While this is a standard legal ruling, there are some Spears fans who believe that she’s being held against her will by her father. Are they right?
For the past twelve years, Jamie Spears has been the conservator of his daughter’s estate, due to growing concerns about her mental health.
According to the BBC, this does not sit well with Britney Spears.
Ms. Spears’ lawyer said the pop star was “afraid” of him, and that she would not perform so long as he remained in the role. Her father’s lawyer argued that he always acted in the best interests of his daughter. During a hearing on Tuesday, Ms Spears’ lawyer, Samuel Ingham, said she and her father have no “viable working relationship” and have not spoken in a “long while.”
This, of course, has fueled fans’ speculation that she’s being held against her will. Check out some of the comments from the more passionate fans below.
In fact, the #FreeBritney movement has so much momentum on Twitter that it literally starts trending every time something about the “Baby One More Time” singer comes up. You can check out one video about the #FreeBritney movement below.
But as Health.com explains, the real truth behind the Britney Spears conservatorship has nothing to do with her father’s “desire for control” and everything to do with the fact that her mental health is still an issue.
Unfortunately, this particular issue makes her a danger to both herself and others. Spears’ chaotic Instagram is proof positive that her mental health is, if nothing else, compromised.
At the time that Jamie Spears was appointed his daughter’s conservator, she’d suffered a series of very public mental breakdowns.
Remember the infamous “head-shaving” incident? How about the time she tried to smash a paparazzo’s car window with an umbrella? And there’s some evidence to suggest that Spears has a substance abuse problem, which further contributes to her declining mental state.
Were it not for Jamie Spears stepping in, Britney Spears would have continued to have been victimized at the hands of Sam Lufti and his ilk. Jamie Spears is, legally, not allowed to raid the money for his own use — documents have to be filed every year to show where, and how, his daughter’s money is being spent — and his control over the estate has kept his daughter very financially secure (with some experts estimating that her net worth is more than $60 million).
Yes, Jamie Spears gets a salary for serving as her conservator, but his salary is approximately $100,000/year — it’s a court-mandated salary, one that any conservator would receive for the role — and nowhere near the millions of dollars his daughter his worth. So the claims that Jamie Spears — or anyone in the Spears family — is “grifting” off of Britney Spears is absolute nonsense, at best.
It would be nice if Britney Spears was able to make decisions on her own, without the help of her father or anyone else. But that’s not a reality right now. And the fact that she has a responsible conservatorship in the first place is a blessing.