Britney Spears Loses Bid to Remove Father from Conservatorship

The singer says she's "afraid" of her father and "will not perform again" should he continue in the role

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Nov 11, 2020

Britney Spears has lost her bid to have her father, Jamie Spears, removed as her conservator, despite a court hearing that the pop star is afraid of her father and will not perform should he remain in control.

In a Los Angeles Superior Court hearing today, Judge Brenda Penny declined to suspend Jamie Spears from his role in the 12-year-long conservatorship over Britney's life and career. The judge added that future petitions to suspend or remove Spears from the role would be considered.

"My client has informed me that she is afraid of her father," Britney's attorney, Samuel D. Ingham III, told the judge [via the Associated Press]. "She will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career."

Ingham told the court that the artist and her father had not spoken in a long time, calling Britney a "high-functioning conservatee" who deserves to be notified of the actions taken by her father on her behalf.

The attorney had previously filed paperwork in August outlining that Spears "is strongly opposed to having [Jamie] return as the conservator of her person," following Britney's own request that care manager Jodi Montgomery "continue in that role as [she] has done for nearly a year" after Jamie temporarily stepped away from the conservatorship due to health reasons last year.

Jamie Spears' attorney, Vivian Lee Thoreen, told the court that she believed there is not "a shred of evidence to support my client's suspension," defending his work as Britney's conservator while objecting to Ingham's statements about the father-daughter relationship, calling them hearsay.

AP reports that in court filings, Jamie Spears' attorneys argue that his "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." His ex-wife and Britney's mother, Lynne Spears, said through her attorney that her daughter should not be forced to obey her father's demands.

Spears has remained silent on the details of her father's conservatorship over her, which began in 2008, after the singer suffered a mental breakdown in the public eye. AP notes that dozens of fans continued to support the #FreeBritney movement by continuing to congregate outside the Los Angeles courthouse.

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