Britney Spears delivered testimony in front of a Los Angeles court on Wednesday, June 24th, formally asking a judge to end her decade-long conservatorship.
The court appearance took place via Zoom. As Rolling Stone report, Spears requested her testimony remain public for all to hear because “They’ve done a good job at exploiting my life. It should be an open court hearing and they should listen and hear what I have to say.”
The heartwrenching testimony saw Britney Spears delve into the last 13 years of her life, which she has lived under a conservatorship controlled by her father Jamie Spears. Jamie was appointed conservator back in 2008, after Britney was taken to hospital twice for 5150 involuntary holds amid public mental health and substance abuse struggles.
In a revealing new report from New York Times, court records show that Britney Spears first questioned her father’s role as conservatorship in a closed hearing back in 2014. Spears’s court-appointed lawyer, Samuel D. Ingham III, cited her father’s drinking, and other objections as reasons to consider removing him as conservator. Last year, Ingham told the judge that Britney was “afraid of the father.”
In 2016, a court investigator assigned to Britney’s case said she believed the conservatorship to be “an oppressive and controlling tool against her.” The investigator claimed Britney wanted the conservatorship terminated as she was “sick of being taken advantage of.” Adding, “She said she is the one working and earning her money but everyone around her is on her payroll.”
The 23-minute court address saw Britney delve into the abusive, controlling system the conservatorship imposed on her. Claiming that she was put on the “strong drug” Lithium, and forced to work. Britney also detailed that she did not have control over her body, that she was not allowed to get married or have another child and an IUD was implanted against her well.
“I’ve been in denial. I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized,” Britney said “I just want my life back.”
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Britney requested that the arrangement end, “without having to be evaluated,” adding, “I shouldn’t be in a conservatorship if I can work. The laws need to change.”
“All I want is to own my money and for this to end and for my boyfriend to be able to fucking drive me in his car,” she said. “And honestly I want to be able to sue my family.
“I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive. I don’t feel like I can live a full life.”
The court-hearing comes off the heel of the unfurling #FreeBritney movement, which began to grow online over the course of 2019. The likes of Paris Hilton and Miley Cyrus have all rallied behind the cause, whilst fans of Britney have attended court hearings in support of the star.
