Singer Britney Spears’ conservatorship hearing finally puts an end to the control her father had over her.
By: Anjali 10.3
An edited image of a courthouse
For more than a decade, 39-year-old singer Britney Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, has had full control over most aspects of her life: comprising of her finances, her career, her love life, her interaction with her children and a number of other activities she took part in. Now, after Britney’s 13-year-long battle for freedom, Jamie Spears has finally agreed to step down as her conservator in her most recent and final court hearing regarding this issue.
Ever since her rise to fame in 1993, when she joined The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, Spears gained a massive following and acquired a dedicated, loyal fan base. Following her early successes, she released her debut single …Baby One More Time at the age of 16, which topped the charts for more than 30 weeks. Over the next two years, Britney went on to become the best-selling teenage artist of all time as well as being crowned the “Princess of Pop”. She released her first album in 1999, which she named after the title track …Baby One More Time and her second album: Oops!... I Did It Again. However, in 2007, the singer lost custody of her two children after her dispute with ex-husband Kevin Federline. This is when the stigma around Spears’ mental health first arose.
These rumors were confirmed after Britney’s personal issues burst into public view as she began to act out. Between 2007 and 2008, paparazzi witnessed her “erratic” behavior and the singer was ultimately put on psychiatric hold in a mental facility for a three-day evaluation soon after. According to the Los Angeles Times, in 2008, her father first asked for an emergency “temporary” conservatorship, claiming that Britney- who at the time was 26 years old- was not fit to handle her own estate. This gave Jamie Spears control over her health, finances, and career, which included who she was allowed to meet, and any business deals she was offered. Nevertheless, Britney shocked fans as she continued to work and began a concert residency in Las Vegas. Despite this, the conservatorship was extended year after year until 2019, when Jamie Spears requested the conservatorship from just California to 3 more states.
This is what sparked the “#FreeBritney” movement, through which fans fought to have the conservatorship ended. Although the campaign initially began when the conservatorship was first established, it grew over time. In June this year, the Toxic singer first broke her silence in court with a 24-minute statement expressing her opinions on the issue and much of what she said suggested that she was, in fact, unhappy and felt trapped in the conservatorship. This led fans to continue to protest in support of Britney until August 12th, 2021, when millions were ecstatic to hear that Jamie Spears had finally agreed to step down as his daughter’s conservator. After more than 10 years of being restrained by her father’s commands, Britney Spears has now definitively regained freedom and control over her own life.
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