Britney is FREE! Judge officially terminates pop star’s $60M conservatorship that allowed father Jamie to control almost every aspect of her life
- A judge in Los Angeles officially ended Britney Spears’s 13-year conservatorship on Friday
- Spears’ fans gathered en-masse outside court in California ahead of the hearing
- Some danced, sang, and chanted while others held up signs ahead of the afternoon court appearance
- Britney sported a ‘#FreeBritney’ shirt ahead in an Instagram post on Thursday
- It’s been more than a year since Britney started begging the court to end her father’s control of the conservatorship – which she called ‘abusive’
- In September, a judge suspended Jamie as conservator, which Britney’s lawyer called ‘a monumental win for Britney and for justice’
- Jamie’s lawyers filed a motion agreeing with Britney that the conservatorship should end, but he insisted that there was no wrongdoing on his part
- Rosengart said he planned to take a ‘top-to-bottom look’ at the actions of Jamie and his representatives and suggested that law enforcement should investigate
A Los Angeles judge has ordered an end to the conservatorship that has controlled Britney Spears’s life – and $60 million fortune – for the past 13 years.
‘The court finds that the conservatorship of the person and estate of Britney Jean Spears is no longer required,’ Judge Brenda Penny told a LA Superior court hearing – where Spears did not appear.
‘Therefore, as of today, the conservatorship is hereby terminated.’
Judge Penny’s decision to dissolve the much-maligned legal arrangement comes two months after she fired the star’s dad, Jamie Spears, as the $16,000-a-month conservatorship boss who pulled the strings on his daughter’s career and welfare.
Judge Brenda Penny has ruled that a conservatorship placed on Britney Spears by her father Jamie (pictured) 13 years ago must now come to an end
Now, Jamie could face a major civil lawsuit – or even criminal charges – after Britney’s attorney, Mathew Rosengart, accused him of ‘mismanaging’ her finances, profiting from the conservatorship and illegally monitoring and electronically spying on her, even in her bedroom.
Taking back the reins of her own future will be immediate – though it will take a few weeks for John Zabel, the caretaker conservator who replaced Jamie, to wind up the conservatorship and transfer its assets to Britney’s trust that she will control herself.
Friday’s court ruling means that for the first time since 2008, the singer – who turns 40 next month – can make her own decisions on how she wants live her life.
She can live where she wants, buy what she wants, hire and fire whom she wants, perform where and when she wants, and have a baby with her fiancé, Sam Asghari, as she has said she wants.
Dozens of fans in #FreeBritney t-shirts erupted in cheers and whoops, with some in tears as the news spread outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse on Friday.
The hearing got underway at around 1.30pm, and a decision was announced a little over 30 minutes later.
Earlier, Britney herself wore a ‘#FreeBritney’ t-shirt.
Friday’s hearing had long been expected to be the final step in dissolving the conservatorship that has prevented Britney from making her own decisions about finances and medical care for nearly 14 years.
Judge Brenda Penny ruled on the petition that Britney filed earlier this year.
Ahead of the hearing, the 39-year-old pop star’s fiancé shared a brief Instagram video of her modeling a #FreeBritney t-shirt that features the tagline: ‘It’s a human rights movement’.
Asghari, 27, proudly donned the same statement-making tee in black and even got the couple’s dog in on the action. He cryptically captioned the post: ‘Loading…’
Supporters of singer Britney Spears carry placards as they gather outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse on the day of her conservatorship case hearing, in Los Angeles on Friday
Supporters of the FreeBritney movement rally in support of musician Britney Spears for a conservatorship court hearing, outside the Stanley Mosk courthouse
Performers celebrated outside the courthouse as Spears’s conservatorship was brought to an end
The 39-year-old singer’s fiance Sam Asghari shared a brief Instagram video of her modeling the garment that also features the tagline: ‘It’s a human rights movement’
Twins Edward, right, and John Grimes of Dublin, Ireland – better known as ‘Jedward’ – hold a ‘Free Britney’ flag outside the hearing
While Jamie’s lawyers filed a motion agreeing with Britney that the conservatorship should end, he insisted that there was no wrongdoing on his part and he was always looking out for his daughter’s interests.
But he also blasted his replacement as caretaker conservator, accountant John Zabel, calling him an outsider and a ‘layman’, not up to overseeing the business affairs of an international star like Britney.
That prompted Rosengart to hit back, saying Zabel is a ‘nationally-recognized CPA (certified public accountant) – in stark contrast to Mr Spears, a reported alcoholic and gambling addict with zero financial background or experience in financial matters, who previously filed for bankruptcy and has a domestic violence restraining order currently in effect against him.’
Rosengart also weighed in on reports that the FBI has launched an investigation into claims in a New York Times documentary that Jamie hired a security firm to monitor and record Britney’s communications and spy on what went on in her bedroom, without her knowledge or consent.
Jamie, 69, claimed Britney knew about the surveillance at her home in California, where both parties must consent to their conversations being recorded.
But Rosengart said: ‘Mr Spears has crossed unfathomable lines.
‘Placing a listening device in Britney’s bedroom would be particularly inexcusable and disgraceful, and corroborates so much of her compelling, poignant testimony.
‘These actions must be fully and aggressively investigated.’
It’s been more than a year since Britney started begging the court to end her father’s control and for the conservatorship – which she called ‘abusive’ – to be terminated altogether.
And when Judge Penny suspended Jamie as conservator in September, Rosengart called it ‘a monumental win for Britney and for justice.’
Jamie isn’t the only Spears family member who’s been under fire from Britney. She also attacked her mother Lynne, 66 – whom she blames for ‘ruining her life’ through the conservatorship that so restricted her life
When Judge Penny suspended Jamie as conservator in September, Britney’s lawyer Matthew Rosengart called it ‘a monumental win for Britney and for justice’
Fans hold signs that read ‘Fry Jamie Fry’ and ‘I want my life back’ outside of the courtroom in September as Jamie was removed as her conservator
The singer had told the court that she was ‘afraid ‘ of her dad and declared that she would not perform again until he was no longer in charge of the conservatorship he had strict supervision over since her much-publicized breakdown in 2008.
One of her most heart-wrenching revelations came during a tearful phone appearance at Judge Penny’s court last June when she said that she wanted to have a baby with her fiancé, but the conservatorship wouldn’t allow her to remove her IUD birth control.
‘I feel ganged up on and bullied and alone,’ Britney told the court during that emotional statement. ‘I just want my life back.’
She also told the judge that she felt ‘enslaved’ by her dad, whom she, added, ‘should be in jail.’
Jamie isn’t the only Spears family member who’s been under fire from Britney. She also attacked her mother Lynne, 66 – whom she blames for ‘ruining her life’ through the conservatorship that so restricted her life.
In a bitter Instagram post – sent last week, the day after Lynne filed legal documents asking for the conservatorship to pay her $650,000 in legal fees Lynne claims to have spent – Britney wrote, ‘…..my dad may have started the conservatorship 13 years ago, but what people don’t know is that my mom is the one who gave him the idea!!!! I will never get those years back.’
The angry post – which was later deleted – accused her mother of ‘secretly ruining my life…..So take your whole ‘I have NO IDEA what’s going on’ attitude and go f— yourself!!!!
‘You know exactly what you did. My dad is not smart enough to ever think of a conservatorship.’
Jodi Montgomery, the conservator who oversees the singer’s life and medical decisions, has developed a care plan with her therapists and doctors to guide her through the end of the conservatorship and its aftermath.
The judge made no finding of wrongdoing against James Spears, saying only that the ‘toxic environment’ made the move necessary.
‘The current situation is untenable,’ Penny said earlier in the year.
Rosengart said he planned to take a ‘top-to-bottom look’ at the actions of Jamie and his representatives and suggested that law enforcement should investigate the eavesdropping revelations.
Jamie’s attorneys said Rosengart’s allegations ranged from unsubstantiated to impossible, and that he only ever acted in his daughter’s best interest.
The post-conservatorship fight has in some ways already begun. Spears has parted ways with the attorneys who helped him operate it, and has hired Alex Weingarten, a lawyer specializing in the kind of litigation that may be coming.
And in court filings last week, Britney Spears’ former business managers, Tri Star Sports and Entertainment Group, pushed back against Rosengart’s demands for documents on its involvement in the conservatorship from 2008 to 2018. The group also denied any role in or knowledge of any surveillance of the singer.
As recently as six months ago, it appeared the conservatorship would continue indefinitely. It has since unraveled with surprising speed.
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