On Wednesday, June 23, the 39-year-old pop star spoke out about her conservatorship for the first time in court, calling the legal arrangement “abusive,” making it clear that she would like it to come to an end after 13 years, and even comparing her conservator, father Jamie Spears, to a sex trafficker.
According to Spears, after attempting to change a dance move at rehearsals for her canceled Las Vegas residency show Domination, her therapist was called, her medications were switched, and no one intervened on her behalf.
I’m so angry, it’s insane.” Spears also outlined some of the heinous restrictions that she’s been put under, explaining how she’s forced to wear an IUD to prevent her from having another child, and her conservators won’t let her take it out.
The legal arrangement has been in question for years, leading for fans to start the online #FreeBritney movement after fans found out she was reportedly held in the facility against her will.
Contrary to previous statements from Jamie’s lawyers, Spears said she wasn’t made aware that she could petition to end her conservatorship, and was afraid that “people would laugh at me and make jokes about me” if she had attempted to do so.
Before her hearing, Spears’ boyfriend Sam Asghari posted a selfie of himself wearing a “Free Britney” shirt on his Instagram Story.
The day before she spoke in court, The New York Times released previously confidential court documents that show Spears has been pushing to end her conservatorship as early as 2016.
In March 2021, Spears formally requested that Jamie step down as conservator of both herself and her estate, after months of indicating that she “strongly opposed” having her father serve as her sole conservator in court docs, and even declaring that she would never perform again if he was involved in her career.
I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive.” At the end of the hearing, Judge Brenda Penny directed all attorneys involved to take Spears’ concerns seriously, but in order to end the conservatorship, she must formally file paperwork requesting so with the court.