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Tag: Britney Spears conservatorship

  • ‘They made me feel like nothing’: Britney Spears addresses conservatorship

    By AFP

    NEW YORK: Britney Spears on Sunday released a lengthy audio message concerning the controversial guardianship that kept her primarily under her father’s control for more than 13 years.

    A Los Angeles judge in November 2021 dissolved the conservatorship long overseen by Spears’ father — an arrangement the singer said had prevented her from having a contraceptive IUD removed despite her desire for more kids.

    The audio message was originally tweeted by Spears without comment but the link was then deleted. The 22 minutes of audio of Spears’ voice remain available online, however.

    “I woke up this morning and I realized there’s a lot going on in my head that I haven’t shared with anyone,” Spears says in the raw, emotional recording.

    She then details the conservatorship, echoing what she told a California court in a bombshell hearing last summer.

    The now 40-year-old describes being forced to work and tour, and barred from seeing friends or driving her own car.

    Spears says that her phone was tapped, and she felt unsafe asking for help.

    “They made me feel like nothing, and I went along with it,” Spears says, describing being fat-shamed.

    “It was demoralizing,” Spears says.

    “You also have to understand, it was like 15 years of touring and doing shows. And I’m 30 years old, living under my dad’s rules. And while all of this is going on, my mom’s witnessing this, my brother, my friends — they all go along with it.”

    Spears rocketed to fame in her teens on hits like “…Baby One More Time,” becoming one of the world’s reigning pop stars.

    But she suffered a highly publicized 2007 breakdown, which included attacking a paparazzo’s car at a gas station.

    The conservatorship began in 2008. It didn’t formally end until November 2021, after the pop phenom’s father Jamie Spears was removed from his position in charge of her finances and estate at a hearing in September.

    Since gaining her freedom, Spears has married her boyfriend Sam Asghari.

    On Friday she released her first new music in six years, a duet with Elton John called “Hold Me Closer,” a dance-inflected take on John’s ballad “Tiny Dancer.”

    NEW YORK: Britney Spears on Sunday released a lengthy audio message concerning the controversial guardianship that kept her primarily under her father’s control for more than 13 years.

    A Los Angeles judge in November 2021 dissolved the conservatorship long overseen by Spears’ father — an arrangement the singer said had prevented her from having a contraceptive IUD removed despite her desire for more kids.

    The audio message was originally tweeted by Spears without comment but the link was then deleted. The 22 minutes of audio of Spears’ voice remain available online, however.

    “I woke up this morning and I realized there’s a lot going on in my head that I haven’t shared with anyone,” Spears says in the raw, emotional recording.

    She then details the conservatorship, echoing what she told a California court in a bombshell hearing last summer.

    The now 40-year-old describes being forced to work and tour, and barred from seeing friends or driving her own car.

    Spears says that her phone was tapped, and she felt unsafe asking for help.

    “They made me feel like nothing, and I went along with it,” Spears says, describing being fat-shamed.

    “It was demoralizing,” Spears says.

    “You also have to understand, it was like 15 years of touring and doing shows. And I’m 30 years old, living under my dad’s rules. And while all of this is going on, my mom’s witnessing this, my brother, my friends — they all go along with it.”

    Spears rocketed to fame in her teens on hits like “…Baby One More Time,” becoming one of the world’s reigning pop stars.

    But she suffered a highly publicized 2007 breakdown, which included attacking a paparazzo’s car at a gas station.

    The conservatorship began in 2008. It didn’t formally end until November 2021, after the pop phenom’s father Jamie Spears was removed from his position in charge of her finances and estate at a hearing in September.

    Since gaining her freedom, Spears has married her boyfriend Sam Asghari.

    On Friday she released her first new music in six years, a duet with Elton John called “Hold Me Closer,” a dance-inflected take on John’s ballad “Tiny Dancer.”

  • Britney Spears wants to record music again after conservatorship win

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: Friday marks the big victory day for pop star Britney Spears after 13 long years, she is finally free from her conservatorship. An LA judge has finally given her sole power to control her life and money.

    But what her fans and followers are looking up to is her further plans after the conservatorship win. The singer is already making plans that also include recording music again. Britney “wants to make music and perform again,” but it’s “not her top priority right now and hasn’t been for a while,” a source exclusively told Page Six.

    “It’s never been her intention to step away from her career altogether. People around Britney spoke for her and said she was retiring, but they were putting words in her mouth,” the source told the outlet. The insider added, “The only thing she’s said is that she would not work again under her father’s control, but now that he’s out as her conservator, she’s willing and even excited to get back to it one day.”

    There has always been a lot of buzz as to whether the ‘Toxic’ singer would ever return to her music career. As per Page Six, Britney checked into a mental health facility following her “indefinite work hiatus” as of January 2019.

    Her second Vegas residency, ‘Britney: Domination’ was also delayed as a result of the hiatus. In an Instagram Live session in March 2020, Britney’s 15-year-old son, Jayden told his followers that his mom was still unsure about a comeback.

    In July, the pop icon’s longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, quit claiming that the singer had plans to “officially retire.” TMZ reported earlier on Friday that Britney is all set to be back in the game now. She wants to get back into the studio but has not yet picked producers or writers to work with yet.

    However, a source then clarified Page Six that the Grammy winner is open to getting back to work, but “her focus is on the elimination of her conservatorship, marrying Sam and having a baby.”

    On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny ruled that Britney Spears is now capable of being in control of her estate, and the circumstances that led to the restrictive legal arrangement in 2008 no longer apply.

  • Britney Spears’ lawyer urges court to suspend Jamie Spears immediately

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: Singer-songwriter Britney Spears’ attorney accused her father Jamie Spears of crossing “unfathomable lines” after a new documentary recently revealed that the pop star was secretly surveilled during her conservatorship.

    As per Variety, the singer’s attorney, Mathew Rosengart filed a supplemental motion to remove and suspend her father from her conservatorship.

    In the new court filing, Rosengart called for the immediate suspension of Spears’ father “no later than” this week’s hearing on September 29, followed by the “prompt termination” of the conservatorship.

    The filing comes after the documentary titled ‘Controlling Britney Spears’ revealed that the pop star was allegedly being closely monitored by a security firm that was hired by her father without her knowledge.

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, this documentary, a follow-up to last February’s ‘Framing Britney Spears’, has been directed by Samantha Stark with Liz Day as a supervising producer and reporter, and features interviews with insiders who had knowledge of Spears’ life while in the conservatorship.

    Rosengart’s filing on Monday called for an investigation of the claims, stating that Spears’ father allegedly “engaged in horrifying and unconscionable invasions of his adult daughter’s privacy.”

    California, where Spears’ home was allegedly bugged, is a two-party consent state, meaning it could be illegal for Spears’ phone to be tracked without her consent.

    In a statement obtained by Variety, Rosengart said, “Unauthorized recording or monitoring of Britney’s private communications — especially attorney-client communications, which are a sacrosanct part of the legal system — represent an unconscionable and disgraceful violation of her privacy rights and a striking example of the deprivation of her civil liberties.”

    “Placing a listening device in Britney’s bedroom would be particularly horrifying, and corroborates so much of her compelling, poignant testimony. Mr Spears has crossed unfathomable lines,” Rosengart’s statement continued, referring to the star publicly addressing the court on June 23 when she told Judge Brenda Penny that her conservatorship is “abusive.”

    Rosengart said there is “overwhelming evidence” to remove Spears’ father. The filing also stated the reasons for suspension range from “lack of financial acumen, to his bankruptcy, to his reported alcoholism, to the trauma he caused his daughter since her childhood, to the Domestic Violence Restraining Order recently issued against him.”

    He further said that the singer pleads that “regardless of when the conservatorship ends, Mr Spears must be suspended now.”

    He doubled down on his client’s promise not to work until her father is removed, stating that “every day and every hour” that he remains the conservator of her estate causes Spears “anguish and pain.”

    “Ms Spears will no longer be bullied or extorted, nor will she further tolerate her father’s abuse, with its apparent misogynistic underpinnings,” the filing stated.

    Earlier this month, Britney Spears’ father suddenly petitioned to terminate the conservatorship after he has been atop his daughter’s conservatorship since 2008, controlling all of the financial decisions for her estate. 

  • Britney Spears’ ex tour manager reveals conservators controlled her medical care

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: Pop star Britney Spears’ former tour manager Dan George has made some shocking revelations recently, telling that the singer’s conservators controlled her medical care- including doctor visits.

    Page Six obtained a recent interview sneak peek of CNN’s upcoming special chat with Britney Spears’ ex-tour manager, where he revealed how much control Spears’ conservators have over her medical care.

    “The conservatorship dictated to her who her doctors were going to be, which doctors she was going to see, how often she was going to see them, how long those sessions would be — every aspect of her medical care,” he revealed.

    George produced Spears’ ‘Circus’ tour from 2008 to 2009, when her father, Jamie Spears, was both the conservator of her person and her estate.

    However, due to his own health issues, Jamie stepped down as conservator of her person in 2019, following which Jodi Montgomery was appointed.

    Jamie, who is still her daughter’s conservator of the estate, oversees how his daughter’s funds will be distributed toward medical care and other needs.

    George’s claims are close to what Britney herself disclosed in her bombshell June testimony. The ‘Toxic’ singer revealed at the time that conservators had forced her to stay on birth control.

    “I have an [IUD] inside of myself right now so I don’t get pregnant. I wanted to take the [IUD] out so I could start trying to have another baby but this so-called team won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out because they don’t want me to have children,” she said.

    As per Page Six, Britney also accused her team of forcing her to take lithium as retaliation for a dispute over her Las Vegas tour dance rehearsals.

    “[He] said he had a million phone calls about how I was not cooperating in rehearsals and I haven’t been taking my medication. All of this was false. He immediately the next day put me on lithium out of nowhere, he took me off my normal meds I’ve been on for five years and lithium is a very, very strong and completely different medication compared to what I was used to,” she told.

    Britney added that she felt drunk and couldn’t even have a conversation with her parents about anything. “I told them I was scared,” she said.

    George also made a shocking revelation that the conservators’ only allowed Britney to read Christian books and could only have a cell phone “at times,” or when she had, it was “tightly controlled.”

    George also claimed that Britney “was treated as more of an object than a human”. Her conservators even controlled who she could date and be friends with.

    The singer got engaged to her long time boyfriend Sam Asghari, days after her father filed a petition to finally end her conservatorship after 13 long years of the court battle and noted that the court has the power to eliminate it “without ordering a psychological evaluation”.

    On a related note, the next hearing in the case is scheduled for September 29.

  • Britney Spears’ father files petition to end singer’s 13-year-long conservatorship

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: In a shocking move, Jamie Spears on Tuesday has filed a petition in a court asking the judge to entirely end his daughter and pop star Britney Spears’ conservatorship of 13 years.

    The news comes as a bolt from the blue as a court hearing was scheduled for September 29 in which Jamie was supposed to step down as conservator of Britney’s estate, but now he wants to short-cut the process and end the long-running conservatorship entirely.

    After a long legal battle, this move will allow Britney unfettered control over her life, her finances, and her health care decisions for the first time in 13 years.

    For the unversed, Britney’s conservatorship began in 2008 after the singer had several mental breakdowns publicly. Her father served as both a conservator of her estate and person for more than a decade, but, in 2019, he temporarily stepped down as manager of her person due to his own health issues. Jodi Montgomery temporarily took his place for the past two years.

    ALSO READ | Britney Spears’ lawyer accuses singer’s father of trying to extort USD 2 million

    Now in a petition filed with probate judge Brenda Penny on Tuesday, Jamie thinks that his daughter “should get that chance” to control her own affairs, reported Variety.

    Jamie’s attorney Vivian Thoreen wrote, “Ms. Spears has told this Court that she wants control of her life back without the safety rails of a conservatorship. She wants to be able to make decisions regarding her own medical care, deciding when, where and how often to get therapy. She wants to control the money she has made from her career and spend it without supervision or oversight. She wants to be able to get married and have a baby, if she so chooses. In short, she wants to live her life as she chooses without the constraints of a conservator or court proceeding.”

    “As Mr. Spears has said, again and again, all he wants is what is best for his daughter. If Ms. Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Mr. Spears believes that she should get that chance,” Thoreen continued in the legal statement obtained by Variety.

    On July 26, Britney’s new lawyer- attorney Mathew Rosengart filed the official court petition to request the removal of Jamie as conservator of the songstress’ estate. Since the day he was appointed as Britney’s attorney, he has kept up intense pressure on Jamie, accusing him of abusing his power over the singer and of “dissipating her estate.”

    According to the August 12 court filing, Jamie had himself offered to step down as the conservator of his daughter’s estate, but only after a negotiated settlement could be reached.

    Resisting his offer, Mathew said there was nothing to negotiate and that Jamie should resign immediately.

    As per Variety, Mathew has not as of yet, taken the next step of seeking to end the conservatorship. Instead, he has asked for an accountant to take control of Britney Spears’ finances. Another professional, Jodi Montgomery, would continue to serve as conservator of Spears’ “person.”

    In the latest court filing on Tuesday, Jamie suggested that Brenda Penny could order an end to the conservatorship without a further psychiatric evaluation, which had been seen as an obstacle to formally dissolving the arrangement.

    “Mr. Spears believes that Ms. Spears is entitled to have this Court now seriously consider whether this conservatorship is no longer required,” Thoreen wrote.

    Meanwhile, Mathew said in a statement on Tuesday “This filing represents another legal victory for Britney Spears — a massive one — as well as vindication for Ms. Spears. It appears that Mr. Spears believes he can try to avoid accountability and justice, including sitting for a sworn deposition and answering other discovery under oath, but as we assess his filing (which was inappropriately sent to the media before it was served on counsel) we will also continue to explore all options,”

    At a public court hearing in June, the Grammy winner singer spoke for 24 minutes, repeatedly denouncing the conservatorship and her father.

    While in July, Britney gave a bombshell testimony telling a judge to charge her father with conservatorship abuse as he was “ruining” her life and she wants to get rid of him. 

  • Britney Spears’ dad will exit conservatorship, but not yet

    By Associated Press

    LOS ANGELES: Britney Spears’ father said in a court filing Thursday that he is planning to step down from the conservatorship that has controlled her life and money for 13 years, but his departure is not imminent.James Spears filed legal documents saying that while there are no grounds for his removal, he will step down after several lingering issues are resolved. The document gives no timetable for his resignation from his role helping oversee his daughter’s finances.”Mr. Spears continues to serve dutifully, and he should not be suspended or removed, and certainly not based on false allegations,” the filing said. “Mr. Spears is willing to step down when the time is right, but the transition needs to be orderly and includes a resolution of matters pending before the Court.” Those matters include the next judicial review of the pop singer’s finances, which has been delayed by months of public and legal wrangling over James’ Spears role and the legitimacy of the conservatorship by Britney Spears and, in recent weeks, her new attorney.

    ALSO READ: Britney Spears’ new lawyer files to remove father’s controlThe documents say that James Spears has been “the unremitting target of unjustified attacks” but “he does not believe that a public battle with his daughter over his continuing service as her conservator would be in her best interests.” The filing says James Spears will fight the petition to force him out but will work with the court and Britney Spears’ attorney Matthew Rosengart on the next phases. “We are pleased that Mr. Spears and his lawyer have today conceded in a filing that he must be removed,” Rosengart said in a statement. “It is vindication for Britney.”Spears said he was working on a plan to give up his role from before his daughter hired Rosengart last month. 

    For most of the existence of the conservatorship, which was established in 2008, James Spears oversaw his daughter’s personal affairs and money. In 2019, he stepped down as the so-called conservator of her person and maintained control of her finances. He was nevertheless the target of much of his daughter’s ire in a pair of speeches before the court in June and July, in which she called the conservatorship “abusive.” Spears in her June remarks said she had been required to use an intrauterine device for birth control, take medications against her will and prevented from getting married, having another child or even riding in her boyfriend’s car unsupervised.”This conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good,” the 39-year-old Spears said at the time. “I deserve to have a life.”James Spears, 69, was fighting to remain in control in court filings as recently as last week. He said the allegations in his daughter’s testimony are “untested,” need investigation, and involve issues that have long been out of his control. He suggested that Jodi Montgomery, who took over for him as conservator of Britney Spears’ personal affairs, deserved scrutiny if her allegations were accurate.Rosengart said that while he welcomed the new move, he will not take the pressure off James Spears, who should not wait to step down. “We look forward to continuing our vigorous investigation into the conduct of Mr. Spears, and others, over the past 13 years, while he reaped millions of dollars from his daughter’s estate, and I look forward to taking Mr. Spears’s sworn deposition in the near future,” Rosengart’s statement said. “In the interim, rather than making false accusations and taking cheap shots at his own daughter, Mr. Spears should remain silent and step aside immediately.”Even after James Spears’ departure, the court will maintain the same control over Britney Spears that is has since the conservatorship was put in place in 2008. But he has been a lightning rod for the ire of fans in the #FreeBritney movement, whose voices have become increasingly prominent as they have been embraced by Britney Spears and Rosengart.And Rosengart has marked James Spears’ departure as a necessary first step before ending the arrangement entirely.The new filing adamantly defends the work of James Spears and the conservatorship and pushes back especially against allegations made by Britney Spears’ mother Lynne Spears in a recent declaration.”When this Conservatorship was initiated 13 years ago, Britney Jean Spears was in crisis, desperately in need of help. Not only was she suffering mentally and emotionally, she was also being manipulated by predators and in financial distress,” the documents say. “Mr. Spears came to his daughter’s rescue to protect her, and this Court made the determination that the protection provided by a conservatorship was necessary and in Ms. Spears’ best interests.”

    ALSO READ: Britney Spears wants father Jamie Spears to be immediately suspended from conservatorshipThe documents say that Lynne Spears was wrong in criticizing the hiring of a psychiatrist that she said James Spears chose for their daughter, and in saying that medications he prescribed were inappropriate.The doctor was actually chosen by Britney Spears herself and had the approval of Montgomery, her medical team, and Britney Spears’ previous attorney, the filing says. This same group, including the singer herself, approved of the medication the doctor prescribed, the filing says. It also criticizes Lynne Spears assuming a role at all, saying she is someone Britney Spears “has avoided speaking with for most of her adult life.”

  • Judge denies Britney Spears’ request to move up hearing to remove father from conservatorship

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: It seems like luck is not on singer Britney Spears’ side as a judge has now denied her attorney’s request to expedite her next hearing, regarding the suspension and removal of her father, Jamie Spears, from her conservatorship.

    According to Variety, judge Brenda Penny, on Monday, rejected a motion filed by attorney Mathew Rosengart to advance a September 29 hearing to late August.

    In his petition, Rosengart had said moving up the hearing would be in the best interest of the pop star. He claimed that Britney’s father is “dissipating” her multi-million fortune and has exerted “absolutely microscopic control” over her life.

    “A conservatorship should be a last resort, designed to benefit the conservatee rather than a mechanism designed to serve as a tool for the enrichment of third parties,” Rosengart’s filing stated last week.

    After the judge’s decision, Britney took to Instagram and shared a few posts which hinted at the singer’s disappointment over the whole scenario.

    In one of the posts, we can see her male fan holding up a pink #FreeBritney flag in the front of a home.

    “My flag up over the American flag? I know in my previous post I said you guys know my situation, but let me clarify..you only know half of it !!! And for a lot of you who say I should be cautious with what I post …I mean if you really think about it… with what I’ve been through I believe I been way too cautious ! One day I will live on the edge !!!! One day..,” she captioned the post.

    Meanwhile, Jamie Spears told the court that his daughter is “mentally sick” and could be subject to involuntary psychiatric hospitalization.

    Britney was placed under conservatorship in 2008 after a public breakdown, and a judge then appointed Jamie Spears as both the conservator of her person and the conservator of her estate.

  • Britney Spears wants father Jamie Spears to be immediately suspended from conservatorship

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: American singer-songwriter Britney Spears, in new court documents filed on Thursday, has requested a Los Angeles court to have her father Jamie Spears removed from her conservatorship immediately.

    According to Fox News, Mathew Rosengart, who is Spears’ attorney, filed an ex parte application on Thursday, requesting that the upcoming September 29 hearing for her conservatorship case be moved to later this month.

    The pop star’s attorney, on Spears’ behalf, reiterated her interest in having her father removed as conservator of her estate, but this time the singer’s wish is for it to happen as soon as possible.

    The court filing obtained by Fox News stated, “Conservatee Britney Jean Spears will and hereby does apply to the Court, on an ex parte basis, for an Order Advancing the September 29 Hearing Date on Conservatee’s Petition to Remove James Spears as Conservator of the Estate and Petition to Appoint Jason Rubin as Conservator of the Estate.”

    It further provided a second option, stating “In the alternative, Conservatee moves for the immediate suspension of James P. Spears as Conservator and the appointment of Jason Rubin as Temporary Conservator pending the hearing presently set for September 29, 2021.”

    For the application, the court filing cited the ‘Toxic’ singer’s testimony from the June 23 and July 14 hearings, declarations from Jodi Montgomery, currently the conservator of the person, and Lynne Spears as “good cause”.

    Rosengart has requested the court to move the September 29 hearing “to the earliest date this Court’s calendar will permit on or after August 23, 2021.” His request also asks that the September 29 hearing be rescheduled to no later than September 5.

    The documents reasoned the request by stating, “Conversely, every day that passes is another day of avoidable harm and prejudice to Ms Spears and the Estate. As described in the Verified July 26 Petitions and filings under Probate Code Section 2650, Ms Spears’s emotional health and well-being must be, and are the paramount concern.”

    Britney’s attorney further goes on to state that the request is in the “best interests” of Spears, and as noted by Montgomery in a court filing earlier this month, he claims it is “critical” to her wellbeing.

    Last month, Rosengart was appointed as Spears’ new counsel following bombshell testimony she gave in Los Angeles Superior Court in June. On June 23, the singer addressed Judge Brenda Penny, calling the conservatorship she’s been under for 13 years “abusive” and claimed her father has enjoyed his “control” over her life.

    She delivered a 24-minute rebuke in open court, denouncing her father’s control over her life, and saying that she was suffering from depression and lack of sleep.

    In July, Rosengart asked that Jamie be replaced with Jason Rubin. Britney’s attorney called the move an “objectively intelligent preference to nominate a highly qualified, professional fiduciary in this circumstance.”

    Thursday’s court filing is the latest in Britney’s 13-year conservatorship saga. After a public breakdown, Britney was placed under a conservatorship in 2008, and a judge then appointed Jamie as both the conservator of her person and the conservator of her estate.

  • Britney Spears’ new lawyer files to remove father’s control

    By Associated Press
    LOS ANGELES: Britney Spears’ new attorney petitioned Monday to oust her father from the conservatorship that has controlled her life and money for 13 years and replace him with a professional accountant.Matthew Rosengart said in documents filed in Los Angeles Superior court that the current legal arrangement “has grown increasingly toxic and is simply no longer tenable.”He proposed that James Spears be replaced with CPA Jason Rubin as conservator of the pop star’s estate, which documents say equates to $2.7 million in cash and more than $57 million in assets. Rosengart said in the filing that before he sought to end the conservatorship, he was first addressing “the most pressing issue facing Ms. Spears: removing Mr. Spears as conservator of the estate.””Any father who genuinely loves his daughter and has her best interests at heart should willingly step aside in favor of the highly respected professional fiduciary nominated here,” Rosengart said in the documents. Lynne Spears, Britney’s mother and James’ ex-wife, said in a declaration supporting Rosengart’s filing that his “microscopic control” over her health care and business decisions in a key period in 2018 and 2019 was especially damaging. “Such scrutiny is exhausting and terrifying, like living in custody,” Lynne Spears said. James Spears stepped down as the so-called conservator of the person for his daughter in 2019, ceding control of her life decisions and health care to court-appointed professional Jodie Montgomery while maintaining control of her finances. A message sent seeking comment from James Spears and his legal team was not immediately returned. But at a July 14 hearing, his attorney Vivian Thoreen said he would not be stepping down and he has only ever been motivated by his daughter’s best interests.Thoreen said Britney Spears had many inaccurate beliefs, among them that “her father is responsible for all the bad things that have happened to her.”Judge Brenda Penny gave Britney Spears permission to hire an attorney of her choice at that hearing, when for the second straight time the singer publicly assailed the conservatorship that has been in place since 2008, breaking into tears as she described the “cruelty” it subjected her to. “My dad needs to be removed today,” she said, adding that she would like to see him charged with abusing his position.Penny has not yet shown any inclination to remove James Spears, and it is not the first time an attorney for Britney Spears has sought her father’s ouster.Last year, Rosengart’s court-appointed predecessor, Samuel Ingham III, proposed that James Spears be replaced with estate-management firm The Bessemer Trust. Penny instead ruled that Jamie Spears and the firm should work in tandem, but Bessemer bowed out of the arrangement before it formally began. Ingham resigned after the dramatic June hearing when the pop star publicly decried the conservatorship for the first time, telling Penny: “I just want my life back.” A hearing to address Rosengart’s petition and other issues in the conservatorship is scheduled for Sept. 29. 

  • Britney Spears quits live performances, slams father over controlling her affairs

    By AFP
    LOS ANGELES: Britney Spears, in a furious Instagram post, said she has “quit” doing live performances and slammed her father’s control over her affairs. For weeks, the pop superstar has been pleading with a judge in Los Angeles to free her from the years-long conservatorship largely governed by her father, Jamie, ramping up worldwide interest in her case.

    Late Saturday, she took to Instagram in a new, public demonstration of her anger. “I’m not gonna be performing on any stages anytime soon with my dad handling what I wear, say, do, or think,” she wrote.

    Instead, she said, she will share her own dance videos “from my living room” instead of from a stage in Las Vegas. “I quit !!!!” she wrote.

    Spears, who rocketed to fame in her teens, suffered a highly public 2007 breakdown — when the shaven-headed star attacked a paparazzo’s car at a gas station. The following year, a California court placed her under a unique legal guardianship largely governed by her father.

    Spears swiftly returned to performing after that, released three albums, appeared on various television shows and even took up the Las Vegas residency she referenced in the Instagram post. But in January 2019, she abruptly announced she was suspending her performances until further notice.

    And then last month, the singer made an impassioned plea for her situation to change, alleging that she had been prevented from having a contraceptive IUD removed, despite wanting more children, and forcefully put on medication that made her feel “drunk.” 

    Spears said she had been made to perform shows under threat of lawsuit, and that she was not even allowed to get changed in privacy or drive her own car. “My so-called support system hurt me deeply !!!! This conservatorship killed my dreams … so all I have is hope and hope is the only thing in this world that is very hard to kill … yet people still try !!!!” she wrote on Saturday.

    Spears also referenced recent documentaries about her plight that have helped fuel a reckoning about the entertainment industry’s treatment of young, female pop stars. “I didn’t like the way the documentaries bring up humiliating moments from the past … I’m way past all that and have been for a long time!” she wrote.

    On Wednesday Spears scored a major victory in her legal battle after a judge ruled she could appoint her own lawyer. The lawyer appointed by a court following her breakdown had asked to step down from his role, as had the financial management company that was set to assume joint control of her estate with her father.

    Spears’s longtime manager Larry Rudolph has also quit. Her father, however, has signalled that he will not step down voluntarily. Spears has lots of public support, from fans chanting outside the courtroom to her musical peers Christina Aguilera and Madonna to the massive #FreeBritney movement on social media.