Jamie Lynn Spears says she supported sister Britney ‘long before there was a hashtag’
Jamie Lynn Spears will keep on supporting sister Britney Spears till the world ends.
On Monday, the actor and singer broke her silence on the pop icon’s recent remarks regarding her controversial conservatorship. While addressing a Los Angeles court last week, Britney Spears requested the termination of her “abusive” conservatorship, which has severely limited the “Toxic” artist’s autonomy for the past 13 years.
“I just want to take a second to address a few things,” Jamie Lynn Spears said Monday in a video posted to her Instagram story. “The only reason I haven’t before is because I felt like, before my sister was able to speak for herself and say what she felt she needed to say publicly, that it wasn’t my place and it wasn’t the right thing to do.
“But now that she’s very clearly spoken and said what she needed to say, I feel like I can follow her lead and say what I feel I need to say. I think it’s extremely clear, since the day I was born, I’ve only loved, adored and supported my sister.”
Experts in probate law say the singer’s account is well within the realm of how conservatorship works. “You’re taking away a person’s right to make any decisions over themselves,” one said.
Much of the “Zoey 101” alum’s comments seemed to take aim at people who have criticized her for not speaking up sooner on her older sister’s behalf. Ultimately, Jamie Lynn Spears said she’s “only concerned about her [sister’s] happiness.”
“This is my freaking big sister before any of this bulls—,” she added. “I don’t care if she wants to run away to a rainforest and have a zillion babies in the middle of nowhere, or she wants to come back and dominate the world the way she has so many times before — because I have nothing to gain or lose either way.”
During her emotional 24-minute speech last week, Britney Spears accused her conservators of forcing her to work nonstop, take medication that left her incapacitated, give copious amounts of blood and submit to excessive psychological evaluation.
The Grammy winner also accused her “so-called team” of prohibiting her from removing the intrauterine contraceptive device (IUD) implanted inside her, despite her desire to have another child.
Britney Spears’ testimony that her conservators made her keep her IUD, against her will, upset a lot of people. An expert breaks it down for us.
“I’ve made a very conscious choice in my life to only participate in her life as her sister,” Jamie Lynn Spears continued. “Maybe I didn’t support her the way the public would like me to — with a hashtag on a public platform — but I can assure you that I’ve supported my sister long before there was a hashtag, and I’ll support her long after that.
“Not that I owe the public anything,” she added, “because my sister knows I love and support her. That’s the only person I owe anything to.”
In her Instagram message, Jamie Lynn Spears alluded to the #FreeBritney movement, which has long denounced the Spears sisters’ father, Jamie Spears, for keeping the “Circus” singer locked in a conservatorship for more than a decade.
Britney Spears finally spoke out about her conservatorship, but what’s next? ‘Once the system gets ahold of you, it is hard to get out,’ an attorney says.
While appealing to a judge earlier this month, Britney Spears said she intended to sue her family and that her father “loved every minute of ... the control he had over” her life.
“I’m not my family. I am my own person. I’m speaking for myself,” Jamie Lynn Spears said. “I’m so proud of her for using her voice. I’m so proud of her for requesting new counsel, like I told her to do many years ago — not on a big public platform but just in a personal conversation between two sisters.
“So I’m very proud that she’s taken that step. If ending the conservatorship ... whatever the hell else she wants to do to be happy. I support that 100%.”
Addressing the court for the first time in two years, pop star Britney Spears was candid and emotional at her conservatorship hearing Wednesday.
Jamie Lynn Spears’ comments come days after her husband, Jamie Watson, defended the Spears family in a statement to the New York Post.
“I can assure you her family loves her and wants the best for her,” Watson told the Post. “I wouldn’t be around people who weren’t. Who wouldn’t want to be in support of Britney?”
Through his attorney at Wednesday’s court hearing, Jamie Spears said he was “sorry to see his daughter suffering and in so much pain,” adding that he “loves his daughter and misses her very much.”
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