Britney Spears has certainly had a difficult time when it comes to dealing with her father, Jamie Spears, in the past year or so. Spears' dad has been co-conservator of the pop sensation's estate and person since her very public breakdown in 2008, but the singer has been trying to have her father removed from that position of authority for several months now, with the Free Britney movement led by her fans being behind her efforts. Now, though, Spears and Free Britney have suffered a setback after going to court with her father.
According to Variety, there was a hearing in a Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday to see if a judge would remove Jamie Spears as conservator. The elder Spears became sole conservator after his co-conservator, Andrew Wallet (who had been in the role since the beginning of the conservatorship), resigned in March of 2019. Unfortunately for Spears and her Free Britney movement fans, the judge declined the application to have Jamie Spears removed as conservator, though future petitions for his total removal or suspension can still be filed.
What will be additionally disappointing to fans, is that Spears' lawyer told the judge that the singer is now "afraid of her father" and "will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career."
Let's backup just a bit and go over how Spears and her dad even came to this point. There has been a lot of drama during recent years because of this conservatorship, though few fans saw it as anything other than a necessary step when it first began over a decade ago. After her breakdown, Jamie Spears and Andrew Wallet were assigned as co-conservators while his daughter sought treatment and tried to get her mental health back on a positive track. Wallet handled her finances (all of her purchases, no matter how small, are tracked), while her father had control over literally every other aspect of her life.
Under the conservatorship, Spears' father has to sign off on every notable decision the singer makes. If she wants to do anything like record a new album, head up a Las Vegas residency or even get married, he has the power to veto those decisions. When Wallet resigned, Spears was then given complete control over his famous daughter's life, meaning all of her personal and professional decisions as well as her finances.
But, September 2019 saw Spears himself have to step out of the role due to health reasons, which led to Jodi Montgomery (Britney Spears' longtime care manager) being assigned as sole conservator on a temporary basis. Apparently, having someone else in charge helped Spears to see her dissatisfaction with the way her father had handled things, because she began trying to have her father removed from the conservatorship this August, when Montgomery's temporary stay in the position was set to end. She had requested at the time that Montgomery be made permanent conservator, but wasn't granted that petition.
The one small seeming victory is that the Bessemer Trust Company of California has been given co-conservator duties and will now control Britney Spears' financial matters, which is something the music superstar had asked for back in September.
So, what does all of this mean for the Free Britney movement? Basically, it's not looking too good. The fans who are firm believers in the campaign think that Jamie Spears is using his position to alternately force his daughter to do things she doesn't want to do, or stop her from doing things she does want which might be beneficial to her, depending on his own motives for her career, personal life, and finances. With him acting as co-conservator once again, it means he still has authority over her major life decisions.
It's likely that Britney Spears is not happy with this ruling, so I doubt that this will be the end of the legal wrangling with regards to her conservatorship. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest on this and all things, TV, movies and pop culture.
