Britney Spears is finally acknowledging the #FreeBritney movement and those who’ve called for her father Jamie’s 12-year conservatorship over her to end. It’s official: #FreeBritney is not a conspiracy theory, and Britney herself is rallying for the cause.
In new court documents filed in Los Angeles on 2nd September, Britney's attorney, Samuel D. Ingham III, wrote that the pop star wants future court hearings about her conservatorship open to the public, even though her father has kept the case sealed thus far.
“Britney herself is vehemently opposed to this effort by her father to keep her legal struggle hidden away in the closet as a family secret,” Ingham wrote. Britney, her parents, and her temporary conservator Jodi Montgomery have been the only ones allowed in the courtroom.
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The goal is for Britney to bring more media and public attention to her case. The vocal online #FreeBritney movement has been increasingly gaining more traction, to the point that Jamie called it a "conspiracy theory" in an 1st August interview with Page Six. Ingham called out Britney's father's dismissal, suggesting that there is validity to the fans worries and that Jamie's efforts to squash it are further proof of efforts to keep a tight grip on his daughter's life.
“Far from being a conspiracy theory or a ‘joke’ as James reportedly told the media, in large part this scrutiny [on social media] is a reasonable and even predictable result of James’ aggressive use of the sealing procedure over the years to minimise the amount of meaningful information made available to the public,” Ingham said. “Whatever merits his strategy might have had years ago when Britney was trying to restart her career, at this point in her life when she is trying to regain some measure of personal autonomy, Britney welcomes and appreciates the informed support of her many fans.”
four years after our story (https://t.co/rByRDlE8L2), Britney Spears seems to have fully broken from her dad Jamie & is finally giving #FreeBritney her blessing, in new court docs arguing against sealing future hearings in the conservatorship pic.twitter.com/vRdNHshLMF
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) September 3, 2020
Since 2008 Jamie has acted his daughter's guardian, along with attorney Andrew Wallet, who resigned in 2019. Under the conservatorship, her father dictates every detail of her life, from her career to her finances to her personal life. In 2018, her younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, made a trustee of Britney’s fortune in order to help manage and protect her wealth, ensuring it can be accessed by her two sons in the future. In that same year, Montgomery replaced the "Lucky" singer's father after he suffered a health scare, and according to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, Britney is "strongly opposed” to her dad returning as conservator (which is scheduled for 1st February 2021) as she wants "take back control" of her life.