Britney Spears claims small victory over father in court case

Pop star Britney Spears is actively fighting her father’s role as curator of his estate and has apparently taken a professional hiatus to protest his broad control over his career and finances.

On Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, a judge upheld the role of James “Jamie” Spears, but did not close the door to his ouster at a later date and – at the singer’s request – appointed a financial trustee as co-custodian. , according to court documents reviewed by The Times. The hearing was to examine the accounts – an annual report outlining Britney Spears’ expenses and her father’s expenses on her behalf – as well as the appointment of Tories and consideration of several motions.

During the hearing, lawyers for Spears and her mother, Lynne, reportedly urged the 38-year-old singer’s father to step down from guardianship, which dictated the pop star’s life and career for more than ‘a decade.

The “… Baby One More Time” hit-maker is said to be afraid of his father and not perform until he is no longer in control of his career – a role he has taken on since his public disclosure in 2008.

In January 2019, she abruptly canceled her “Britney: Domination” residency in Las Vegas before she even started, then went to a mental health facility. She hasn’t performed live since 2018. According to The Associated Press, Us Weekly and TMZ, Britney Spears’ attorney blamed the singer’s professional break on her father.

“My client informed me that she was afraid of her father. It won’t happen while her father is in charge of her career, ”Samuel D. Ingham III said during the hearing conducted by telephone and video conference. (Spears was not present but his parents were present via video, court documents show.)

Jamie Spears’ attorney Vivian Lee Thoreen told judge she didn’t believe “there was an ounce of evidence” to support her suspension and objected to Ingham’s statements about the father relationship -daughter as inadmissible hearsay, AP reported.

Another hearing has been set for December 16 at 9:30 a.m.

Legal experts have told The Times that it’s unusual for someone as young and productive as Spears to be in probate wardship, typically used to protect the elderly, infirm and mentally disabled. His arrangement was expected to be temporary, as such guardianship is usually for people who are unlikely to improve and often remain in effect until the person passes away.

Britney Spears’ two-part guardianship was aimed at protecting her person and her estate in 2008, and did so as the star staged a personal and professional comeback in the years that followed. But the unusually long duration of the probate case has sparked interest and has become increasingly heated over the past year as the fan-powered #FreeBritney movement has gained ground. Several developments occurred over the summer as Britney Spears and her team began to make more candid statements about her personal affairs in court records – among them repeated requests to disqualify her father from his surveillance duties , giving him control of more than $ 60 million in assets to other restaurateurs of his choice.

Britney Spears’ father, James “Jamie” Spears.

(Nick Ut / Associated Press)

Among the revelations was Spears’ admission that supervision is “voluntary” and that she would no longer like to perform professionally. (On Tuesday, Ingham called the mother-of-two a “high-profile conservative” and said she and her father had not spoken for a very long time.)

In a filing in early September in Los Angeles Superior Court, the artist gave credit to the viral #FreeBritney campaign which organizers Jamie Spears had dismissed as “conspiracy theorists”. Ingham asked the court to open Britney Spears’ extended guardianship for public scrutiny after being sealed at her father’s request for years. Jamie Spears argued that the family business should be kept private.

His father left a separate role – his personal curator – in September 2019 after citing his own “personal health reasons”, but remained the curator of his estate. In August, the singer expressed her wish to have it withdrawn entirely.

She then requested that her temporary registrar, Jodi Montgomery, be placed in a permanent role and that a corporate trustee, Bessemer Trust Co., be appointed to manage her estate.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Judge Brenda J. Penny rejected Spears’ request to suspend her father immediately after Bessemer was appointed as sole registrar of the estate. But the decision was taken without prejudice, which means he can be suspended later.

Earlier this month, Spears’ younger sister, actress Jamie Lynn Spears, withdrew her petition to become a trustee of the singer’s SJB Trust. She was chosen as the trustee of the pop superstar’s multi-million dollar estate two years ago.

The singer’s commercial director, Lou M. Taylor, and her company, Tri Star Sports & Entertainment, have also resigned. The singer’s lawyer also said Jamie Spears had appointed a new business manager, but failed to notify the star.

In his own documents, Jamie Spears argued that he did his job right and turned his daughter’s estate – once in debt and facing millions of dollars in lawsuits – worth more than $ 60 million.

The #FreeBritney movement has closely followed the few publicly available developments in the case and called for an investigation into the guardianship. Some fans associated with the campaign have long claimed that the pop star uses social media to send coded calls for help (for example, one follower urged her to wear a specific color outfit in her next Instagram post; when she did, it was taken as a sign that she was asking for help) – but her camp has not publicly commented on these theories.

Campaign organizers told The Times in August that many people supporting the #FreeBritney movement had studied court documents made available to the public, leading them to believe that the artist’s constitutional rights were involved. and that some of his human rights are violated. .

On Tuesday, the organizers of #FreeBritney, who during guardianship hearings typically protest outside the Stanley Mosk courthouse, attended the public hearing and said Bessemer’s appointment as co-curator was a ” big victory for Britney ”.

“Ingham has done a fantastic job fighting for Britney’s interests,” said spokesperson Pilar Vigneaux. “We support Britney’s decision not to work while James Spears stays involved and controls her life.”