L.A. judge rejects Britney Spears’ plea to expedite removing father as conservator
Update: Britney Spears’ father suspended as singer’s conservator of estate after 13 years
The #FreeBritney movement suffered a minor setback Monday after the Los Angeles Superior Court rejected Britney Spears’ request to expedite a forthcoming hearing related to her controversial conservatorship.
According to a court order obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Judge Brenda Penny has denied without prejudice the pop musician’s plea to reschedule a hearing regarding the suspension and removal of her father as a conservator of her estate.
Via her newly appointed attorney, Mathew Rosengart, the “Circus” singer petitioned last week to bump the pivotal court date up to late August. As of Monday, the hearing remains slated for Sept. 29.
After years of complaints, Britney Spears’ new attorney has petitioned the Los Angeles Superior Court to replace her father as the conservator of her estate.
“Every day that passes is another day of avoidable harm and prejudice to Ms. Spears and the Estate,” Rosengart’s Aug. 6 petition stated.
“Ms. Spears’s emotional health and well-being must be, and are, the paramount concern. Further, all interested parties forcefully agree that Mr. Spears’s continued presence as Conservator of the Estate is contrary to Ms. Spears’s best interests, health, and well-being, and that his prompt removal — or, at the very least, his immediate suspension — is ‘critical’ at this juncture.”
Britney Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, has long occupied a key role in her conservatorship, which has significantly restricted her financial, personal and medical autonomy for 13 years.
Addressing the court for the first time in two years, pop star Britney Spears was candid and emotional at her conservatorship hearing Wednesday.
In June, the “...Baby One More Time” hitmaker astonished L.A.’s Stanley Mosk Courthouse with bombshell testimony demanding the immediate termination of her “abusive” conservatorship. During her speech, Spears claimed that her father “loved every minute of” the power he had “to hurt his own daughter 100,000%.”
“Keeping the conservatorship going and also keeping my dad in the loop made me feel like I was dead, like I didn’t matter, like nothing had been done to me — like you thought I was lying or something,” Spears said while addressing the court in June.
“I’m telling you again, because I’m not lying. I want to feel heard. And I’m telling you this again so maybe you can understand the depth and the degree of the damage that they did to me back then. I want changes. ... I deserve changes.”
Britney Spears’ team urges the court not to wait until Sept. 29 to consider removing father Jamie Spears from his role, citing her daily suffering.
In July — after the L.A. court granted the pop musician’s wish to choose her own lawyer — Rosengart’s first order of business was to move “aggressively and expeditiously” to boot Jamie Spears from the conservatorship.
Making good on his promise, Rosengart swiftly urged Jamie Spears step down and surrender his conservatorship privileges to Jason Rubin, deemed by Team Britney to be an acceptable temporary conservator.
Britney Spears has been under a conservatorship since 2008. Before her virtual appearance at a court hearing today, here’s a deep dive into her case.
“Any father who genuinely loves his daughter and has her best interests at heart should willingly step aside in favor of the highly-respected professional fiduciary nominated here,” read Rosengart’s initial petition.
“In fact, if Mr. Spears were to oppose this outcome on the grounds previously suggested, his opposition would reveal his true priorities.”
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