“I just want my life back.”
Reading from a prepared statement in a 23-minute appearance, Britney Spears told a U.S. judge of the 13-year conservatorship that was abusive and has left her traumatized.
The arrangement began in 2008 when her father, Jamie Spears, petitioned the courts for legal authority over her life because of concerns for her mental health. A licensed professional conservator temporarily took over Britney’s personal care in 2019 when her father had health issues. She now argues against her father’s return to the role.
- Spears, 39, who has two teenaged boys from her first marriage to Kevin Federline, said the conservatorship is refusing to allow her to remove an IUD so that she can become pregnant again with her current boyfriend. The 39-year-old is currently in a relationship with personal trainer Sam Asghari.
"I have an [IUD] inside of myself right now so I don't get pregnant.. but this so-called team won't let me go to the doctor to take it out because they don't want me to have children. So basically, this conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good."
- She claimed her management threatened to sue her if she didn’t complete a tour in 2018. Management falsely told her therapist she was refusing to take her meds and refusing to participate in rehearsals.
"My management said if I don't do this tour, I will have to find an attorney, and by contract my own management could sue me if I didn't follow through with the tour....... When she objected to a piece of choreography, "it was as if I planted a huge bomb somewhere," she added. "Ma'am, I'm not here to be anyone's slave. I can say no to a dance move."
- She had no control over her doctors putting her on Lithium in 2018 after cancelling a Las Vegas residency.
"Lithium is a very, very strong and completely different medication compared to what I was used to," she told the court. "You can go mentally impaired if you take too much, if you stay on it longer than five months." After beginning the medication, Britney said she "felt drunk" and "couldn't even have a conversation with my mom or dad, really, about anything." She was angry that none of her family intervened, did "not do a goddamn thing."
- She is being exploited for money.
With a fortune of approximately $60 million, she was given a $2,000/week allowance. Her father’s salary as conservator was $16,000/month, plus office rental appropriations and a percentage of deals signed for Britney.
"It makes no sense whatsoever for the state of California to sit back and literally watch me with their own two eyes, make a living for so many people, and pay so many people, [taking] trucks and buses on the road with me and be told, I'm not good enough.
- Her father forced her to go to rehab for $60,000, and didn’t care about the distress it caused her.
"The control he had over someone as powerful as me - he loved the control to hurt his own daughter 100,000%. He loved it," she said.
- Britney said her acting conservator, Jodi Montgomery, has put her in therapy twice a week, in a location where photographers can follow her.
"Yesterday, paparazzi showed me coming out of the place literally crying," she said. "It's embarrassing, and it's demoralising. "I deserve privacy," she continued, saying she would prefer to continue therapy at home. "I actually do know I need a little therapy," she told the judge, with a laugh.
- Spears wants her voice made public, something she has not been allowed to do. She is angry that her family has the right to speak for her and about her, but she is muzzled.
"I can't say one thing... I have a right to use my voice," she said. "I've lied and told the whole world I'm OK and I'm happy," she continued. "I thought [that] if I said that enough maybe I might become happy, because I've been in denial. I've been in shock. I am traumatised. You know, fake it till you make it. But now I'm telling you the truth, OK? I'm not happy. I can't sleep. I'm so angry it's insane. And I'm depressed. I cry every day."
- She wants to end the conservatorship without having to be evaluated. She wants independence to get her nails done or be driven in her boyfriend’s car, or visit friends.
"I've done a lot of research, ma'am. And there's a lot of judges who do end conservatorships for people without them having to be evaluated all the time," she said. "I shouldn't be in a conservatorship if I can work," she added. "I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive. I don't feel like I can live a full life. I deserve to have a life."