By Spy Uganda Correspondent
Britney Spears’s father, James Spears, has filed to end the court conservatorship that has controlled the singer’s life and money for 13 years.
On Tuesday (US time), Mr Spears filed his petition to terminate the conservatorship in the Los Angeles Superior Court. “As Mr Spears has said, again and again, all he wants is what is best for his daughter,” the document said.
“If Ms Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Mr Spears believes that she should get that chance.”
The move by Mr Spears follows an appeal from his successful daughter to end the conservatorship.
Britney’s attorney, Mathew Rosengart, said in an email the filing represented “another legal victory for Britney Spears — a massive one — as well as vindication for Ms Spears”.
Mr Spears had been the target of much of the anger surrounding the conservatorship from both his daughter and her fans.
A petition from Britney Spears’s attorney to remove her father was to be heard at the next hearing in the case on September 29.
James Spears had said in a filing on August 12, that he was planning to step down as the conservator of her finances, but offered no timetable.
He gave up his control over her life decisions in 2019, but continued to oversee her money.
Mr Spears has repeatedly said there is no justification for his removal, and he has acted only in his daughter’s best interest.
Long Court Battle
The conservatorship was established in 2008 when Britney began to have very public mental struggles, with media outlets obsessing over each moment, hordes of paparazzi aggressively following her everywhere, and ending up with the singer losing custody of her children.
The latest filing cites how Britney’s “impassioned plea” to end the legal arrangement in a June 23 speech in court gave a jolt to those who wanted to see her freed from it, quoting from the transcript of that afternoon.
“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.”
The filing noted that Britney said she did not know she could file a petition to end the conservatorship, which she has yet to do.
It said that Judge Penny’s decision to allow Britney to select Mr Rosengart as her attorney demonstrated that the court trusted her with major choices.
And, it said, evidence showed she had apparently “demonstrated a level of independence” by doing things such as driving herself around Southern California.
It also cited her desire to make her own decisions on therapy and other medical care.
#FreeBritney
Britney’s fans — who objected to her circumstances and saw what they believed were pleas for help in the pop star’s Instagram posts — began calling online to #FreeBritney.
The #FreeBritney movement has been around for more than a decade but has resurfaced on social media recently.
Fans protested outside the court throughout her hearings.
