The TLDR: Britney Spears spoke out for the very first time in a US court—demanding to be released from the conservatorship that gave her father full control over her life and finances. The case reveals how the law deprives people with mental illnesses of their freedom and agency.

Researched by: Sara Varghese and Kavin Malini 

A brief history of Britney Spears

• Spears burst into the spotlight as a 16-year old with her legendary hit ‘...Baby One More Time’. For a few years, everything is golden—including her relationship with fellow pop star Justin Timberlake.
• By 2007, she is embroiled in a bitter custody dispute with her ex-husband Kevin Federline—who questions her mental health and fitness as a mother of their two sons. And she is being constantly stalked by the press.
• Her mental health struggles first become public when she walks into a salon that same year and shaves off her hair. Soon after, she tells a tattoo parlor employee, “I don't want anyone touching me. I'm tired of everybody touching me.”
• In 2008, she is hospitalised twice and placed under a psychiatric hold—and her custody rights are suspended.
• Soon after the second hospitalisation, her father Jamie Spears petitions the courts to place her under a temporary conservatorship—and he is put in charge of both her personal life and her financial affairs. Attorney Andrew Wallet is also made a co-conservator of the estate.
• Over the years, Spears continues to perform, tour and release albums—and launch business ventures including her lucrative perfume and namesake lingerie lines.
• In 2019, Wallet resigns his co-conservatorship, leaving her father Jamie Spears fully in charge. But Jamie Spears steps away temporarily citing health reasons, and a court-appointed professional, Jodi Montgomery is put in charge.
• By 2020, the #FreeBritney movement to rescue Spears from the conservatorship gathers momentum—even as she goes to court to prevent Jamie from resuming his role as conservator. She says she is “afraid of her father.”
• In March, she asks the court to permanently replace her father as the conservator with Montgomery.
• And on Wednesday, she was granted her request to directly address the court—and speak about the conservatorship in public for the very first time. 

Wait, what’s a conservatorship?

It is a form of guardianship for adults where a judge appoints a responsible person or organization (called the “conservator”) to care for another adult (called the “conservatee”) who cannot care for himself or herself or manage his or her own finances. Spears' conservatorship is split into two parts: her estate and financial affairs and her as a person. Jamie Spears was in charge of both until last year—when the court appointed a financial firm to act as co-conservator for her wealth. Currently, her conservatorship has been extended until September 2021.

Point to note: As conservator, Jamie Spears is well-compensated for doing this court-appointed ‘job’:

“Aside from his salary as conservator — now about $16,000 per month, plus $2,000 a month for office space rent — Mr. Spears was approved by the court to receive a percentage of various deals signed for his daughter.”

As of 2018, Spears had a net worth of $59 million, and had spent $1.1 million on legal and conservator fees. 

Unusual and restrictive: Spears’ case is unusual as conservatorships are often created for people who have a severe cognitive impairment—such as those with severe dementia. A disability rights expert tells NPR:

"Usually it's not an individual who is young, who is working, who is very successful in their field — because that suggests a level of capability that wouldn't meet the standard for legal incapacity… It seems quite unusual that you would have a person who was capable of going out and doing all the kinds of professional activities she was doing, who is found to be totally incapable of managing either her personal or property affairs."

And it is rare for a court to grant such sweeping and absolute control to a single conservator: "It's supposed to be a narrowly tailored order, and the court is always supposed to use the least restrictive alternative.” 

Most strikingly, a person is supposed to have some say in who the court picks as their conservator. But her father has remained in charge even though Spears has tried for years to get him removed—and was opposed to his appointment from the very outset.

Point to note: According to the US law, the person should not lose their freedom due to a conservatorship:

"All conservatees have the right to be treated with understanding and respect and to have their wishes considered. They have all basic human rights, as well, and the right to be well cared for by you."

But going by Spears’ testimony, her father wilfully ignored both the letter and the spirit of the law.

What did Britney say about her father?

Here are the key takeaways from her lengthy testimony in court:

One: She is extremely unhappy:

“I’ve lied and told the whole world ‘I’m OK and I’m happy.’ It’s a lie. I thought I just maybe if I said that enough. Because I’ve been in denial. I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized. 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.”

Two: Her father abuses his power over her—and enjoys every minute of it:

“Over the two-week holiday, a lady came into my home for four hours a day, sat me down and did a psych test on me. It took forever. But I was told I had to. Then after, I got a phone call from my dad, basically saying I'd failed the test or whatever, whatever… I cried on the phone for an hour and he loved every minute of it. 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 added: “Ma’am, my dad and anyone involved in this conservatorship and my management who played a key role in punishing me...ma’am, they should be in jail.”

Three: She has no freedom at all in her professional life. This is what she said about one of her tours:

“I was on tour in 2018. I was forced to do… 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. He handed me a sheet of paper as I got off the stage in Vegas and said I had to sign it. It was very threatening and scary. And with the conservatorship, I couldn't even get my own attorney. So out of fear, I went ahead and I did the tour.”

Point to note: And given that her father makes a fee off her work, the arrangement incentivises him to make her work all the time. As the Washington Post notes: 

“She doesn’t have an email address, and her father has the right to sign her tax forms, revoke all powers of attorney and ‘pursue opportunities related to professional commitments and activities including but not limited to performing, recording, videos, tours, TV shows and other similar activities as long as they are approved by Ms. Spears’s medical team,’ according to documents.”

Four: She has no agency over her own body: 

“I want to be able to get married and have a baby. I was told right now in the conservatorship, I'm not able to get married or have a baby, I have a (IUD) inside of myself right now so I don't get pregnant. I wanted to take the (IUD) out so I could start trying to have another baby. 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 – any more children.”

Five: She doesn’t even have a basic right to privacy. Here’s how she described one stint in a “rehab” program designed by her conservators:

“They all lived in the house with me, the nurses, the 24-7 security. There was one chef that came there and cooked for me daily during the weekdays. They watched me change every day — naked – morning, noon and night. My body – I had no privacy door for my room. I gave eight vials (?) of blood a week.”

Six: She just wants the conservatorship to end—without her mental fitness being evaluated:

“I shouldn't be in a conservatorship if I can work and provide money and work for myself and pay other people — it makes no sense. The laws need to change… I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive, and that we can sit here all day and say oh, conservatorships are here to help people. But ma'am, there's a thousand conservatorships that are abusive as well.”

Point to note: Spears has not yet petitioned to end her conservatorship—and she has the legal right to do so. But if her conservators object, then she has to convince the court that she can handle her own life and affairs. And in Spears’ case, her father has great financial incentive to do so. As experts note:

“If the individual wants to terminate the guardianship, the burden should be on the party opposing the termination. But what happens as a matter of practice, often, is that the individual is placed in the position of having to establish that they no longer need the guardian.” 

So the legal road ahead of her is likely to be long. But she is likely to be given far more freedom in making her own decisions in daily life.

The bottomline: Britney Spears forces us to think about how we use the law to punish people for mental illness—using their alleged ‘incompetence’ to deprive them of even basic rights.

Reading list

Daily Mail has the transcript of Spears’ testimony—or you can hear the leaked audio recording here. BBC and Washington Post offer a solid overview. New York Times has a deep dive into her legal battle to break free from her father. Harper’s Bazaar looks at the #FreeBritney movement. The New Republic has a very good read on the dark side of conservatorships. NPR looks at why Spears’ conservatorship is unusually restrictive. The Lily explains why the bit about Spears’ IUD feels really personal and unsettling. CNN looks at the struggle between fame and family faced by many young stars.