No, the Ten Year Old Does Not Have a Boyfriend
So, why do we keep asking her if she does?
There was much to be bothered about in the recent ‘Framing Britney’ documentary, but what most stuck out to me was the clip of a short interview that Britney did with Ed McMahon after her performance on Star Search.
Ed McMahon: “You have the most adorable pretty eyes — you have a boyfriend?”
Britney: “No sir … they’re mean.”
Ed McMahon: “I’m not mean, how about me?”
The idea that an old man would be an appropriate boyfriend for a 10-year-old is especially gross — and if you really want to go down that awful rabbit hole there are disturbing videos of Canadian talk show host Fergie Olver ambushing young girls with kisses — but what I can’t stop thinking about is the initial question.
Because it is one that is still asked all the time of children by both men and women. And I know that boys and girls get asked the question, but girls get it more often. I say this from experience with my own two children, but the YouTube clip of the Star Search interview is good evidence too.
Ed McMahon did not ask the boy Britney was competing against about any potential love interest. He asked him about growing up on a farm in Missouri.
