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Tag: Britney Spears testimony

  • 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.”

  • Britney Spears’ new attorney says father must step aside

    By Associated Press
    LOS ANGELES: A judge allowed Britney Spears to hire an attorney of her choosing at a hearing on Wednesday, June 14, 2021, in which she broke down in tears after describing the “cruelty” of her conservatorship.

    Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny approved Spears hiring former federal prosecutor Mathew Rosengart, who called on Spears’ father to immediately resign as her conservator.

    “The question remains, why is he involved,” Rosengart said outside the courthouse.

    ALSO READ: Britney Spears breaks silence after guardianship hearing

    Britney Spears, taking part in the hearing by phone, told the judge she approved of Rosengart after several conversations with him. She then asked to address the court, but asked that the courtroom be cleared.

    As Rosengart began to argue for a private hearing, Spears interrupted him to say “I can talk with it open.””My dad needs to be removed today,” she said, adding that she would like to see him charged with abusing his position.

    She spoke so rapidly she was at times difficult for the court reporter and the dozens of media members in the courtroom to understand.

    She said she wanted the conservatorship to end immediately but not if it required going through any more “stupid” evaluations. She said she did not want another opportunity for “people to question my intelligence for the millionth time.”

    She described being denied things as basic as coffee, her driver’s license and her “hair vitamins” by the conservatorship.

    “If this is not abuse, I don’t know what is,” Spears said.

    She recalled that “I thought they were trying to kill me” in the early years of the conservatorship as she was being overworked and constantly examined.

    She began to sob as she talked about taking comfort in a therapy dog when she felt abandoned by her family.

    James Spears would not be stepping down as Rosengart challenged, his attorney Vivan Thoreen said in court, adding that he has only ever had his daughter’s best interests in mind.

    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.”

    “Whether it’s misinformation, lack of correction, or being wrongly advised, I don’t know,” Thoreen said.Thoreen emphasized that for nearly two years James Spears has had control only over his daughter’s money, ceding power over her life choices to a court-appointed professional, Jodi Montgomery.

    ALSO READ: Britney Spears’ father Jamie breaks silence on singer’s allegations over conservatorship

    Thoreen argued that an evidentiary hearing was necessary to look into the allegations that Britney Spears made at the June 23 hearing, including that she was being forced to take medications and use an intra-uterine device for birth control.

    Thoreen said she found it odd Britney Spears would describe those circumstances, which the pop star called “abusive,” then approve of Montgomery continuing in her role as overseer.

    Montgomery’s lawyer, Lauriann Wright, responded that the last thing Britney Spears needed was to be put on the stand and cross-examined over the truth of what she said during her emotional testimony.

    “I don’t think it’s a secret that we’re dealing with someone with mental illness,” Wright said.

    Wright added that it’s been “strongly recommended by her medical team that her father Mr. Spears needs to be off the conservatorship.”

    Britney Spears has been under court supervision since February 2008. She was in the midst of a public meltdown at the time and her family sought the conservatorship for her protection.

    She has had throughout the proceedings a court-appointed attorney to represent her interests, Samuel Ingham III, but he resigned after the dramatic hearing three weeks ago in which the pop star told Penny: “I just want my life back.”

    Fans from the #FreeBritney movement outside the courthouse cheered the decision to appoint Rosengart, then cheered Rosengart himself when he walked out.

    In court, he called into question whether the conservatorship should ever have been put into place, and said he and a team of attorneys from his firm would be taking a close look at the details of the arrangement.

    “This is not working,” Rosengart said. “We know that.”

    Florida congressman Matt Gaetz made a brief appearance addressing the Spears supporters outside the downtown Los Angels courthouse, at one point shouting “Free Britney!”

    In Washington, D.C., a group of Spears supporters demonstrated on the National Mall in support of the singer.

    The case had for several years operated with little drama, though questions about how its length and the singer’s feelings about the proceedings, arose in recent years. That has culminated into intense public scrutiny of the court proceedings, which have been conducted largely in secret due to medical and private information about the singer and her condition.

    There has also been focus on the complex network of lawyers and others involved in the conservatorship.

    Penny again gave little indication of what moves she’ll make next, scheduling another hearing for late September and expressing hope that the warring factions will find common ground for Britney Spears’ sake.

    “Everybody should be working collaboratively,” the judge said. “It’s not about anybody else, it’s about her.”