Britney Spears’ lawyer claims her father wants $2m to step down as her conservator

‘The only honourable, decent, and humane course of action is for Mr Spears to resign now’

Britney Spears’ lawyer Mathew Rosengart on Tuesday claimed in court filings that the singer’s father wanted $2m in fees for his attorneys and experts handling the media in exchange for stepping down as her conservator.

Mr Rosengart made the allegations in the 12-page court filing that stated: “Mr Spears’s blatant attempt to barter suspension and removal in exchange for approximately $2m in payments, on top of the millions already reaped from Ms Spears’s estate by Mr Spears and his associates, is a non-starter.”

“Regardless of the past, Mr Spears and his counsel are now on notice: the status quo is no longer tolerable, and Britney Spears will not be extorted,” he added.

Jamie Spears, on 12 August, agreed to step down as the overseer of the singer’s estate and finances, subject to the resolution of certain accounting-related issues.

Mr Spears has claimed he is owed payments for legal work addressing “public, media, and social media attention” and for “continuing to do my best to keep current regarding the music, advertising and entertainment business.”

He also sought $1.3m in attorneys’ fees for his counsel and a $500,000 payment to third parties, including Tri-Star Sports & Entertainment Group, from his daughter’s estate.

“The only honourable, decent, and humane course of action is for Mr Spears to resign now, provide all necessary information to evaluate his accounting, and, if matters cannot be resolved consensually, to try to defend his accounting,” Mr Rosengart said in the filing.

On 23 June, the singer, whose hits include “Toxic’” and “Gimme More”, made an impassioned appeal in a Los Angeles Superior Court, asking Judge Brenda Penny to end the “abusive” arrangement that she argues has controlled her life for 13 years, without “having to be evaluated”.

The next hearing in the long-drawn conservatorship battle is set for 29 September.