Britney Spears Conservatorship

[neonzx]

It is, imo, misogynistic to say a mom has to make motherhood her only job. We never expect that from men.

Oh, it's not about moms. I'm also stern with fathers who don't step-up. They can skip the after work drinks and go to the kid's event after school (so Neon doesn't have to fill-in for them).

Wanting to go to a spa at a hotel when her kids are with their father is not "not stepping up."

On that, we don't disagree. I would not want family drama played out in social media. I guess that's the trade-off for making million$s.

[LM K]

I think Britney is having a rough time right now; I think she's manic. Actually, I'm certain she's manic right now.

Again, I support Britney. Imo, her father and other conservators have abused her. I don't know if she needs a conservatorship. But, at a minimum, her conservators need to be replaced with unbiased conservators.

I'm saddened that Britney feels how she feels. Bipolar is brutal on those who love you. Much of the time people have no idea how to help. Sometimes people who love you step back out of concern that they will be an emotional burden when someone they love is so ill. Her conservatorship likely blocked certain people from her life.

My disease cost me a few friends. Most friends continued to be there for me because they knew I was working my ass off to be well. But there were a few friends who made the decision to leave. I still resent 2 them (how they ended things was cruel). I also understand that they did what they needed to do for themselves. I know they would be happy for me if they learned that I'm extremely stable now.

There's another layer to Britney's life. She's an addict. Based on documentaries she's worked very hard to maintain her sobriety. I applaud her. She's worked her ass of to be a healthier person personally and professionally. People do walk away from addicts, and often for good reasons.

Britney's rants are going to be used against her. Her father (and possibly her other conservators) will use these rants to argue that she's not stable and must be protected.

Britney has benefited tremendously from recent documentaries. I'm sure she's sick of hearing about her unfortunately public meltdowns. It must be embarrassing to have such meltdowns brought up again. Thankfully the documentaries haven't tried to sensationalize her meltdowns. The documentaries have highlighted how her meltdowns led to the development of what has become an abusive conservatorship. I think the documentaries have helped her in her fight against her conservatorship. Discussing her unstable periods helps explain the conservatorship.

There are people who are using the #freebritney movement to boost their own public appearance. I'm certain that's infuriating. Those manipulating Britney's situation for their own gain have earned her anger. But Britney has nothing to gain, and a lot to lose, from making these feelings so public.

Britney has every right to be furious. But she needs greater insight into her public situation. That's not fair. But it's her reality.

Bipolar disorder is insidious.

[LM K]

It is, imo, misogynistic to say a mom has to make motherhood her only job. We never expect that from men.

Oh, it's not about moms. I'm also stern with fathers who don't step-up. They can skip the after work drinks and go to the kid's event after school (so Neon doesn't have to play fill-in for them).

Britney can only have her children 30% of the time. Wtf do you want from her when she's not with her children?

You have no evidence that she isn't an involved parent. In addition, judges tell parents to keep family stuff private for the good of their children. I'm quite confident that her parenting agreement has a clause about protecting her children's privacy. That's stepping up.

As a developmental psychologist, I can say, with 100% certainty, that it's in her children's best interest to not talk about them publicly.

Her children have the right to privacy. Once they turn 18 they can decide to become more public if they want to. Can you imagine the shit show her children would go through once they turned 18 and were had already been in the public eye? Once a child's privacy has been violated, they can never get their privacy back.

In a nutshell. Britney has worked damn hard to be an active parent. When her sons were toddlers, she lost the right to even supervised visitation. Why? Her illness was out of control. She did nothing wrong. She was very sick.

Britney now has 30% unsupervised custody of her children. She has stepped up and continues to step up.

[wavey davey]

Leave Britney alone!

[neonzx]

Leave Britney alone!

She probably needs a hotel "spa treatment" -- as if any normal person would know what that is.


LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!

Cry me me more tears.

[MN-Skeptic]

Leave Britney alone!

She probably needs a hotel "spa treatment" -- as if any normal person would know what that is.


LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!

Cry me me more tears.

You and I can do whatever we want, whenever we want.

The point Britney is making is that she does not have that same freedom, the freedom most adults take for granted.

[raison de arizona]

Leave Britney alone!

She probably needs a hotel "spa treatment" -- as if any normal person would know what that is.


LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!

Cry me me more tears.

You and I can do whatever we want, whenever we want.

The point Britney is making is that she does not have that same freedom, the freedom most adults take for granted.

Exactly. It’s not about the spa. It’s about the ability to go to the spa, or whatever one might want to do. Which she can’t.

And while lots of nonsense amuses me, this is one that doesn’t. What’s been done to her is horrifying. Which isn’t to say she doesn’t need help, but she sure hasn’t been getting it. She’s been getting everything BUT help.

[Phoenix]

LM K, your openness is so helpful to people who don’t have these issues in their lives. Thank you.

I’m under the impression that BP II especially, and to a lesser degree BP I’s (probably what Brittany has), outward symptoms lessen with time, especially when medication has been appropriate and well-managed.
Am I wrong?

This poor woman is 40 and she isn’t allowed the daily freedoms most 13 year olds are. She must be frustrated beyond belief, which sure doesn’t help her get her freedom back. I hope she gets her wishes and that they are good for her. Almost anything would be better than the status quo.

[raison de arizona]

I’m under the impression that BP II especially, and to a lesser degree BP I’s (probably what Brittany has), outward symptoms lessen with time, especially when medication has been appropriate and well-managed.
Am I wrong?

I haven't experienced that. Symptoms ebb and flow as meds work for awhile, then need to be adjusted. Or completely changed.

Appropriate, well-managed medication is totally great, but it is harder than it would appear to achieve and transient (over years).

I'm currently in a Bad Place as I changed jobs (and consequently health insurance) in the middle of medication adjustments. Our US healthcare system sucks, both jobs have decent coverage, but now I'm having to go through the whole qualifying, deductible, new therapist because now the old one isn't covered anymore rigamarole and it is No Fun.

[Phoenix]

I hear you, covfefe. I’m wondering how/if my sprout will be able to afford a doc to manage meds when he’s on his own. Our current doc is aces, has dialed him in perfectly over time, and he’s in a good place. Given the current state of, well, just about everything about modern life for his cohort, we figure we’ll keep paying for a while. Maybe the nest won’t feel so empty.

Large price but small enough for his stability.

Wishing you a nice comfy bench to ride this out on, and ice cream at the end of your rocky road. You know the mantra: This too shall pass.

[wavey davey]

I'm bipolar 1 and schizophrenic. I've done some stupid shit. It never occurred to me that I could get my freedom taken away in such a manner though. Kind of scary. Terrifying, actually.

I didn't know about the cause of Britney's famous meltdown. I can certainly empathize with her struggles, and also yours and LM K's. My younger brother is bipolar and schizoaffective. Probably bipolar 1, but I'm not clear about the difference. When he was first diagnosed in his early 20's, they called it manic depressive. Years later they added the schizoaffective part.

He was on lithium for years, which kind of worked - when he took it regularly. But he would frequently go off because he didn't like the side effects. It basically ended his sex life, which is not fun for anybody, but perhaps especially not for a sex crazed 20 year old guy.

When he would go off his meds, he made life a living hell for himself and everyone around him. There was nothing we could do to help him. In the early 80s, the policy or laws around getting a family member committed to a mental institution were changed so that the person had to agree to go voluntarily unless they had already hurt themself or someone else. And to make it even worse, if you were able to get them committed involuntarily, there was a requirement to ask them each day whether they would like to change it to a voluntary committal, which of course he did, and then immediately asked to be released. I understand the reasoning behind that change, but I think they took it too far.

Early on, when he was on his meds and things were OK, he was able to live a normal life for the most part. You might say he was high functioning. But after a few decades, something changed and he became totally disabled and couldn't do much of anything. We were never able to find out exactly what happened, but my Mom (who was a clinical psychologist) thinks that there was evidence that they put him on some heavy duty med that more or less permanently fried his brain. I remember the first time we saw him after things had changed. He gained a huge amount of weight, barely spoke, his emotional response was totally flat - no reaction to anything. He was also doing this rocking motion, and that "pill rolling" thing with his fingers. His life was destroyed. We think his meds changed again and some of the worst of those symptoms dissipated, but he never got back anywhere near what he had been like before.

He just turned 65 last week, but over a year ago he broke off all contact. All we know is that he is homeless somewhere in San Diego. Unless he's dead from covid or something else like the police. They frequently beat him up when they encounter him.

[Phoenix]

It’s hard, innit?

[wavey davey]

I’m under the impression that BP II especially, and to a lesser degree BP I’s (probably what Brittany has), outward symptoms lessen with time, especially when medication has been appropriate and well-managed.
Am I wrong?

In my brother's case, the bipolar symptoms did lessen with time. He was first diagnosed over 40 years ago (he's now 65), and we could see the gradual change. I believe it got to the point that it is no longer part of his diagnosis. One thing that probably helped was that as he got older he tended to stay much more consistent with his meds.

Unfortunately, the schizoaffective part of his disease did not dissipate.

[raison de arizona]

He gained a huge amount of weight, barely spoke, his emotional response was totally flat - no reaction to anything. He was also doing this rocking motion, and that "pill rolling" thing with his fingers. His life was destroyed. We think his meds changed again and some of the worst of those symptoms dissipated, but he never got back anywhere near what he had been like before.

I get there from time to time, the completely flat affect and rhythmic motions are familiar. I've always came back sooner or later once meds got adjusted and kicked it, but there have been years that I don't know how my family put up with me. The first wife gave up.

He just turned 65 last week, but over a year ago he broke off all contact. All we know is that he is homeless somewhere in San Diego. Unless he's dead from covid or something else like the police. They frequently beat him up when they encounter him.

I'm so sad and sorry to hear that. And angry.

People deserve better.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[LM K]

I finally read what Britney said during her testimony.

This is really complicated.

I snipped some of the annotation. I kept everything Britney said. I know this is super-duper long. Because it's NYT, it's behind a paywall.

The Britney Spears Transcript, Annotated: ‘Hear What I Have to Say’

In February 2008, a California judge placed Britney Spears in a conservatorship, a legal arrangement that granted oversight of her personal life and finances to her once-estranged father, James P. Spears, amid concerns around her mental health and potential substance abuse. In court on Wednesday, Ms. Spears addressed the judge and the public in an emotional 23-minute statement detailing what she described as mistreatment under the conservatorship, and emphatically asked for it to end.

Here is a transcript of her full speech, with annotations.

They’ve done a good job at exploiting my life and the way that they’ve done my life, so I feel like it should be an open court hearing and they should listen and hear what I have to say.

OK, well, I just got a new phone, so bear with me. OK, so I have this written down, I have a lot to say, so bear with me. Basically, a lot has happened since two years ago, the last time — I wrote all this down — the last time I was in court. I will be honest with you, I haven’t been back to court in a long time because I don’t think I was heard on any level when I came to court the last time. I brought four sheets of paper in my hands and wrote in length what I had been through the last four months before I came there. The people who did that to me should not be able to walk away so easily. I’ll recap: I was on tour in 2018 I was forced to do. My management said if I don’t do this tour, I’ll have to —

JUDGE BRENDA PENNY: Ms. Spears, Ms. Spears? I hate to interrupt you, but my court reporter is taking down what you’re saying, and so you have to speak a little more slowly —

The last time Ms. Spears addressed the court was at a closed-door hearing in 2019. She told the court that she had felt forced by the conservatorship into a stay at a mental health facility and to perform against her will.

Oh, of course, yes. OK, I apologize, great. The people who did this to me should not get away and to be able to walk away so easily. To recap: I was on tour in 2018. I was forced to do. My management said if I don’t do this tour, I will have to find an attorney, and, by contract, my own management could sue me if I didn’t follow through with the tour. He handed me a sheet of paper as I got off the stage in Vegas and said I had to sign it. It was very threatening and scary and, with the conservatorship, I couldn’t even get my own attorney. So, out of fear, I went ahead and I did the tour.

Britney has said that she's being forced by her conservatorship to perform. It appears her management company is an additional layer of complication. Britney's conservatorship controls all of her contracts. If Britney wasn't in a conservatorship she could cancel a contract; she'd have to pay a lot to break a contract, but she has the money to do so. Her conservatorship controls her money and controls her ability to find legal representation to fight contracts.
What a clusterfuck.

When I came off that tour, a new show in Las Vegas was supposed to take place. I started rehearsing early, but it was hard because I’d been doing Vegas for four years and I needed a break in between. But no, I was told, “This is the timeline, and this is how it’s going to go.” I rehearsed four days a week, half of the time in the studio and half of the other time in a Westlake studio. I was basically directing most of the show — with my whereabouts, where I preferred to rehearse — and actually did most of the choreography, meaning I taught my dancers my new choreography myself. I take everything I do very seriously; there’s tons of video with me at rehearsals. I wasn’t good; I was great. I led a room of 16 new dancers in rehearsals.

Britney does appear to do very well professionally. A key question for the judge; does Britney's ability to work in such a complicated profession support the end of Britney's conservatorship?

For me, that comes down to how much supervision Britney needs to stay medication compliant. Based on her testimony (further down) I think Britney struggles to stay medication compliant. Her medications are taken in the presence of a nurse.

But why is a nurse necessary? Imo, without supervision, she forgets to take her meds. I don't get the sense that Britney resents her nurses.

It’s funny to hear my managers’ side of the story. They all said I wasn’t participating in rehearsals and I never agreed to take my medication, which, my medication is only taken in the mornings, never at rehearsal. They don’t even see me, so why are they even claiming that? When I said no to one dance move into rehearsals, it was as if I planted a huge bomb somewhere. And I said no, I don’t want to do it this way.

After that, my management and my dancers and my assistant of the new people that were supposed to do the new show all went into a room, shut the door and didn’t come out for at least 45 minutes. Ma’am, I’m not here to be anyone’s slave. I can say no to a dance move. I was told by my at-the-time therapist — Dr. Benson, who died — that my manager called him in that moment and told him that I wasn’t cooperating or following the guidelines in rehearsals. And he also said I wasn’t taking my medication, which is so dumb because I’ve had the same lady every morning for the past eight years give me my same medication, and I’m nowhere near these stupid people. It made no sense at all.

Britney should absolutely have say over her dance moves. It's absurd that she has no say in how she dances. I find that level of control to be CREEPY.

There was a week period where they were nice to me and I told them, I don’t want to do the — no wait — they were nice to me, they said if I don’t want to do the new Vegas show, I don’t have to because I was getting really nervous. I said I can wait — it was like they told me I could wait. It was like lifting literally 200 pounds off of me when they said I don’t have to do the show anymore, because it was really, really hard on myself and it was too much. I couldn’t take it anymore.

In January 2019, Ms. Spears tweeted that pulling out of the residency “breaks my heart” but that “it’s important to always put your family first.” In court, she revealed that trouble arose behind the scenes when she had a disagreement over a dance move, and believes she was punished as a result of speaking up.

So I remember telling my assistant, but “you know what, I feel weird if I say no, I feel like they’re going to come back and be mean to me or punish me or something.” Three days later, after I said no to Vegas, my therapist sat me down in a room and said that he had a million phone calls about how I was not cooperating in rehearsals, and I haven’t been taking my medication. All this was false.

He immediately, the next day, put me on lithium, out of nowhere. He took me off my normal meds I’ve been on for five years, and lithium is a very, very strong and completely different medication compared to what I was used to. You can go mentally impaired if you take too much, if you stay on it longer than five months. But he put me on that, and I felt drunk. I really couldn’t even take up for myself. I couldn’t even have a conversation with my mom or dad really about anything. I told them I was scared and my doctor had me on — six different nurses with this new medication come to my home, stay with me to monitor me on this new medication, which I never wanted to be on to begin with. There were six different nurses in my home and they wouldn’t let me get in my car to go anywhere for a month.

I think Britney became medication non-compliant. It's simple to detect medication non-compliance. You do a urine and blood test.

It's possible that Britney was completely medication compliant but that her medications were no longer working. That's not unusual with bipolar disorder.

Another possibility. Britney may have had some other new diagnosis that required she stop one of the meds she had been taking and substitute it for another.

No doctor will alter medications upon request from a conservator and for no medical reason. Britney was given a very comprehensive psychological exam. Then her meds were altered.

Not only did my family not do a goddamn thing, my dad was all for it. Anything that happened to me had to be approved by my dad, and my dad only. He acted like he didn’t know, but I was told I had to be tested over the Christmas holidays before they sent me away when my kids went home to Louisiana. He was the one who approved all of it. My whole family did nothing.

This is pretty sad. There wasn't much Britney's siblings could do for her. Everyone who loves Britney has been abused by this conservatorship.

Over the two-week holiday, a lady came into my home for four hours a day, sat me down and did a psych test on me. It took forever. But I was told I had to. Then, after I got a phone call from my dad saying, after I did the psych test with this lady, basically saying I’d failed the test or whatever. “I’m sorry, Britney, you have to listen to your doctors. They’re planning to send you to a small home in Beverly Hills to do a small rehab program that we’re going to make up for you. You’re going to pay $60,000 a month for this.”

Britney has asked the judge to end her conservatorship without a mental health examination. Why doesn't she want an evaluation? She's a lot less stable than she thinks she is. She also feels persecuted by the conservatorship. The line between medical necessity and conservatorship requirements is very vague.

I hope the judge allows Britney's new lawyer to provide a list of a few psychologist to do the next evaluation. The judge could then select which psychologist is appointed to do the evaluation.

The judge isn't going to release Britney from her conservatorship unless Britney passes a comprehensive evaluation and demonstrates medication compliance. I'll be surprised if the judge doesn't require two evaluations spaced 3-6 months apart.

I cried on the phone for an hour and he loved every minute of it. The control he had over someone as powerful as me — he loved the control, to hurt his own daughter, one hundred, thousand percent. He loved it. I packed my bags and went to that place. I worked seven days a week, no days off, which in California the only similar thing to this is called sex trafficking, making anyone work, work against their will, taking all their possessions away — credit card, cash, phone, passport card — and placing them in a home where they work with the people who live with them. They all lived in the house with me — the nurses, the 24-7 security. There was one chef that came there and cooked for me daily, during the weekdays. They watched me change every day — naked — morning, noon, and night. My body — I had no privacy door for my room, I gave eight gals of blood a week.

If I didn’t do any of my meetings and work from eight to six at night, which is 10 hours a day, seven days a week, no days off, I wouldn’t be able to see my kids or my boyfriend. I never had a say in my schedule; they always told me I had to do this. And ma’am, I will tell you, sitting in a chair 10 hours a day, seven days a week, it ain’t fun. And especially when you can’t walk out the front door.

Immediately after failing a comprehensive psychological evaluation, Britney was placed on Lithium and then essentially 5150ed. Rather than hospitalize Britney, her conservatorship created a private in-patient facility for her. What she describes is an in-patient treatment protocol.

I think Britney became very unstable while on tour.

And that’s why I’m telling you this again two years later. After I’ve lied and told the whole world “I’m OK, and I’m happy.” It’s a lie. I thought I just maybe I said that enough maybe I might become happy. Because I’ve been in denial. I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized. You know, fake it till you make it. But now I’m telling you the truth, OK? I’m not happy. I can’t sleep. I’m so angry it’s insane, and I’m depressed. I cry every day.

Britney's conservatorship, as it is now, is damaging her mental health. I hope the judge realizes this.

Britney's father must be removed from her conservatorship. His abuse is blocking Britney's ability to be and stay healthy.

And the reason I’m telling you this is because I don’t think how the state of California can have all this written in the court documents from the time I showed up and do absolutely nothing — just hire, with my money, another person, and keep my dad on board. Ma’am, my dad, and anyone involved in this conservatorship and my management, who played a huge role in punishing me when I said no — ma’am, they should be in jail. Their cruel tactics working for Miley Cyrus — she smokes on joints onstage at the VMAs — nothing is ever done to this generation for doing wrong things.

Britney makes an interesting point. She feels abused by not just her conservators but also also her management company. The management company isn't something I've considered as part of the conservatorship abuses.

The relationship between Britney's conservatorship and management company needs to be independently evaluated.

But my precious body, who was worked for my dad for the past [expletive] 13 years, trying to be so good and pretty, so perfect when he works me so hard, when I do everything I’m told and the state of California allowed — my ignorant father — to take his own daughter, who only has a role with me, if I work with him, they set back the whole course and allowed him to do that to me? That’s giving these people I’ve worked for way too much control. They also threatened me and said if I don’t go, then I have to go to court and it will be more embarrassing me if the judge publicly makes go the evidence we’ve had, you have to go.

I was advised for my image, I need to go ahead and just go and get it over with. They said that to me. I don’t even drink alcohol — I should drink alcohol considering what they put my heart through. Also the Bridges facility they sent me to — none of the kids — I was doing this program for four months, so the last two months I went to a Bridges facility — none of the kids there did the program. They never showed up for any of them. You didn’t have to do anything if you didn’t want to. How come they always made me go? How come I was always threatened by my dad and anybody that participated in this conservatorship — if I don’t do this, what they tell me to enslave me to do, they’re going to punish me.

The last time I spoke to you by just keeping the conservatorship going and also keeping my dad in the loop made me feel like I was dead. Like I didn’t matter, like nothing had been done to me, like you thought I was lying or something. I’m telling you again because I’m not lying. I want to feel heard, and I’m telling you this again so maybe you can understand the depth and the degree and the damage that they did to me back then.

I want changes, and I want changes going forward. I deserve changes. I was told I have to sit down and be evaluated, again, if I want to end the conservatorship. Ma’am, I didn’t know I could petition the conservatorship to be ended. I’m sorry for my ignorance, but I honestly didn’t know that. But honestly, I don’t think I owe anyone to be evaluated. I’ve done more than enough. I don’t feel like I should even be in a room with anyone to offend me by trying to question my capacity of intelligence, whether I need to be in this stupid conservatorship or not. I’ve done more than enough.

For some time I've been wondering how much insight Britney has regarding her medical condition. She has little insight. Which is a huge issue that will make it harder for her to get out of this conservatorship.

Without insight, Britney's ability to stay medication compliant is limited.


Vivian Lee Thoreen, a lawyer for Mr. Spears, said in a statement earlier this year that if Ms. Spears wants to end her conservatorship, she should simply petition to do so: “She has always had this right but in 13 years has never exercised it.” In court, Ms. Spears said she never knew that was an option.

don’t owe these people anything. Especially me, the one that has roofed and fed tons of people on tour, on the road. It’s embarrassing and demoralizing what I’ve been through, and that’s the main reason I’ve never said it openly. And mainly, I didn’t want to say it openly, because I honestly don’t think anyone would believe me. To be honest with you, the Paris Hilton story on what they did to her, to that school? I didn’t believe any of it — I’m sorry, I’m an outsider and I’ll just be honest, I didn’t believe it.

And maybe I’m wrong and that’s why I didn’t want to say any of this to anybody, to the public, because I thought people would make fun of me or laugh at me and say, “She’s lying, she’s got everything; she’s Britney Spears.” I’m not lying. I just want my life back and it’s been 13 years and it’s enough.

It’s been a long time since I’ve owned my money, and it’s my wish and my dream for all of this to end, without being tested. Again, it makes no sense whatsoever for the state of California to sit back and literally watch me, with their own two eyes, make a living for so many people, and pay so many people, trucks and buses on tour, on the road with me, and be told I’m not good enough. But I’m great at what I do. And I allow these people to control what I do, ma’am, and it’s enough. It makes no sense at all.

Mr. Spears manages his daughter’s $60 million fortune alongside a corporate fiduciary, Bessemer Trust. Even as the singer has raised concerns about her father remaining her conservator, she has paid for his legal representation, including media strategy for defending her conservatorship.

This is fucked up. Britney's legal options are limited and she pays for lawyers to keep her in this conservatorship?

Another reason why her dad needs to be removed from her conservatorship. At this point, he shouldn't have any contact with her.

I'm really glad that Britney is now allowed to hire her own legal counsel.

Now, going forward, I’m not willing to meet or see anyone — I’ve met with enough people against my will. I’m done. All I want is to own my money, for this to end, and my boyfriend to drive me in his [expletive] car.

What a clusterfuck. Britney has been pushed to complete non-compliance, which will keep her conservatorship in place. I hope her new lawyer can help her juggle this.

And I would honestly like to sue my family, to be totally honest with you. I also would like to be able to share my story with the world, and what they did to me, instead of it being a hush-hush secret to benefit all of them. I want to be able to be heard on what they did to me by making me keep this in for so long is not good for my heart. I’ve been so angry and I cry every day. It concerns me I’m told I’m not allowed to expose the people who did this to me.

For my sanity, I need you, judge, to approve me to do an interview where I can be heard on what they did to me. And actually, I have the right to use my voice and take up for myself. My attorney says I can’t, it’s not good, I can’t let the public know anything they did to me, and by not saying anything, is saying it’s OK. I don’t know what I said here. It’s not OK — actually, I don’t want to interview. I’d much rather just have an open call to you for the press to hear, which I didn’t know today we were doing, so thank you. Instead of having an interview, honestly, I need that to get it off my heart, the anger and all of it.

In 2020, Ms. Spears’s court-appointed lawyer, Samuel D. Ingham III, filed court papers saying that the singer “is vehemently opposed to this effort by her father to keep her legal struggle hidden away in the closet as a family secret.” In court on Wednesday, Ms. Spears said she didn’t want to grant an interview, but she wanted the world to hear her story.

It’s not fair they’re telling me lies about me openly. Even my family, they do interviews to anyone they want on news stations. My own family doing interviews, and talking about the situation and making me feel so stupid, and I can’t say one thing. And my own people say I can’t say anything.

It’s been two years. I want a recorded call to you — actually, we’re doing this now, which I didn’t know that were doing this, and to the public knows what they did to me. I told my — I know my lawyer, Sam [Ingham], has been very scared for me to go forward because he’s saying if I speak up, I’m being overworked in that facility, of that rehab place, the rehab place will sue me. He told me I should keep it to myself, really. I would personally like to — actually, I know I’ve had, grown with a personal relationship with Sam, my lawyer. I’ve been talking to him, like, three times a week now, we’ve kind of built a relationship, but I haven’t really had the opportunity by my own self to actually handpick my own lawyer by myself, and I would like to be able to do that.

At the time the conservatorship was imposed, a judge deemed Ms. Spears incapable of hiring her own counsel and appointed Mr. Ingham. After Ms. Spears’s speech, Mr. Ingham told the judge that he would be willing to step aside if that was the court’s decision.

I would like to also — the main reason why I’m here is because I want to end the conservatorship without having to be evaluated. I’ve done a lot of research, ma’am, and there is a lot of judges who do end conservatorships for people without them having to be evaluated all the time. The only times they don’t is if a concerned family member says, “Something’s wrong with this person,” and consider otherwise.

And considering my family has lived off my conservatorship for 13 years, I won’t be surprised if one of them has something to say, go forward, and say, “We don’t think this should end, we have to help her.” Especially if I get my fair turn in exposing what they did to me.

Also I want to speak to you about, at the moment, my obligations, which, I personally don’t think at the very moment I owe anybody anything. I have three meetings a week I have to attend no matter what. I just don’t like feeling like I work for the people whom I pay. I don’t like being told I have to, no matter what, even if I’m sick, Jodi [Montgomery] the conservator says I have to see my coach Ken even when I’m sick. I would like to do one meeting a week with a therapist. I’ve never before, even before they sent me to that place, had two therapy sessions, a therapy session, and one therapy session with — I have a doctor and then a therapy person. What I’ve been forced to do illegal in my life. I shouldn’t be told I have to be available three times a week to these people I don’t know.

I’m talking to you today because I feel again, yes, even Jodi is starting to kind of take it too far with me. They have me going to therapy twice a week and a psychiatrist. I’ve never in the past had — wait, they have me going, yeah, twice a week, and Dr. [unclear] — so that’s three times a week. I’ve never in the past had to see a therapist more than once a week. It takes too much out of me going to this man I don’t know, number one.

The Jodi Ms. Spears referenced is Jodi Montgomery, a licensed professional conservator who stepped into the role of managing the singer’s personal life after her father stepped back from the role in 2019. Last year, Mr. Ingham said that Ms. Spears preferred to keep Ms. Montgomery as her personal conservator, saying that she was “strongly opposed” to her father returning to that role.

I didn't know Britney had a professional conservator as part of her conservatorship. That's a very good thing. All members of her conservatorship need to be objective professionals that get a flat fee.

Britney wants a bank to handle the financial part of her conservatorship. That sounds like a reasonable option (but maybe it's not practical).

I’m scared of people, I don’t trust people with what I’ve been through. And the clever setup of being in Westlake, one of the most exposed places in Westlake, which today, yesterday, paparazzi showed me coming out of a place literally crying in therapy. It’s embarrassing and it’s demoralizing. I deserve privacy when I go. I deserve privacy when I go and have therapy either at my home, like I’ve done for eight years. They’ve always come to my home. Or when Dr. Benson — the guy, the man that died — I went to a place similar to what I went to in Westlake, which was very exposed and really bad. OK, so wait, where was I? It was identical to Dr. Benson, who died, the one who illegally, yes, 100 percent abused me by the treatment he gave me, too. And I’ll be totally honest with you I was —

How could Britney's conservatorship think it smart to have Britney attend counseling outside her home? WTF?

JUDGE BRENDA PENNY: Ms. Spears, excuse me for interrupting you, but my reporter says if you could just slow down a little bit, because she’s trying to make sure she gets everything that you’re saying.

OK, cool. And to be totally honest with you, when he passed away, I got on my knees and thanked God. In other words, my team is pushing it with me again. I have trapped phobias being in small rooms because of the trauma. Locking me up for four months in that place. It’s not OK for them to send me — sorry, I’m going fast — to that small room like that twice a week with another new therapist I pay that I never even approved. I don’t like it. I don’t want to do that. And I haven’t done anything wrong to deserve this treatment.

Ms. Spears spoke of Dr. Timothy Benson, a psychiatrist who died in 2019 at age 47. His death came amid increasing scrutiny over the arrangement of Ms. Spears’s conservatorship.

It’s not OK to force me to do anything I don’t want to do. By law, Jodi and this so-called team should — honestly, I should be able to sue them for threatening me and saying if I don’t go and do these meetings twice a week, we can’t let you have your money and go to Maui on your vacations. You have to do what you’re told for this program and then you will be able to go. But it was very clever — they picked one of the most exposed places in Westlake, knowing I have the hot topic of the conservatorship that over five paparazzis are going to show up and get me crying coming out of that place. I begged them to make sure that they did this at my home so I would have privacy. I deserve privacy.

The whole conservatorship from the beginning was — the conservatorship from the beginning, once you see someone, whoever it is, in the conservatorship, making money, making them money and myself money and working — that whole statement right there, the conservatorship should end. There should be no — I shouldn’t be in a conservatorship if I can work and provide money and work for myself and pay other people. It makes no sense. The laws need to change. What state allows people to own another person’s money and account and threaten them in saying, “You can’t spend your money unless we do what we want you to do.” And I’m paying them.

Ma’am, I’ve worked since I was 17 years old, you have to understand how thin that is for me — every morning, I get up to know I can’t go on somewhere unless I meet people I don’t know every week in an office identical to the one where the therapist was very abusive to me. I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive. And we can sit here all day and say, oh, conservatorships are here to help people. But ma’am, there is 1,000 conservatorships that are abusive as well.

I don’t feel like I can live a full life, I don’t owe them to go see a man I don’t know and share him my problems. I don’t even believe in therapy; I always think you take it to God. I want to end the conservatorship without being evaluated. In the meantime, I want this therapist once a week, he can either come to my home — no, I just want him to come to my home, I’m not willing to go to Westlake and be embarrassed by all these paparazzi, these scummy paparazzi laughing at my face while I’m crying coming out and taking my pictures as all these white, nice dinners where people drinking wine at restaurants, watching these places. They set me up by sending me to the most exposed places, and I told them I didn’t want to go there because I knew paparazzi would show up there.

They only gave me two options for therapists. And I’m not sure how you make your decisions, ma’am, but this is the only chance for me to talk to you for a while. I need your help, so if you can just kind of let me know where your head is. I don’t really honestly know what to say but my requests are just to end the conservatorship without being evaluated. I want to petition basically to end the conservatorship, but I want to, I want it to be, petition to end it, but I don’t want to be evaluated and be sat in a room with people four hours a day like they did me before. And they made it even worse for me after that happened.

Britney did herself no favors here. A key issue in ending the conservatorship will be whether or not she is capable of managing her mental healthcare. Britney just demonstrated that she lacks necessary insight in her mental health diagnosis.

Britney knows she won't adequately pass a psych evaluation.

California state legislators have introduced bills that would seek to firm up the legal rights of people under conservatorships; the legislation is still being considered.

I just — I’m honestly new at this. And I’m doing research on all these things. I do know common sense and the method that things can end — for people, it has ended without them being evaluated. So I just want you to take that in consideration. I’ve also done research, wait — it also took a year, during Covid, to get me any self-care methods, during Covid. She said there were no services available. She’s lying, ma’am. My mom went to the spa twice in Louisiana during Covid. For a year, I didn’t have my nails done — no hairstyling and no massages, no acupuncture. Nothing for a year. I saw the maids in my home each week with their nails done different each time. She made me feel like my dad does, very similar, her behavior and my dad, but just a different dynamic.

Again, unwise.

Team wants me to work and stay home instead of having longer vacations. They are used to me sort of doing a weekly routine for them, and I’m over it. I don’t feel like I owe them anything at this point. They need to be reminded they actually work for me. They tricked me by sending me to the — OK, I repeated myself there.

Also, I was supposed to be able to — I have a friend that I used to do AA meetings with. I did AA for two years. I did three meetings a week. I’ve met a bunch of women there. And I’m not able to see my friends that live eight minutes away from me, which I find extremely strange.

I feel like they’re making me feel like I live in a rehab program. This is my home. I’d like for my boyfriend to be able to drive me in his car. And I want to meet with a therapist once a week, not twice a week, and I want him to come to my home. Because I actually know I do need a little therapy.

Throughout her speech, Ms. Spears described her desire to exercise control over her daily life. She said she wants to see her friends, get her nails and hair done, receive therapy at her home and ride in her boyfriend’s car. Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that Ms. Spears was forbidden by her father from making cosmetic changes to her home, like restaining her kitchen cabinets.

Seriously! Get her dad away from her!

I would like to progressively move forward, and I want to have the real deal. I want to be able to get married and have a baby. I was told right now in the conservatorship, I’m not able to get married or have a baby. I have a ID [IUD] inside of myself right now so I don’t get pregnant. I wanted to take the ID [IUD] out so I could start trying to have another baby. But this so-called team won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out because they don’t want me to have children, any more children. So basically, this conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good.

One of Ms. Spears’s most shocking revelations came at the end of her speech, when she said that those managing her conservatorship wouldn’t allow her to have her birth control device removed so that she could try to have more children. Alexis McGill Johnson, president and chief executive of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called it “reproductive coercion.”

I deserve to have a life. I’ve worked my whole life. I deserve to have a two- to three-year break and just, you know, do what I want to do. But I do feel like there is a crutch here. And I feel open and I’m OK to talk to you today about it. But I wish I could stay with you on the phone forever, because when I get off the phone with you, all of a sudden I hear all these no’s — no, no, no. And then all of a sudden I get I feel ganged up on and I feel bullied and I feel left out and alone. And I’m tired of feeling alone. I deserve to have the same rights as anybody does by having a child, a family, any of those things, and more so.

And that’s all I wanted to say to you. And thank you so much for letting me speak to you today.

What a clusterfuck.

[LM K]

LM K, your openness is so helpful to people who don’t have these issues in their lives. Thank you.

I’m under the impression that BP II especially, and to a lesser degree BP I’s (probably what Brittany has), outward symptoms lessen with time, especially when medication has been appropriate and well-managed.
Am I wrong?

This poor woman is 40 and she isn’t allowed the daily freedoms most 13 year olds are. She must be frustrated beyond belief, which sure doesn’t help her get her freedom back. I hope she gets her wishes and that they are good for her. Almost anything would be better than the status quo.

Thank you!

On average, people stabilize in middle age. But there's a lot of variables that affect whether or not that happens. Proper medication is a large variable. I haven't read a lot about this. My guess is that this happens because in middle age, our life circumstances are typically more stable.

[Patagoniagirl]

As a person who has had a meltdown or two in my life, I cann³ot imagine that it might result in over a decade of being restrict from using my phone, not being able to form friendships, being required to perform a job or profession that pays for those who determine my daily life. I would be bitter, and angry. And how the fuck long should anyone be micromanaging my life?!?

No one would do that to me because I'm not financially worth anything to them. That's what this is about. And it is about her being a young woman. Look at all the out-of-control asshole men who never had a conservatorship imposed upon them.

I'm not a Brittany fan. I've never even seen her videos. But I know what it is like to have a major breakdown incident/s and it should not involve 10+years of family and lawyers enriching themselves.

[AndyinPA]

[raison de arizona]

Jamie Spears (the dad) has (finally) agreed to step down as conservator!!! (from her attorney via Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peop ... SKBN2FD27T

[slq]

Jamie Spears (the dad) has (finally) agreed to step down as conservator!!! (from her attorney via Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peop ... SKBN2FD27T

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[LM K]

That's brilliant!

Jamie fought hard to stay on as a conservator because he was getting 1.5% of Britney's yearly income. Gotta wonder what he's going to do for $ now.

In the recent motion, Britney's attorney claimed that Jamie is "'guilty of "misfeasance or malfeasance."' This accusation is based on what Jodi Montgomery, Britney's independent conservator, said about Jamie's testimony in the latest hearing.

Montgomery has asserted that Jamie was being misleading in his comments to the court about a conversation they had before the latest hearing. Montgomery even accused Jamie of misrepresenting the conversation to gain advantage in the the then upcoming hearing. Jamie tried to do just that.

In the most recent hearing, Jamie claimed that Montgomery raised the potential of a 5150 hold based on Britney's prehearing behavior. Montgomery said that is not what she said. Montgomery said she was worried that forcing Britney to testify or to be evaluated could be detrimental to her mental health.

Basically:

Jamie: Judge, my daughter is so "mentally sick" right now that her independent conservator thinks a 5150 hold might be necessary!

Montgomery: Uh, no. While I'm worried about Britney, my comment was "if this, then that might become necessary".

Imo, that is a significant misrepresentation. That's flat out manipulation of information. Jamie essentially told the court, and thus the public, that his daughter is so unwell that she must be forced
to receive nonvoluntary inpatient mental health treatment.

Montgomery has no motivation to lie about Jamie's court testimony. The next court hearing is (was) about removing Jamie from the conservatorship. Jamie stepped down before the judge ripped him a new one.

Article is dated Aug 6.

Britney Spears's father, Jamie Spears, rejected the assertion that he should be removed as conservator of his daughter's estate and cited a recent "plea for help" regarding his daughter's mental health, according to a new court filing obtained by CNN.

The singer's newly hired attorney, Mathew Rosengart, filed a petition last week seeking to remove her father as conservator of the estate. The filing said the situation has become "toxic" between the pop star and her father and that he was "guilty of misfeasance or malfeasance."

In response to the request, Spears's father called the assertions made by Rosengart "unclear" and pointed to a recent call from Jodi Montgomery, the conservator of person for the singer, in which she allegedly called her "mentally sick."

But while acknowledging concerns for the mental health of Spears, an attorney for Montgomery told CNN in a statement that her father misrepresented the phone conversation the pair had and accused him of manipulating the discussion in an attempt to gain an advantage in upcoming court proceedings.

The alleged call took place on July 9, 2021, just a couple of weeks after the Grammy Award winner's bombshell court testimony in which she alleged abuse and begged to regain control of her life.

Jamie Spears said Montgomery sounded distraught and said she was concerned about the singer's "behavior and overall mental health." He added Montgomery told him the singer was not "timely or properly taking her medications," not listening to recommendations of her medical team and refused to see some of her doctors.

"Ms. Montgomery said she was very worried about the direction my daughter was heading in and directly asked for my help to address these issues," Jamie Spears stated in his response. "Ms. Montgomery acknowledged that many of my daughter's statements at the last hearing were not true and attributed her statements to the fact that my daughter is 'mentally sick.' After Ms. Montgomery shared her detailed concerns about my daughter's recent behavior, safety, and overall health, she raised potential options including a 5150 psychiatric hold, which raised my concerns."

Montgomery's attorney, Lauriann Wright said in a statement to CNN her client "does have concerns about Ms. Spears' 'recent behavior and overall mental health,'" but that Jamie Spears misrepresented what Montgomery "said to him in relation to a potential 5150 psychiatric hold."

"At no time did Ms. Montgomery express to Mr. Spears that Ms. Spears would currently qualify for such a hold," Wright said. "The concern that Ms. Montgomery did raise to Mr. Spears during their telephone call is that forcing Ms. Spears to take the stand to testify or to have her evaluated would move the needle in the wrong direction for her mental health."


Disputing much of the elder Spears's most recent filing, Wright accused him of manipulating the phone conversation "to gain some sort of tactical advantage in the pending proceedings to remove him as Conservator," and urged him to step down from his role.


His attorneys maintain there are "no grounds whatsoever" to suspend him from his role as co-conservator, using the financial growth of the estate as evidence, along with his personal relationship.

"Throughout his service as Conservator, Mr. Spears sole motivation has been his unconditional love for his daughter and a fierce desire to protect her from those trying to take advantage of her," the court documents state.

Something I notice is that Jamie often says he worries about other's taking advantage of Britney. For Jamie this is about protecting Britney's fortune and keeping her working. If I had a daughter struggling with mental illness, I'd be most focused on my child's physical and psychological health. Imo, most parents would let someone else manage their child's career and money while they focused on medical issues. But Jamie has always managed Britney's career. He finally stepped down, but only to protect his own ass.

[LM K]

Jamie's financial abuse is much worse than I realized. He pays himself more per month than Britney's allowance. I thought he was working as her agent and manager. He is not.

I look forward to learning how much Jamie made off his daughter.

And I don't think Jamie is stepping down anytime soon.

In the court document filed Thursday, Jamie Spears' lawyer, Vivian Thoreen, contended that there are "no actual grounds for suspending or removing" him from the conservatorship," and that "it is highly debatable whether a change in conservator at this time would be in Ms. Spears' best interests."

"Nevertheless," Thoreen continued, "even as Mr. Spears is the unremitting target of unjustified attacks, he does not believe that a public battle with his daughter over his continuing service as her conservator would be in her best interests."

The filing does not indicate a timeline for Jamie Spears' departure, however. Instead, Thoreen wrote: "Mr. Spears is willing to step down when the time is right, but the transition needs to be orderly and include a resolution of matters pending before the court."

Jamie Spears' departure comes less than three weeks after Britney Spears filed a request to have her father removed from the conservatorship. In 2008, it was he who requested that the singer, at the time experiencing mental health struggles, be placed in a conservatorship. Since then, he has overseen his daughter's finances.

According to Mathew Rosengart, the singer's attorney, the elder Spears appears to have "profited handsomely" from being his daughter's conservator. Rosengart 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."

According to Rosengart, Jamie Spears paid himself percentages of his daughter's earnings, although he does not serve as her agent or manager. In the filing, Rosengart said that Spears took a 1.5% cut of the gross revenues and merchandise earnings on his daughter's Las Vegas residency — amounting to at least $2.1 million. Jamie Spears also allegedly took a 2.95% commission on Britney Spears' Femme Fatale tour in 2011, which totaled approximately $500,000.

Rosengart has also asserted that the elder Spears has been paying himself $16,000 a month — which is $2,000 more per month than his daughter receives — plus another $2,000 for office expenses.

Britney Spears' legal situation has become a focal point for disability rights activists. Last month, the ACLU and 25 civil and disability rights activists filed an amicus brief with the Los Angeles court supporting the singer's quest to choose her own attorney, which was granted.

As part of a written statement sent to NPR, Mathew Rosengart said: "We are pleased that Mr. Spears and his lawyer have today conceded in a filing that he must be removed. We are disappointed, however, by their ongoing shameful and reprehensible attacks on Ms. Spears and others."

Rosengart continued: "We look forward to continuing our vigorous investigation into the conduct of Mr. Spears, and others, over the past 13 years, while he reaped millions of dollars from his daughter's estate, and I look forward to taking Mr. Spears's sworn deposition in the near future."

Jamie's income described above:

*$2.1 million from Vegas Residency (at least; 1.5% gross)

*$500,000 Femme Fatale tour (2.95%)

*$192,000 per year income

*$24,000 per year for office expenses (seriously?!)

Jamie Spears is a disgusting parasite.

[LM K]

A little bit more about Jamie's court filing. It's full of bitter whining.

“If the public knew all the facts of Ms. Spears’ personal life,” lawyers for her father wrote, “not only her highs but also her lows, all of the addiction and mental health issues that she has struggled with, and all of the challenges of the Conservatorship, they would praise Mr. Spears for the job he has done, not vilify him. But the public does not know all the facts, and they have no right to know, so there will be no public redemption for Mr. Spears.”

Mr. Spears also dedicated more than half of the 13-page filing to targeting his ex-wife and Ms. Spears’s mother, Lynne Spears, who has recently supported the singer in court after years outside the periphery of the conservatorship. Lawyers for Mr. Spears accused her of not accepting “the full extent to which Ms. Spears has had addiction and mental health issues or the level of care and treatment she needs.”

“Instead of criticizing Mr. Spears, Lynne should be thanking him for ensuring Ms. Spears’ well-being and for persevering through the years-long tenure requiring his 365/24/7 attention, long days and sometimes late nights, to deal with day-to-day and emergency issues,” the lawyers wrote.

Gladstone N. Jones, a lawyer for Lynne Spears, said on Thursday that the singer’s mother was “pleased Jamie has agreed to step down,” adding, “Lynne entered into this conservatorship to protect her daughter almost three years ago. She has accomplished what she set out to do.”