So many of the details of Britney Spears’s 13-year conservatorship and her personal feelings about it have been kept hidden from the public for years. What we do know for sure is that Spears does not want her father, Jamie Spears, at the helm of her personal and professional life. However, a new report reveals that Britney has been quietly pushing to end the court-approved arrangement all together for years, calling it an "oppressive and controlling tool against her."
According to confidential court records obtained by The New York Times, Britney has been in “serious opposition” to the conservatorship much earlier than the public had previously known — since at least 2014. A court investigator wrote in a 2016 report that she felt the system had “too much control," and wanted the conservatorship terminated as soon as possible. “She is ‘sick of being taken advantage of’ and she said she is the one working and earning her money but everyone around her is on her payroll,” the investigator wrote.
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Much of the control comes from Jamie, who Britney, reportedly as early as 2014, wanted removed as her conservator due to what her lawyer Samuel D. Ingham III characterized as a “shopping list” of grievances, including his excessive drinking. However, she didn't believe that the court would take her concerns seriously. "She anticipates that, as it has been done before, the court will simply sweep it under the carpet and ignore any negative inferences with regard to Mr. Spears,” Ingham said, according to a transcript. Representatives for Jamie declined to comment on the report to The New York Times. Refinery29 has reached out to Spears for comment.
The public had already known that the pop star was at odds with Jamie when in a November 2020 hearing, Ingham told the judge that Britney "is afraid of her father," and “will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career.” However, more details from the court documents reveal just how tight a grip he has had on her every move. As far as her personal life, according to the investigator’s report, Britney said her father was “obsessed” with her and wanted to control everything about her, from the color of her kitchen cabinets to her ability to make friends. He controlled her finances, and even though she earned millions from her successful 2013 Las Vegas residency, she said she was limited to a $2,000 weekly allowance.
She also reportedly said in a closed-door hearing in 2019 that she had been forced into a mental health facility against her will for "exaggerated" reasons, which she felt was punishment for making an objection during a rehearsal. She also claimed that she had been forced to perform against her will — once while sick with a 104-degree fever, calling it "one of the scariest moments" of her life.
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The conservatorship “comes with a lot of fear,” she said.
Britney will be addressing the court in a special hearing on June 23, and is reportedly planning to use her time to directly ask the court to remove her father co-conservator of her estate.