After the New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears drew attention to the Britney Spears Conservatory, her legal battle with her father and court-ordered conservator James “Jamie” Spears returned to court today. Britney Spears requested a hearing through an attorney where she could go directly to the court. Judge Brenda Penny granted the motion. Spears, who rarely attends these hearings, will speak in court about the status of her conservatory on June 23 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time, Reuters reports.
In November, a judge refused to remove Britney Spears’ father from his position as conservator. At the same time, however, the court appointed the independent company Bessemer Trust as co-curator. Jamie Spears has been in control of his daughter’s finances and career since 2008. The court order began following Britney Spears’ public mental health problem in 2007. “My client told me she was afraid of her father,” Attorney Samuel D. Ingham III told the presiding judge. “She won’t perform again if her father is in charge of her career.”
Jamie Spears is described in interviews in Framing Britney Spears as a controversial figure in Britney’s life. In 2019, Britney’s ex-husband Kevin Federline filed an injunction against Jamie. It arose out of an alleged physical altercation between Jamie Spears and Britney’s son Sean Preston.
Prior to the new documentary, a fan-led public outcry dubbed the #FreeBritney movement has been gaining traction for more than a year. When Jamie Spears had health problems in early 2019, Britney canceled a Las Vegas residency and checked into a mental health facility. Spears has said she “cried for two weeks” after the documentary was released.
