Caitlin Klutz
Reporter
It’s no secret that Britney Spears has been one of the most influential pop and musical artists in modern times. Love or hate her music, it seems that most everyone knows at least one melody of from any of her songs, or is aware of her infamous highly publicized breakdown. At some point in everyone’s life, we have seen the tabloid photos and covers of her with horrifying captions like, “Inside Britney’s Breakdown,” “Britney Shears,” and “Inside her Ordeal.” It’s easy to see that she’s had a lot of negative media attention on her from all parts of her career.
Britney Spears has been popping up more in recent years because of the conservatorship she’s been battling with her father, James Spears. James Spears applied for conservatorship after she was checked into a psychiatric hospital after her widely publicized breakdown in 2008. Since then, Britney has had all of her financial affairs controlled by her father.
A conservatorship is appointed by the court when a person is unable to make financial and monumental decisions for their own life, because of an illness, injury, or disability. For Britney, this was because of her mental health; she is the conservatee, while her father is the conservator.
Originally, this was supposed to be a temporary conservatorship while she was in the hospital. However, Britney has since been under this for nearly half of her career. Even though she was in the conservatorship, she’s still released 4 albums, gone on 4 major worldwide tours, and even judged contestants on the X-Factor.
It wasn’t until 2019 when James Spears stepped down temporarily from Britney’s personal affairs for his own health-related reasons. Though, he soon became the sole financial conservator later on. His lawyer Vivian Thoreen commented that Spears is working “in the best interests of his daughter,” in a statement from NBC.
However, sources reveal that Britney no longer wants her father as her conservator anymore. In August 2020 Britney filed to have her father removed from the conservatorship. During the hearing, Britney revealed that she is strongly opposed to her father continuing as the sole conservator of her entire estate, strongly preferring to let Jodi Montgomery, Britney’s care manager, remain as her conservator instead.
Since the release of The New York Times documentary, “Framing Britney Spears,” on Hulu, fans of Britney Spears have expressed their concerts about her well-being regarding the conservatorship. The #FreeBritney movement on social media started when an anonymous lawyer formerly part of the firm that oversaw the conservatorship showed great concern over her well-being, and the amount of control her father has over her life. Since the release of the documentary, fans have made a resurgence on social media, even protesting her treatment in April 2019, claiming that she was held there against her will, after checking into a psychiatric facility earlier in the month.
Friends of Britney Spears have also stepped up for her concern. Paris Hilton, one of her lifelong friends, released some of her thoughts about Spear’s conservatorship situation on Andy Cohen Live. She talked about the friendship they share, and the kindness that Britney and Paris have shared with each other over the years. Hilton says, “I feel like if you are an adult you should be able to live your life and not be controlled…After just working your whole life and working so hard, she’s this icon and I just feel like she has no control of her life whatsoever and I just don’t think that’s fair.”
At the end of the day, Britney’s outright thoughts and feelings are beyond our ability to know. So far, she is continuing to fight this conservatorship whether media outlets choose to portray her as a distressed madwoman or fragile victim. There are mixed feelings and stances based on Spear’s conservatorship and well-being. But one thing is for sure, and that is that she doesn’t want her father to be her conservator anymore.
