A closer look at the campaign to #FreeBritney

And even as their campaign picks up strength and support, there’s a question nagging at some members: Is this what Britney wants?

“I understand the paradox that I’m in — I want Britney to have more privacy, and yet here I am contributing to this movement,” says Miller, whose fansite Breathe Heavy ​is often credited with lighting the fuse of the movement back in 2009.

“People want answers, but do they need them?” asks Perez Hilton, the celebrity writer whose blog was the online epicenter of sensationalist celebrity coverage in the early 2000s. “Do they deserve them? Should they know her medical records, and all of the details surrounding it?”

Hilton understands the fascination more than most, given his years following the turns of Spears’ personal troubles. “Britney is so gripping for so many people,” he said. “She transcends generations. The world saw her, on a massive scale, grow up in front of our eyes … it’s almost like she’s an extended member of the family.”

He now tells CNN he has “tons of regret” about his brazen coverage of celebrities’ private lives. “There’s so much that I would do differently,” he said. But he sees a similar thirst in some elements of the fans’ movement; “for some of them, it’s become entertainment. For some of them the Free Britney movement is a hobby, and it’s this woman’s life.”

Miller says he has felt “vindication” in recent months, following Spears’ moves, through her attorney, to adjust elements of the conservatorship. But he’s spent “10-plus years doubting myself and wondering: am I doing more harm than good? Am I actually helping her?”