Britney Spears pleads for end to conservatorship
Britney Spears’s conservatorship case is heading back to court, three weeks after the singer condemned the system in a statement to a judge.
The hearing is taking place this Wednesday (14 July) in Los Angeles and will focus on handling the aftermath of Spears’s remarks.
In the weeks since her statement to the court, Spears’s court-appointed attorney has resigned, and the estate management company that was meant to oversee her finances has withdrawn from the conservatorship.
Spears isn’t expected to speak at today’s hearing, although she may participate in some form, since she has sought to pick her own attorney.
Follow the court hearing as it happens with our live blog:
Matt Gaetz offers to represent Britney Spears ‘for free’
Representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican of Florida, has offered to represent Britney Spears as she seeks new counsel in her conservatorship battle.
Mr Gaetz worked briefly as a lawyer for a private firm before running for state representative.
Now he’s lended his legal experience to the pop singer.
“I would represent her for free,” Mr Gaetz wrote on Twitter while sharing an article about Spears’ legal battles.
The Florida congressman has been outspoken about Spears’ conservatorship in recent weeks after she gave a public testimony in June about her situation.
He has since spearheaded a movement in Congress to do a #FreeBritney-style rewrite of conservatorship laws amid her legal battles.
Danielle Zoellner14 July 2021 20:47
Elon Musk has also expressed his support for Britney Spears amid the singer’s conservatorship battle.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO shared the words “Free Britney” on Monday from his Twitter account, on which he has 57.8 million followers.
Musk’s partner Grimes replied “thank u” to his tweet.
Clemence Michallon14 July 2021 20:30
Spears has received support from many celebrities since her court address, including Miley Cyrus, who chanted “Free Britney” at a recent concert.
Performing for the opening of Resorts World, Cyrus sang her hit “Party in the USA”, at one point alluding to Spears’s legal battle.
“The taxi man turned on the radio, he turned to me and said, ‘Free Britney, Free Britney!” she sang, as heard in videos captured of the gig.
Read more about the moment in the story below:
Clemence Michallon14 July 2021 20:15
Spears criticised the conservatorship and expressed her disagreement during a hearing on 23 June.
Read her statement in full here:
Clemence Michallon14 July 2021 19:58
The documentary Framing Britney Spears, which explores the treatment of Spears by the public and the media, was nominated for two Emmys yesterday.
Clemence Michallon14 July 2021 19:36
Britney Spears has been under a legal guardianship since 2008, with her father Jamie and other legal guardians managing her financial and personal life.
However, Spears has shown resistance to the situation in recent years, with her lawyers stating that she wants the conservatorship to change and her father to be removed from it.
Here’s a timeline of the conservatorship so far:
Clemence Michallon14 July 2021 19:14
Britney Spears will still be represented at Wednesday’s hearing by her longtime court-appointed lawyer, Samuel Ingham III, who filed documents last week saying he resigned, effective as soon as she got a new attorney, which at the June hearing she said she wanted.
The Bessemer Trust, a financial company that Spears had sought as a replacement for her father last year but was instead appointed to work alongside him, also withdrew from the conservatorship last week, saying it no longer wanted to take part in a legal arrangement that she didn’t want.
Clemence Michallon14 July 2021 19:01
Britney Spears’s sister Jamie Lynn Spears recently said her sister sent her a “box of goodies” for her children, after begging the pop star’s fans to cease sending her death threats:
Clemence Michallon14 July 2021 18:48
Britney Spears’s mother Lynne Spears has asked a court to “listen to the wishes of her daughter” when it comes to the singer’s conservatorship.
Lynne Spears filed the request as an “interested party and mother of the conservatee [Britney Spears]”, as reflected in a court document.
She is asking the court to allow her daughter to “hire her own private legal counsel” or to appoint “a private attorney of [Britney Spears]’s choosing”.
This is expected to be one of the talking points at today’s hearing.
Clemence Michallon14 July 2021 18:32
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), along with 25 civil rights and disability rights organisations, have filed an amicus brief with the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in support of Britney Spears’ right to select her own attorney for her conservatorship proceedings.
The document, filed on Monday (12 July), sets out: “the importance of ensuring that a conservatee can select her own lawyer, where, as here, she has expressed a desire and an ability to do so.”
Read more about the filing here:
Clemence Michallon14 July 2021 18:17