You’re toxic: Britney Spears in dramatic plea for freedom from ‘bullying’ and ‘abusive’ father
Britney Spears called for her father to be jailed on Wednesday during a dramatic family court hearing — as she begged for an end to the “abusive” conservatorship that has governed her life for more than a decade.
The pop superstar broke her silence about the legal arrangement that has allowed her father Jamie Spears and others to control her estimated $60 million fortune — detailing how she had been drugged, forced to take birth control and made to work against her will.
“He loved the control [he had] to hurt his own daughter, one hundred thousand percent,” Britney, 39, said about her dad during the virtual status hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Addressing Judge Brenda Penny via phone, the Mississippi-born singer said: “Ma’am, my dad and anyone involved in this conservatorship, and my management, who played huge roles in punishing me when I said ‘No’ [to going on tour] — Ma’am, they should be in jail.”
“I’ve lied and told the whole world I’m OK and I’m happy,” she continued. “I’ve been in denial. I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized…
I’m not happy. I can’t sleep. I’m so angry. It’s insane. And I’m depressed. I cry every day.”
Speaking quickly and passionately as she read from a prepared statement, the former child star said she wanted the conservatorship to end “without having to be evaluated.”
“I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive,” she said. “It’s my wish and my dream for all of this to end.”
The bombshell 20-minute speech came months after Britney’s court-appointed attorney, Samuel D. Ingham III, filed to have her dad removed as the guardian of her estate.
Her appearance was scheduled in April, after her lawyer asked Penny if the star could address the court directly, which the justice granted. Ingham did not disclose what Britney wanted to say.
At the start of the hearing, when an attorney for one of the co-conservators said the proceedings should be sealed if private medical information was to be revealed — Britney fiercely interjected.
“I think they’ve done a good job at exploiting my life,” she said. “So I feel like it should be an open court hearing, and they should listen and hear what I have to say.”
She compared the conservatorship to being enslaved, saying, “In California, the only similar thing to this is called sex trafficking, making anyone work against their will, taking all their possessions away credit card, cash, phone, passport.”
Britney went on to reveal how she had been forced to take the mood stabilizing drug Lithium after rehearsals broke down for a later-canceled Las Vegas residency in 2019.
“I felt drunk. I really couldn’t even take up for myself. I couldn’t even have a conversation with my mom or dad… I was scared,” she said.
She’d butted heads with her management over the long hours and the show’s choreography.
“I’m not here to be anyone’s slave,” she said. “I can say no to a dance move.”
Britney — who was asked by the judge to slow down several times during her fiery speech — also told the court that she wanted to marry her boyfriend Sam Asghari and have a baby, but the conservatorship wouldn’t allow it.
“I have an [IUD] in my body right now that won’t let me have a baby and my conservators won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out,” she said. “I feel ganged up on. I feel bullied and I feel left out and alone.”
She added: “All I want is to own my money and for this to end and for my boyfriend to be able to drive me in his f—ing car.”
The last time the singer spoke before a judge in her conservatorship was in a closed-door hearing in May 2019.
Britney said she hadn’t gone back to court since because she hadn’t felt heard during those proceedings, which were kept sealed from the public.
“I want to feel heard and I’m telling you this again so maybe you can understand the depth and the degree and the damage they did to me back then,” Britney told the judge on Wednesday.
Since 2008, the singer’s finances have been controlled by a conservatorship — also known as a legal guardianship — in which a person is appointed to assume legal responsibility over someone who can’t manage their own affairs, usually the elderly or infirm.
The arrangement — first meant to be temporary — was implemented at Jamie’s request following his daughter’s public meltdown in late 2007, which came amid intense media scrutiny and her divorce from Kevin Federline.
Most of the inner workings of the conservatorship had been kept secret before Britney’s revelations on Wednesday.
But some details were previously revealed in court documents, including how it has the power to restrict Britney’s visitors, make her medical decisions for her and conduct her business deals.
The conservatorship also arranges and oversees Britney’s visits with her sons Sean Preston and Jayden James. Federline has full custody of the boys.
From 2008 to 2019, Jamie had the power to control his daughter’s life choices, as well as her money, along with attorney Andrew Wallet.
In September 2019, Jamie was temporarily replaced as co-conservator of Britney’s person due to his health issues. Jodi Montgomery was appointed by the court to act as conservator over Britney’s personal matters.
Nearly a year later, Ingham filed a petition stating that Britney “strongly opposed” having her father return as sole conservator of the person once he had recuperated.
In November 2020, Penny approved for Jamie to split his responsibilities in overseeing his daughter’s finances with the Bessemer Trust, an estate-management firm. Then, in March, Britney formally requested that Montgomery permanently replace Jamie as conservator over her personal affairs — though if that were granted, he would still control her cash.
The conservatorship arrangement has come under scrutiny amid the #FreeBritney movement started by the singer’s fans and the FX/New York Times documentary, “Framing Britney Spears,” which chronicled her rise to stardom, dealings with the press and the battle over her estate.
Britney’s dad and his attorneys have argued that the conservatorship is necessary to protect the star from being manipulated.
After a short recess, Jamie’s lawyer, Vivian Thoreen, said in court that her client “is sorry to see his daughter suffering and in so much pain.
“Mr. Spears loves his daughter and misses her very much.”
The judge said that Britney would need to file an official petition to get out of the conservatorship, and that another court hearing would need to be scheduled.
“I just want to commend you again for really stepping forward and stepping out to share your thoughts to not only myself but everybody who has been involved in this case and I just want to let you know how much I do appreciate that,” she told Britney.
Under the law, Britney would need to prove that she is competent enough to be freed from the arrangement and to make her own choices.
“I shouldn’t be in a conservatorship,” Britney told the court, “if I can work and provide money and work for myself and pay other people, it makes no sense. The laws need to change.”
Near the Stanley Mosk Courthouse on Wednesday, about 100 fans gathered at a rally, holding signs that read “Free Britney now!” and “Get out of Britney’s life!”
“She’s been treated like a child for the last 13 years,” said Jennifer Preston, who traveled from Virginia to be outside the hearing. “She hasn’t had control of her life or her finances, even though she’s clearly capable enough to do those things.”
With Post wires
