Britney SpearsAfter a dozen years in a conservatory with little control over her life, the pop star won an incremental victory Thursday when a Los Angeles probate judge gave a private trust company the same authority as her father to manage its finances.
In the recent virtual trial in Spears’ longtime case, Los Angeles Supreme Court Justice Brenda Penny overturned Britney Spears’ father, Jamie Spears’ objection to Bessemer Trust Co. as his daughter’s co-curator.
The judge agreed to Britney Spears’ desire to have someone with the same power as her father in control of her case. 68-year-old Jamie Spears remains co-curator despite his daughter’s objections to him.
The judge appointed Bessemer a Conservatory in November and dismissed Britney’s efforts to remove her father entirely. Even so, Jamie Spears rejected the proposed management agreement with Bessemer, arguing that it diminished the power he held for years on the case.
“The whole world is watching”:Britney Spears fights father to open the conservatory’s case
Britney’s attorney Samuel Ingham argued in court Thursday that Jamie Spears and Bessemer should share power to figure out how to manage Britney’s “complex estate” to their advantage. But he repeated that Britney’s goal is to eventually remove her father completely.
“It’s not a secret My client doesn’t want her father to be a co-curatorHowever, we recognize that removal is a separate issue, ”said Ingham.
Jamie Spears’ attorney Vivian Thoreen said in court Thursday that when Britney started conservatory, she wanted her father to be her only conservator. Her father continues to insist on protecting his daughter, driven by what is described in court records as “a fierce desire to protect her from those who try to take advantage of her.”
USA TODAY approached both Ingham and Thoreen for comments.
Since last summer, Ingham (and numerous Britney fans) has been pushing for Britney, now 39, to be freed from her father’s control, which he has maintained, sometimes with a co-curator, since his daughter’s life was unraveled in 2007 and she has lost custody of her two young children.
She has been in a conservatory or guardianship as it is known in other states since early 2008 and has no independent control over her personal life and wealth, which is now valued and growing at over $ 60 million.
She continued to perform as a pop superstar for years, with a number of platinum-selling records, an appearance as the “X Factor” judge and a ruling queen of the residences in Las Vegas.
Many of her fans, loosely gathered under the online movement #FreeBritney, raised questions about why she still needs a guardian to look after her Britney Spears seemed ready to loosen the grip of the conservatory.
In recent court hearings, Ingham informed the judge that Britney did not want her father to remain as her guardian she fears him and that she would refuse to perform again if he was still in control.
She hasn’t performed since then She postponed her final Las Vegas residency show“Domination” in January 2019 because her father had a broken colon.
The last hearing took place a week after the release of “Britney Spears frame” A New York Times documentary about Hulu and FX that examines how Britney rose to be a pop star and how she was treated by the paparazzi and journalists when her behavior became more erratic in 2007.
The film also questions the Spears Conservatory and how and for whom such guardianship is created in California. The American Civil Liberties Union has fought the California system of conservatories, declaring that they pose a threat to the civil rights of disabled people and that they are difficult to escape once they have been imposed.
More:Why does Britney Spears still have a restorer? The legal expert says her file suggests answers
Meanwhile, #FreeBritney activists continue to advocate the full freedom of their beloved icon, arguing that she is being held against her will. References to cryptic posts on her Instagram account. Celebrities also gathered by Spear’s side on social media.
The activists sometimes appear at rallies outside the courthouse in downtown Los Angeles when their case is being heard The pandemic forced them to practically rally online Thursday.
On Tuesday, Spears’ friend Sam Asghari, 27, joined those who spoke out on treating Spears on social media by specifically calling the singer’s father on his Instagram story and accusing Jamie Spears of “trying to control our relationship and constantly throwing barriers at us”.
Britney herself posted another cryptic message on Tuesday. “I’ll always love being on stage,” Spears said in a throwback video of herself three years ago when she played Toxic. “But I take the time to learn and be a normal person … I just love enjoying the basics of everyday life!”
The next hearing on this case is scheduled for March 17th.
Contributor: The Associated Press
