Britney Spears ‘frightened’ of father and will not perform again if he is in charge of her career, lawyer argues

LA judge declined to remove Jamie Spears from central role in conservatorship this week

Britney Spears’s lawyer has said the singer is “afraid” of her father Jamie and will not perform again while he remains her conservator.

Conservatorship is when a guardian or protector is appointed by a court to manage the life of someone due to physical or mental limitations. 

Spears’s conservatorship was put in place in 2008 after she suffered a public breakdown in 2007. It has been overseen by her father for 12 years, giving him control over much of her personal life, career and estate.

In a Los Angeles court on Tuesday (10 November), judge Brenda Penny declined to remove Jamie from his central role in the conservatorship, as Britney’s attorney Samuel D Ingham III had requested.

“My client has informed me that she is afraid of her father,” Ingham told the judge. “She will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career.” He added that the singer and her father have not spoken in a very long time.

The judge did, however, approve Britney’s request that a corporate fiduciary, the Bessemer Trust, will now serve as co-conservator over her estate along with her father.

Britney’s conservatorship has been the subject of widespread online protests this year. The #FreeBritney movement was launched by fans who believe Spears is “trapped”, and one petition, with more than 100,000 signatures lobbying for Spears’s freedom, claims: “Her father doesn’t allow her to drive, all of her calls & messages are monitored, she’s not allowed to vote, hang with anyone or spend her money without permission. 

"And if she breaks a ‘rule’ he threatens to have her kids taken away.”

Jamie called the #FreeBritney campaign “a joke” and said he is tired of rumours that she is being exploited.