Jamie Spears has agreed to step down from his long time role as conservator of his daughter Britney Spears' estate, the pop star's attorney said on Thursday (local time).
#FreeBritney activists protest at Los Angeles Grand Park during her conservatorship hearing. Photo: AFP / 2021 Getty Images
"We are pleased that Mr. Spears and his lawyer have today conceded in a filing that he must be removed," the singer's lawyer Mathew Rosengart said in a statement.
Spears, who has controlled his daughter's affairs since she suffered a mental health breakdown in 2008, agreed to step aside in court documents filed on Thursday.
The Toxic pop star has been seeking for months to remove her father from any say in her affairs. A court hearing to discuss her request had been set for late September in Los Angeles.
Spears' conservatorship and her relationship with her father attracted public attention in 2019, after a judge ordered a professional evaluation of the arrangement, amid protests from fans and the "Free Britney" movement.
The pop star's lawyer asked an LA court to end Jamie Spears' control of her estate, in November last year.
They said the star was "afraid of her father" and wanted him removed as her sole conservator, although the request was initially denied.
In June this year, Spears gave an rare public testimony and told a court her father controlled her "100,000 percent and he loved it".
"I am traumatised," she said at the time. "I just want my life back."
Speaking for 23 minutes, the star said she had been drugged, forced to perform against her will and prevented from having children.
"I want to end this conservatorship without being evaluated," she told the court, calling it "abusive".
"This conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good. I deserve to have a life, I've worked my whole life. I deserve to have a two to three-year break," she said.
Spears said she wants to marry her boyfriend and have a baby, but the conservatorship will not allow her to.
Spears has gone on to say she will not perform again while her father retains control over her career.
"This conservatorship killed my dreams," she said in a lengthy post on Instagram. "So all I have is hope."
Spears also said she wanted to charge her father for his alleged "conservatorship abuse", which can involve financially exploiting or imposing excessive personal restrictions on someone in your care.
She is seeking to permanently install Jodi Montgomery, a care professional, as her personal conservator instead of reinstating her father.
- Reuters/BBC/RNZ
