Gabbie Hanna compares herself to Britney Spears after defending “manic” videos  

Gabbie Hanna opened up in an interview with Oxford University Union Society where she discussed leaving social media and comparing herself to Britney Spears.

Gabbie Hanna, 33, is an influencer who garnered popularity on the now-defunct video app Vine. She went on to develop a following on YouTube and TikTok and launch a music career, being a known influencer for over a decade with millions of followers across multiple platforms.

In August 2022, Gabbie worried her fans after posting over a hundred TikTok videos in one day, in which she discussed a variety of topics, including religion and death, making her fans wonder if she was going through a “manic episode”.

This soon made her leave social media altogether in January 2023. She later returned online in February 2024.

Now, Gabbie has spoken out against the “hate” she received when the videos were posted, comparing herself to Britney Spears.

Speaking at Oxford University, Gabbie said: “I remember I was doing spoken word, like everything I was posting was under Gabbie Hanna Poetry,” she said, referring to the “I wish I could sleep” video.

“I’m literally doing slam poetry about kids dying on the streets, and you open up the comments and section – ‘nurse, she’s out again’, ‘somebody help her, she’s crazy’ – and I’m like ‘oh we’re all free Britney, free Britney’ until this successful, talented girl is doing real stuff and being constantly told she’s crazy, constantly being gaslighted when I’m telling you I’m fine.”

The Free Britney movement refers to the singer’s conservatorship case, as between 2008 to 2021, Spears’ finances and bodily autonomy were controlled by her father, Jamie Spears, and a lawyer. People then took to social media to spread the “free Britney” message as they fought for her freedom.

Later in the interview, Gabbie also expressed her frustration with being labeled “crazy” by her online viewers. “Why am I the crazy one, when you’re watching me living my dream?” she argued.

She also opened up about the unhealthy need for validation that had come from her rise on Vine and continued as she grew popular on other platforms. She said it had been difficult to realize that the love “hadn’t been real” when she stopped posting things online.

“It definitely chipped away at me for a long time,” she started. “I always look at things as what was the divine nature and purpose of this situation. And now when I look back I’m like ‘Oh this really had to chip away at my innate desire to be acknowledged and praised by other people.’

“So I think that for me is probably the biggest part, is just like when you’re seeking that validation when you’re younger so much doesn’t come, all of the sudden there’s millions of people, there’s brands telling you you’re awesome all the time and just feeding your ego and providing anything that you want.

“I was surviving on that. That was the hardest part. The ego death of it, like ‘oh wow, this wasn’t real love, this was fake love. What does that mean? Who am I as an adult without all this approval and praise and attention and validation?'”