A Judge Suspends Britney Spears’ Dad From Her Conservatorship

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Britney Spears supporter Peter Stickles was among those demonstrating outside of Los Angeles Superior Court Wednesday.

Liz Baker/NPR

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Liz Baker/NPR

Arts & Life
Britney Spears’ Conservatorship Is Back In Court: Who’s Who, And What They Want

In July, Spears herself spoke to the court by telephone at a hearing, asking for the conservatorship to be terminated without having to undergo any further medical evaluation. In those comments, which went viral instantly, Spears accused her father of abusing her, saying she was being exploited and «bullied» by the conservatorship — and particularly by her father.

Less than a week after Spears gave her emotional statement in court, Judge Penny denied the singer’s request to have Jamie Spears removed as conservator of her finances.

Law
Jamie Spears Agrees To Step Down From Britney Spears Conservatorship

Last month, Spears’ father said in a court filing that he was willing to step down. However, he did not provide a timeline, instead stating only he would do so «when the time is right.»

Britney Spears’ current attorney, Mathew Rosengart, has been pushing vociferously for her father to be removed immediately, and for the conservatorship to be terminated completely. Rosengart has argued in court filings that his position has been bolstered by a raft of investigative reporting in recent months, including in two New York Times documentaries available on Hulu: Framing Britney Spears and Controlling Britney Spears.

The second Times documentary premiered last Friday, just days before Wednesday’s hearing. It featured a former cybersecurity specialist on Spears’ security team alleging that the security company for which he worked surveilled the pop star at her father’s request by installing listening devices in her bedroom at her California home and mirroring all her text and phone communications. According to the Times, that surveillance captured conversations Spears had with her former attorney as well as with her children, boyfriend and mother.

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What New Netflix And Hulu Documentaries Reveal About Britney Spears’ Conservatorship

In a court filing Monday, Rosengart wrote: «Mr. Spears has crossed unfathomable lines. While they are not evidence, the allegations warrant serious investigation, certainly by Ms. Spears as, among other things, California is a ‘two-party’ consent state.»

In an earlier filing, Rosengart said that over the past 13 years, the elder Spears appears to have «profited handsomely» from being his daughter’s conservator. Rosengart has also asserted that «serious questions abound concerning Mr. Spears’s potential misconduct, including conflicts of interest, conservatorship abuse and the evident dissipation of Ms. Spears’s fortune.»

Jamie Spears has repeatedly defended his decisions regarding his daughter and her estate. In a filing earlier this month, his lawyer, Vivian L. Thoreen wrote: «As Mr. Spears has said again and again, all he wants is what’s 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.»