The pop star is ‘strongly opposed’ to her father resuming his role overseeing her financial affairs, according to a new court filing
Britney Spears is attempting to remove her father, Jamie Spears, as her sole conservator, The Independent reports. For the past 12 years, he has had control over much of the singer’s career, estate, and personal life.
Conservatorship is when a court appoints a guardian or protector to manage the life of somebody due to physical or mental limitations. Spears’ conservatorship began in 2008, following her alleged breakdown in 2007. Over the last few years, the conservatorship has become a rallying point for fans in the #FreeBritney movement, who believe that the singer is being exploited.
In a document filed by Spears’ lawyers to the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles on Monday (August 17), the singer stated that she is “strongly opposed” to having her father, Jamie, return as “conservator of her person” after he temporarily stepped down from the role in 2019 due to health reasons. She is petitioning that her temporary conservator, Jodi Montgomery, become his permanent replacement.
Spears’ lawyers believe that the move will be “aggressively contested by James Spears” but the conservatorship “must be changed substantially” to reflect the “major changes in” in her current lifestyle and “stated wishes”.
The #FreeBritney movement claimed in an online petition that Spears’ father “doesn’t allow her to drive” and that “all of her calls and messages are monitored, she’s not allowed to vote, hang with anyone or spend her money without permission. And if she breaks a ‘rule’ he threatens to have her kids taken away.”
Jamie Spears has dismissed these fans as “conspiracy theorists don’t know anything”. Britney Spears has not publicly commented on the movement.