Following Britney Spears’ recent conservatorship hearings, here is everything her family has said in response to her court statements and legal developments.<\/b>
\nCelebrity \u201cI would honestly like to sue my family, to be totally honest with you,\u201d Spears said in her testimony. During Britney Spears\u2019 June 23 court conservatorship hearing, the singer shared a revealing account of her life under the system in which her father, Jamie Spears, exercises control over every area of her life. \u201cNot only did my family not do a goddamn thing,\u201d she said, per the court transcript via Variety, \u201cmy dad was all for it. Anything that happened to me had to be approved by my dad… he loved the control to hurt his own daughter 100,000 percent. He loved it.\u201d As part of her statement, Spears also revealed some of the harrowing details of her conservatorship \u2014 including the fact that she wears an IUD her team \u201cwon\u2019t let\u201d her remove to prevent her from having another child \u2014 and said she is \u201ctraumatized\u201d and \u201cdepressed,\u201d crying every day about her situation. Spears would like to end her conservatorship \u201cwithout having to be evaluated,\u201d she added. The statement marked a rare firsthand addition to the #FreeBritney discourse, and Spears is ready to make these details known. She stated, \u201cAnd I would honestly like to sue my family, to be totally honest with you. I also would like to be able to share my story with the world and what they did to me, instead of it being a hush-hush secret to benefit all of them.\u201d On July 14, Spears spoke in another conservatorship hearing in which she requested and received approval for new legal counsel. As reported by CNN and NBC News, she continued her candid statements and said she was made to feel \u201ccrazy,\u201d adding that those who were managing her conservatorship \u201c were trying to kill me.\u201d Regarding her father, Spears detailed that she is \u201cextremely scared\u201d of Jamie and wants \u201cto get rid of my dad and charge him with conservatorship abuse.\u201d After much back and forth between Spears\u2019 and Jamie\u2019s legal teams about the prospect of him stepping down from the conservatorship, the pop star\u2019s father officially filed to end the conservatorship altogether on Sept.7. \u201cRecent events related to this conservatorship have called into question whether circumstances have changed to such an extent that grounds for establishment of a conservatorship may no longer exist,\u201d stated court papers. Naturally, Spears\u2019 fans and fellow celebrities alike have had much to say in support of the singer. Her own circle has chimed in, too. Though her family\u2019s comments were brief, some provided a glimpse at the dynamic between Spears and the people closest to her case, who the singer said have \u201clived off my conservatorship for 13 years.\u201d Here is everything Spears\u2019 family and loved ones have said about her statement. Spears\u2019 younger sister, Jamie Lynn, shared videos to her Instagram story on the day of the June 23 hearing. In them, she spent time with her daughter and a woman who appears to be Lynne Spears, Britney and Jamie Lynn\u2019s mother. Though Jamie Lynn didn\u2019t address the conservatorship directly, she did turn off comments on her recent posts after users criticized her role in Spears\u2019 case. On June 28, days after Spears\u2019 testimony, Jamie Lynn spoke out in an emotional video posted on her Instagram Story, saying that she didn\u2019t want to comment until Britney spoke out herself and making it clear she only has her sister\u2019s best interests at heart. \u00ab\u00a0I think it’s extremely clear that since the day I was born that I’ve only loved, adored, and supported my sister. This is my freakin’ big sister before any of this bullsh*t,\u201d she explained. \u201cI’m so proud of her for using her voice. I am so proud of her for requesting new counsel.\u201d Jamie Lynn previously alluded to her sister\u2019s conservatorship in 2020 amid the #FreeBritney movement. \u201cIf you deal with mental illness or care for someone dealing with mental illness,\u201d she wrote last July, \u201cthen you know how important it is to respect the situation with privacy for the person, and the family trying to protect their loved ones, no matter how it appears to the public.\u201d In August 2020, Jamie Lynn was named as the trustee of Spears\u2019 trust and is now positioned to inherit the totality of Spears\u2019 fortune upon her death, \u201cincluding all accused and undistributed and unrealized income.\u201d According to Us Weekly, the change was put into motion in 2018, approved by Spears\u2019 then co-conservators (her father and Andrew Wallet), and made public last year after Jamie Lynn signed the document. However, in her video, she dismissed rumors that she profited from Spears\u2019 career or conservatorship. \u201cI’ve worked since I was 9 years old; I’ve paid my own bills since I was 10 years old,\u201d she said. \u201cNot that I owe the public anything because my sister knows I love and support her. That’s the only person I owe anything to.\u201d Following her comments on the conservatorship, Jamie Lynn allegedly received hateful comments, including death threats, directed towards her and her family on social media. \u201cHi, I respect that everyone has the right to express themselves,\u201d she wrote on Instagram, per People, \u201cbut can we please stop with the death threats, especially the death threats to children.\u201d Despite the tension between Spears\u2019 fans and Jamie Lynn, she appears to be on good terms with her older sister. On July 11, Jamie Lynn took to Instagram to post a photo of toys she claims Spears sent to her kids on her story. \u201cNothing sweeter than coming home to a box full of goodies for my girls from their auntie,\u201d she captioned the image, according to People, tagging Spears. After Spears was granted the ability to choose her own legal counsel on July 14, Jamie Lynn shared an optimistic message on her Instagram story \u2014 an image of a quote attributed to Christopher Reeve, reading, \u201cOnce you choose hope, anything\u2019s possible.\u201d The next day, she shared a picture of a prayer reading, \u201cDear Lord, Can we end this bullsh*t once and for all.\u201d Spears\u2019 boyfriend, Sam Asghari, was also active on Instagram on the day of the singer\u2019s June hearing \u2014 but his message was much clearer, opting to sport a \u201cFree Britney\u201d T-shirt on his Story. The post also featured a lion emoji, and he posted a photo of a lion on his story later, seeming to hint at Spears\u2019 powerful statement. \u201cYour lioness did amazing today,\u201d one user commented. Asghari was referenced during Spears\u2019 statement. \u201cI\u2019d like for my boyfriend to be able to drive me in his car… I would like to progressively move forward, and I want to have the real deal,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to be able to get married and have a baby.\u201d On the day of the July 14 court session, Ashgari supported Spears again, posting a black-and-white photo of a lioness on his Instagram feed, \u201cFree Britney\u201d on his Instagram Stories, and \u201cInternet is about to explode #freebritney\u201d in the comments of Spears\u2019 celebratory post-hearing video. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jamie Spears had only a brief comment to share after a recess and his daughter\u2019s June 23 statement. Via a lawyer, Jamie expressed that he was \u201csorry to hear she\u2019s suffering and in so much pain\u201d and that he \u201cmisses his daughter very much.\u201d However, on June 30, a week after the hearing, Jamie requested an investigation into Spears\u2019 testimony, specifically regarding the abuse claims against him. As reported by The New York Times, Jamie\u2019s lawyers asked for an evidentiary hearing in new court documents, writing that \u201ceither the allegations will be shown to be true, in which case corrective action must be taken, or they will be shown to be false, in which case the conservatorship can continue its course.\u201d Spears\u2019 father also addressed his daughter\u2019s claims by questioning her current personal conservator Jodi Montgomery, who has been \u201cfully in charge of Ms. Spears\u2019 day-to-day personal care and medical treatment\u201d since September 2019, according to his lawyers. In 2020, Jamie told The New York Post that #FreeBritney advocates were \u201cconspiracy theorists [who] don\u2019t know anything,\u201d calling the whole movement a \u201cjoke.\u201d The pop star\u2019s new lawyer, Matthew S. Rosengart, filed a petition to officially remove Jamie as the conservator of her estate after 13 years in the position on July 26. In response, Jamie filed his resignation on Aug.12 at the Los Angeles Superior Court, as reported by Variety. But two days later, he doubled down on claims that there are \u201cno actual grounds\u201d for him to step down and that \u201cit is highly debatable whether a change in conservator at this time would be in Ms. Spears\u2019 best interests,\u201d according to court documents. Furthermore, the papers state that \u201ceven though he must contest this unjustified Petition for his removal, Mr. Spears intends to work with the Court and his daughter\u2019s new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator.\u201d Additionally, Jamie\u2019s legal team claimed he \u201chad already been working on such a transition with Ms. Spears\u2019 former court-appointed counsel, Sam Ingham.\u201d On Sept 1, Rosengart filed court papers accusing Jamie of trying to extort his daughter out of $2 million in order for him to exit the conservatorship completely. Per Variety, Rosengart claimed that Jamie wants more than $1.3 million in legal fees, $500,000 to Spears\u2019 previous management, and other payments to Jamie for his attempts to keep the pop star\u2019s \u201cmusic, advertising, and entertainment business\u201d current. Vulture reported that he\u2019s also seeking an additional $541,065.50 for \u201cmedia matters,\u201d aka publicly speaking on legal claims with his lawyer Vivian A. Thoreen, such as \u201cmajor television and news articles, social media posts, global media inquiries, and documentary films.\u201d Things took an unexpected turn on Sept.7, as Jamie filed his petition to end the conservatorship altogether. \u201cMs. Spears has told this court that she wants control of her life back without the safety rails of a conservatorship,\u201d read the court filing, noting that the pop star \u201cwants to live her life as she chooses without the constraints of a conservator or court proceeding.\u201d \u201c[Spears] wants to control the money she has made from her career and spend it without supervision or oversight. She wants to be able to get married and have a baby, if she so chooses. In short, she wants to live her life as she chooses without the constraints of a conservator or court proceeding,\u201d continued the petition. \u201cAs Mr. Spears has said again and again, all he wants is what is best for his daughter. If Ms. Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Mr. Spears believes that she should get that chance.\u201d His petition noted that the \u201ccourt has the authority to end this conservatorship without ordering a psychological evaluation\u201d of Spears, a wish she expressed in the initial bombshell June 23 hearing. Speaking to Page Six, Rosengart referred to the filing as \u201ca massive legal victory\u201d and \u201cvindication\u201d for Spears. Jamie\u2019s termination would need to be approved by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny, who presides over the case, and a hearing is currently set for Sept.29. As reported by Us Weekly, Lynne Spears\u2019 attorney Gladstone Jones said she was a \u201cvery concerned mother\u201d following her daughter\u2019s June statement. And according to a Vulture report, Jones relayed Lynne\u2019s sentiments via a statement that read: \u201cToday is the day while the world watches while we listen to Ms. Spears, that we put in place a plan. That is her mother’s request, that we not leave the court without having a plan.\u201d In a July 3 report by The New Yorker, Lynne expressed that she had \u201cmixed feelings\u201d about Spears\u2019 situation. According to reporters Ronan Farrow and Jia Tolentino, Lynne \u201cspoke in a whisper\u201d during their interview, declined to answer \u201cdetailed questions\u201d about the case, and explained that she might have to \u201chang up abruptly\u201d if a family member walked in on the call, apologizing in advance. \u201cI don’t know what to think,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s a lot of pain, a lot of worry.\u201d On July 5, following the resignation of Spears\u2019 court-appointed lawyer Samuel D. Ingham III, Lynne filed a petition to Judge Brenda Penny to allow her daughter to choose her own legal team, which she expressed interest in during her June 23 testimony. \u201cHer capacity is certainly different today than it was in 2008, and Conservatee should no longer be held to the 2008 standard, whereby she was found to \u2018not have the capacity to retain counsel,\u2019\u201d read the petition, per Deadline. In the document, Lynne also urged the judge to \u201cto listen to the wishes of her daughter, and as a first step,\u201d let her choose her lawyers. \u201cIt is self-evident that before the Court addresses, for example, the termination of the conservatorship, Conservatee must be allowed to consult with counsel of her choosing,\u201d continued the petition. \u201cClearly, Conservatee needs private counsel to advise her as to her basic rights in this conservatorship.\u201d The New York Times reported on July 11 that Spears was in talks to hire well-known entertainment lawyer Matthew S. Rosengart, and his appointment was approved by Judge Penny on July 14. On Tuesday, June 29, Spears\u2019 ex-husband Kevin Federline, who is the father of her two sons Sean Preston and Jayden James, responded to her hearing through his attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan, saying that he has nothing but well wishes for his ex-wife. \u201cThe best thing would be for their mom to be healthy and happy,\u201d Kaplan told People in a statement. \u201cAnd if either of those things aren’t true, it doesn’t provide for the best setting for custody to be exercised. [Kevin] certainly respects Britney and only hopes the best for her because when the best for her is achieved, it’s the best for their kids.\u201d In regards to the conservatorship, Federline would support Spears if she formally petitioned to end the arrangement, as she indicated she would do. \u201cBritney has not been served well by the conservatorship, and it’s not consistent with what she wants,\u201d Kaplan added. \u201cI think that she should be able to challenge that. And if it’s what’s best for her, Kevin supports it.\u201d Though Spears\u2019 two sons generally stay out of the public sphere, her son Jayden did voice support for his mom (and criticism of his grandfather) during an Instagram Live in 2020, as reported by Refinery29. Today, that account is private. Her children have not responded to her court statements. Reporting by Grace Wehniainen, Jake Viswanath, and Jack Irvin. This article was originally published on June 24, 2021<\/p>\n