Everything you need to know about Britney’s conservatorship ahead of her long-awaited court appearance
Fans are patiently waiting for Britney Spears to break her silence in court amid her conservatorship battle, hoping the pop star will finally be “freed”.
After 13 years of scrutiny surrounding Britney Spears’ conservatorship, and amid silence from the pop superstar herself, in a few hours, she will finally face court as the world watches on.
Tomorrow’s address will be the first time Britney has stood before a court in years, despite the ongoing legal battle with her dad, Jamie Spears, the course of constant headlines.
The 39-year-old mum-of-two requested permission through her lawyer to speak for herself, explaining she would like to “address the court directly” about the “status of the conservatorship”.
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It comes as Britney continues to try and push her father out of the arrangement following her court-appointed lawyer Samuel D. Ingham III’s November 2020 court filing, in which he said the Toxic singer is allegedly “afraid” of her dad.
However, documents released today by the New York Times reveal the pop icon has long wished for freedom from her dad’s stronghold over her finances.
The previously sealed documents reveal she has had issues with her father from early on in the case, having written in 2016 that she was “sick of being taken advantage of” and felt she was “the one working and earning her money but everyone around her is on her payroll”.
That year, the pop star also informed a court investigator that she wanted the conservatorship terminated altogether, reportedly stating that Jamie was “obsessed” with controlling her life.
“She articulated she feels the conservatorship has become an oppressive and controlling tool against her,” the court investigator wrote, adding that Britney said, “Too much control … Too, too much!”
The case surrounding the conservatorship has been well-publicised since the documentary Framing Britney Spears was broadcast in February of this year. The documentary only exacerbated the concerns of Britney fans, who have raised questions about whether the court’s orders are taking her best interests into account.
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What is the conservatorship all about?
According to California law, a conservatorship is when “a judge appoints a responsible person (a conservator) to care for another adult who cannot care for herself or her finances”.
The legal guardianship is usually used to protect the very old or those who are mentally or physically disabled, to make sure they’re not being taken advantage of.
In the past, eagle-eyed fans on Reddit had dredged up paperwork from 2008, filed by Jamie, claiming Britney had dementia, which would give him even more power over the pop star under California code, including “(the ability) to make most medical decisions without the court’s permission”.
According to the New York Times, all of her expenses, including trips to Starbucks and iTunes purchases, are turned over to the court.
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Jamie was named conservator of her person and co-conservator of her estate alongside lawyer Andrew Wallet in 2008, following her public breakdown in 2007.
Wallet stepped down as estate manager in October 2020, and a financial firm named Bessemer Trust was put in his place. Jamie, 68, remains co-conservator of Britney’s money but not her personal affairs, which a licensed fiduciary, Jodi Montgomery, temporarily began overseeing in September 2019.
Jamie may have to split — or relinquish altogether — his duties as conservator of the person since Britney wants Montgomery, who’s been described as her care manager, to permanently take over the role.
Britney, who has not performed publicly since late 2018, said she will not perform as long as her father is in charge of her career.
When did her conservatorship start?
Britney dominated the tabloids in the early 2000s for her relationship with Justin Timberlake, a 55-hour marriage to her childhood friend Jason Alexander and, of course, her head-shaving breakdown including attacking a photographer’s car with an umbrella after her marriage to Kevin Federline fell apart.
It was 2007 when she voluntarily checked out of the Crossroads rehab centre in Antigua and famously shaved her head in a Los Angeles salon.
Afterwards, she went to a tattoo parlour to get an inking of a woman’s lips on her wrist. The tattoo artist claimed that Britney told her, “I don’t want anyone touching my hair. I’m sick of people touching my hair,” when asked about her new look.
In 2008, Britney was placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold after not sleeping for five days. It was her second stint in a hospital that year; the first came after refusing to return her sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James, then 2 and 1 respectively, to their father, Federline.
The conservatorship was first put in place in 2007. At the time, it was insisted that it was designed to protect her and stop people from taking advantage of her financially.
But recent BBC documentary The Battle for Britney casts doubt over who is really benefiting from the situation, claiming her court-approved lawyer for the past 13 years is being paid $12,900 per week by Britney’s estate.
Bombshell claims about Britney’s health
In The Battle for Britney, documents are also shown explaining the purpose of the pop star’s conservatorship.
The documentary claims that in those forms, Jamie did indicate his daughter had dementia to justify having control over her finances as fans suspected.
Her loyal supporters have spoken out about the claim, saying it couldn’t be possible for Britney to have dementia while releasing four albums, pulling off four energy-sapping global tours and performing 248 gigs in Las Vegas during the conservatorship.
“There is no way any dementia patient is going on world tours, doing Vegas residencies, is learning 27 back-to-back combo numbers, full choreography. No honey, that is not happening,” said fan Hayley Herms, who is part of the Free Britney movement.
Journalist Mobeen Azhar, who investigated Britney’s conservatorship in the documentary, reiterated that Jamie had ticked a box saying it related to “dementia placement or treatment”.
“There’s only two options with that,” Azhar said.
“Britney might have dementia. Now I’m not a doctor but if that’s the case, then the world isn’t aware of that. But the other option is actually more sinister.
“That’s the idea that she doesn’t have dementia but the conservatorship team have suggested that she has because they want to push the conservatorship through. And if that’s the case, then that’s terrifying.”
Free Britney campaigner Megan Radford added that the claim meant she could be placed in a probate conservatorship, rather than a mental health arrangement, which nobody could earn money from.
She said Britney “clearly did not and does not have dementia”, and called her father’s case “fraudulent”.
Doubts surrounding her father’s intentions
Documents obtained by the New York Times from a 2014 hearing stated that Britney had issues with her dad even back then, citing his drinking and a “shopping list” of other grievances.
It outlined that Jamie has attempted to control all aspects of Britney’s life, from whom she dates to the colour of her kitchen cabinets, which Jamie allegedly thought would be too expensive to change. The report noted that Britney only had a $USD2000 ($A2648) weekly allowance.
In 2019, Britney also told the court during a closed-door hearing that she was forced to go to a mental health facility against her will, per The Times. She reportedly saw it as punishment for making an objection during a rehearsal for her Las Vegas residency, which she said she once performed with a 40-degree fever.
Furthermore, Jamie has filed legal papers seeking to have the US singer’s estate pay more than $3.95 million ($A5.2 million) in legal fees – including nearly $2.6 million ($A3.3 million) to his own lawyers, who are working to keep the star’s conservatorship in place, according to documents obtained by Page Six.
“If approved by the judge, this money would come from Britney’s estate, meaning she essentially would be paying her own father’s lawyers to fight her in court,” a source close to Britney told the publication.
The $3.95 million being requested by the elder Spears is for services rendered between November 2019 and February 2021.
The #FreeBritney fan movement
Fans have long battled for Britney’s requests surrounding her conservatorship to be granted, protesting outside LA courtrooms and passionately driving online campaigns dedicated to “freeing” the singer.
Among a number of conspiracies about the singer’s life, they claim her bizarre Instagram account isn’t being controlled by her, and that she’s sending cryptic messages within posts begging to be “saved”.
Comedians Babs Gray and Tess Barker became dedicated to trying to find meaning in Britney’s online behaviour, a lighthearted pastime they turned into the Britney’s Gram podcast.
But the comedic take on the singer’s frequent dancing videos and at-home catwalks took a darker turn in 2019 after the hosts received a mysterious phone call from someone claiming to have worked on Jamie’s legal team, who alleged the singer was being manipulated.
From there, fans became convinced Britney was trying to communicate through her posts.
Some think they see hidden meanings in the way she smiles, where she looks at the camera, even whether she has written the word ‘help’ in tiny letters on her hat.
Others are certain she is responding to their comments to twirl or blink or wear yellow in her next video if she needs help.
In one of her latest public posts, Britney shared a series of images wearing a snake suit.
She wrote in the caption: “I held a snake at the @VMAs one time but decided to go ahead 20 years later and become the motherf****ing snake”.
She added, “And since TRICKS ARE FOR KIDS you tricky little sh*ts … who knows what colour snake I will be tomorrow.
She concluded, “!!!!??? STAY SAFE folks and watch out for snakes!!!!!”.
Fans were quick to weigh in with the conspiracy, doubting it was written by her.
“This cannot be Britney writing that,” one declared.
“Well this ain’t strange at all Britt. Hope you’re released from your cage soon,” another #FreeBritney supporter wrote.
Others seemed genuinely worried for the star, with one sharing, ‘I’m concerned” and another asking, “Britney, what does this mean?”
Britney’s parents’ bitter battle
Britney not only has fans behind her, but her mother Lynne, who has been objecting to Jamie’s exorbitant legal fees in the conservatorship case with their daughter.
Court documents filed earlier this month and obtained by People claim that Lynne, 65, disagrees with Jamie’s four months’ fee of $1.1 million (A$1.4 million) from his law firm Holland & Knight.
Lynne says the fees are both “procedurally and substantively improper.”
She continued in the documents to claim that the law firm requested compensation for services “not performed in good faith for the benefit,” of Britney.
She is also requesting that a portion of those costs – at least $287,000 (A$379,000) related to their communication with the press – be “immediately repaid” to Britney’s estate.
The document claims the majority of the firm’s “unnecessary” work largely constituted a “national media tour” to help fight the media’s coverage that cast Jamie in a negative light.”
The document continued: “(Lynne) vehemently objects to the inclusion of services related to ‘Media Matters:’ the national media tour that Mr. Spears’ counsel has embarked upon,” adding that the work is “directly contrary to (Britney’s) wish for privacy”.
“The Conservatee’s life has been under a media microscope, and the last thing she wishes, desires, or derives any benefit from is her Conservator’s lawyer spending (her) money to promote herself in the same media that scrutinises everything that happens to (Britney),” the document continued.
What will happen next
Britney will address the Stanley Mosk Courthouse remotely to finally break her silence on June 23, US time.
That won’t stop the passionate Free Britney activists gathering outside court with gusto.
While it’s not clear exactly what Britney will tell the court, she spoke out on recent documentaries about her in an Instagram post, saying she was “embarrassed” by the attention.
In the past, Britney’s lawyer Sam Ingham has asked the court to appoint Jodi Montgomery as her permanent conservator, replacing her father.
The request was to have Ms Montgomery appointed to the permanent conservator of Britney’s person, while it remained unclear if the role would also fulfil the needs of her estate.
The hearing – and Britney’s landmark appearance – will take place at 1.30pm local time.
Another hearing regarding the estate’s accounting documents is set for July 14.
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