In a significant setback for Britney Spears, Jamie Spears remains in control of his daughter’s finances as part of her decade-plus long conservatorship. On Wednesday, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied Britney’s request to have her father removed from the legal arrangement that has been the focus of so much media attention in recent months.
The news comes a week after Britney appeared before another LA Superior Court judge, reading a bombshell statement that shed new light on the affect the conservatorship has had on her life for the past 13 years. But Wednesday’s decision was not in direct response to that most recent court appearance, in which the pop star described being exploited and bullied in shocking ways. The request being denied was filed by Britney’s court-appointed attorney Samuel Ingham III back in November in an effort to add Bessemer Trust as a co-conservator overseeing the singer’s finances.
“Wednesday’s court filing states that the court found Spears to be ‘substantially unable to manage his or her financial resources or to resist fraud or undue influence,’” Variety reported.
After Britney’s court appearance last week, Jamie Spears called for an investigation into his daughter’s claims, which included being forced to tour and take medication against her will, and not being allowed to have her IUD removed.
Another hearing is scheduled for July 14, at which point it is expected that Britney may petition the court to end the conservatorship, full stop. As has been reported, the singer was apparently unaware until recently that this was even a possibility. “I didn’t know I could petition the conservatorship to end it. I’m sorry for my ignorance, but I honestly didn’t know that,” she said at last week’s appearance in court.
#FreeBritney pic.twitter.com/UPg7rkq0lW
— IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) July 1, 2021
In the week since Britney’s testimony, celebrities have been vocal in their shock at the abuse she described and in their support of her. The latest to join the chorus is Iggy Azalea, who took to Twitter to back up Britney’s claims about her father. “During the time we worked together in 2015, I personally witnessed the same behavior Britney detailed in regards to her father last week and I just want to back her up & tell the world that: She is not exaggerating or lying,” Azalea wrote. “This is not right at all”
