Britney Spears will address conservatorship hearing next month
Britney Spears will have her say next month. At a conservatorship hearing held on Tuesday, an attorney for the beleaguered pop star requested that the “Toxic” singer be allowed to address the court at a future hearing, reports the New York Times. The news comes after more than a decade of near-silence on the subject of her business relationship with her father and co-conservator Jamie Spears.
It was a surprising turn in what the court expected to be some routine bookkeeping regarding the conservatorship. “The conservatee has requested that I seek from the court a status hearing at which she can address the court directly,” Spears’ court-appointed attorney Samuel D. Ingham III asked Judge Brenda Penny. Her words might be heard sooner than later, as Judge Penny agreed to Spears’ counsel’s request for an expedited hearing, which would take place within 30 days. The judge set a date for June 23, when we’ll all finally get to hear what Spears thinks of this whole conservatorship thing that she’s been locked into for the last 13 years.
The tides have been shifting over the last few years as her conservatorship became an ongoing concern for Spears’ intensely loyal fanbase, who have rallied behind the singer by holding demonstrations that call for an end to the conservatorship. The situation became a mainstream conversation in February when the FX documentary series The New York Times Presents released Framing Britney Spears, which dove into the media’s treatment of Spears during her rise to fame, her 2007 mental breakdown, and her business relationship with her father, who has long been considered the villain of the story. Jamie Spears’ tight hold over his daughter’s finances and career began after her much-publicized and scrutinized erratic behavior that landed her in rehab, but that may be changing. Last month, her father said through his lawyers that he would be more than happy to relinquish his status, assuming Spears doesn’t need a conservatorship.
“Whether or not there is an end to the conservatorship really depends on Britney,” Vivan Lee Thoreen, a lawyer for Jamie Spears, said in March. “If she wants to end her conservatorship, she can file a petition to end it.”
As mentioned, Britney rarely weighs in on the situation. Last month, she told fans on Instagram that she was “extremely happy” and “taking a break right now” because she’s enjoying herself by making weird videos. Court filings, however, tell a different story, one in which she “strongly opposed” her father’s role. In 2019, Jamie Spears stepped down as his daughter’s personal conservator, opening the door for licensed professional conservator Jodi Montgomery to step in and fill out the job. Spears’ lawyer says that his client will not perform again if her father remains co-conservator.