Spears's business manager Lou M. Taylor also sued another #FreeBritney advocate for defamation, after the advocate used Taylor's name in website domains that accused her of masterminding Spears's conservatorship.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On August 24, Sean Federline was involved in a "physical altercation" with Jamie during a family visit, in which Jamie broke down a door, "put his hands on [Sean]", and "violently shook" him after a verbal argument. Sean was not injured in the incident, which his brother Jayden observed. Kevin Federline and attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan filed a police report, adding that Spears herself removed her children from their grandfather after learning of the incident. On August 25, they were granted a temporary restraining order against Jamie.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On August 28, Spears and Federline modified their custody agreement, with Spears's custodial rights being reduced from 50 to 30 percent. Though the agreement was established in 2018, it was formalized in response to the altercation. Spears in actuality retained the children only 10 percent of the time under supervision. After an investigation, Jamie was not charged due to insufficient evidence. Spears was "very angry" about the incident and felt it put her custody "in jeopardy".


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On September 6, Jamie stepped down as conservator of the person due to the altercation. He remained the conservator of the estate while Jodi Montgomery, Spears's "care manager", became conservator of the person in his place. On December 17, Jamie won the injunction made against Elia.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On March 4, 2020, Jayden Federline interacted with fans live on his personal Instagram account, commenting on his mother's hiatus and her relationship with Sam Asghari. Jayden stated he thought Jamie was "a pretty big dick", which sources speculated referenced the recent altercations. He was hesitant to make any statements about #FreeBritney. He expressed he would share more if he were to reach five thousand followers; however, his account was made private and all posts on his page were deleted soon after. Mark Vincent Kaplan said that Federline was "not happy" and responded "as you would expect a responsible parent to address it".


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the April 21 hearing was postponed to July 22, and temporary orders within the conservatorship were extended to August, including Jodi Montgomery's temporary status as conservator of the person.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On July 2, Spears posted a TikTok video which ignited widespread speculation on the platform about her well-being, causing #FreeBritney to trend again and generate celebrity support. Public scrutiny of the conservatorship also spread many conspiracy theories about her health and rights. Amid the trend, there was an increase in news coverage of the hashtag; "Vox" described it as "a familiar rallying cry". Advocates started a Change.org petition and a White House petition calling for a congressional investigation into the conservatorship; both were signed by hundreds of thousands of people.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On July 12, photographer Andrew Gallery, who worked with Spears in 2008, uploaded a series of viral TikToks sharing a years-old letter written by her in third person. He claimed it was a copy of an original "destroyed" by the conservators. The letter describes events in 2008 differently from how they were reported, while saying "she was lied to and set up. Her children were taken away and she did spin out of control which any mother would in those circumstances". Spears also wrote that the conservatorship could continue "as long as the people are getting paid".


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On July 13, Lynne filed to be informed of all financial decisions in the conservatorship. On July 22, both Jamie and Lynne appeared at the postponed hearing on Zoom. Spears did not appear as scheduled due to "technical difficulties", later reported to be four individuals that hacked into the call and refused to leave. During the hearing, a new ruling sealed all future proceedings in the conservatorship from the public. #FreeBritney activists, spurred by the TikTok trend, again appeared in-person at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse during proceedings.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On July 23, Bryan Spears appeared on a podcast and described the conservatorship as "frustrating" to her. Though he stated that she had "always wanted to get out" of it, he asserted that the arrangement was "a great thing for [his] family". He added that Jamie had "done the best he could" with the family situation. Jamie continued to maintain that the movement was based on conspiracy theories, calling it "a joke" and condemning death threats, and denied any accusations of fraud.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In August, it was reported that the conservatorship proceedings cost Spears over $1 million in 2019 alone. The same month, Lou Taylor resigned as business manager after she received death threats from #FreeBritney activists in light of her connection to the case.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In early September 2020, Jamie filed a motion to seal certain filings regarding the case from the public. On September 4, Sam Ingham filed documents in response, which included the first public endorsements of #FreeBritney from Spears's legal team:


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On November 10, Judge Brenda J. Penny approved Spears's request to appoint Bessemer Trust. During the court proceedings, Ingham stated that Spears had told him she was afraid of her father and had chosen not to perform while he remained her conservator. Despite this, Jamie's attorney Vivian Lee Thoreen stated that there was not a "shred of evidence" that corroborated Ingham's claims.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: On February 4, 2021, "The New York Times" released the Emmy-nominated television documentary "Framing Britney Spears" (2021), directed by Samantha Stark. The film garnered massive public attention, and pushed #FreeBritney into the mainstream. It included testimony from various figures in Spears's life, including former assistant Felicia Culotta and former attorney Adam Streisand. Other individuals who appeared included paparazzi, media figures, music experts, and #FreeBritney activists. Jamie's former attorney Vivian Lee Thoreen, who was not representing him at the time of filming, appeared; she would later rejoin Jamie's legal team afterward.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: Much of the film shed light on how Spears's depiction by media was often "hyper-sexualized", and how that portrayal played a role in "intense tabloid scrutiny". It ignited criticism of paparazzo Daniel Ramos, who appeared in the film. The film also portrayed Justin Timberlake in the context of his high-profile relationship and breakup with Spears; Timberlake apologized in an Instagram post, which also contained an apology to Janet Jackson in reference to the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy. Dutch presenter Ivo Niehe, journalist Diane Sawyer, former First Lady of Maryland Kendel Ehrlich, journalist Matt Lauer, and comedian Sarah Silverman faced widespread criticism for past comments about Spears. In contrast, Craig Ferguson was acclaimed for his refusal to joke about Spears's struggles when a past segment of his show went viral.


title: Britney Spears conservatorship dispute

text: In response to the outcry, Sam Asghari released a statement on his Instagram that he had "zero respect for someone trying to control our relationship and constantly throwing obstacles in our way", referring to Jamie as "a total dick". Spears herself stated that she did not watch the film in its entirety, but the portions she did made her "embarrassed", adding that she "cried for two weeks".