In a watershed moment for the #FreeBritney movement, Britney Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, has stepped down from his daughter’s conservatorship.
Britney Spears filed to have Jamie Spears, removed from the conservatorship she has lived under for 13 years on Monday, July 26th. Mathew Ronsengart, Britney’s recently-appointed lawyer, filed a petition on behalf of Britney requesting public accountant Jason Rubin be named the new conservator of the estate.
The filing requested that Mr. Rubin be able to revoke powers of attorney for Mr. Spears, including the authority to make healthcare decisions on her behalf, and the “authorization to pursue opportunities related to professional commitments and activities including but not limited to performing, recording, videos, tours, TV shows, and other similar activities.”
Jamie Spears filed his response to Britney’s petition for his suspension with the Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, August 12th. On announcing his decision to step down, Jamie’s attorney emphasised that there are “no actual grounds for suspending or removing” him. Citing the “public battle with his daughter” as his reasoning for removing himself as co-conservator.
“There are, in fact, no actual grounds for suspending or removing Mr. Spears as the Conservator of the Estate under Probate Code section 2650. And it is highly debatable whether a change in conservator at this time would be in Ms. Spears’ best interests,” the court document reads.
“Nevertheless, even as Mr. Spears is the unremitting target of unjustified attacks, he does not believe that a public battle with his daughter over his continuing service as her conservator would be in her best interests,” the filing continues.
“So even though he must contest this unjustified Petition for his removal, Mr. Spears intends to work with the Court and his daughter’s new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator.
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“As the Court has likely surmised, before Ms. Spears’ new attorney arrived, Mr. Spears had already been working on such a transition with Ms. Spears’ former court-appointed counsel, Sam Ingham.”
Jamie Spears’ decision to step down from the conservatorship follows an incendiary court address Britney delivered on June 23rd. In which she claimed the conservatorship was “abusive” and asked the judge to terminate it altogether.
In a statement issued to Variety, Mathew Rosengart wrote “I announced in Court on July 14 that, after 13 years of the status quo, it was time for Mr. Spears to be suspended or removed as conservator and that my firm and I would move aggressively and expeditiously for that outcome.”
The statement continued, “twelve days later, my firm filed a Petition for Mr. Spears’s suspension and removal based on strong, insurmountable legal grounds, which were unequivocally supported by the law and all parties involved, including Jodi Montgomery, Britney Spears, and her medical team,” the statement continues.
“We are pleased that Mr. Spears and his lawyer have today conceded in a filing that he must be removed. It is vindication for Britney. We are disappointed, however, by their ongoing shameful and reprehensible attacks on Ms. Spears and others,” Rosengart writes.
“We look forward to continuing our vigorous investigation into the conduct of Mr. Spears, and others, over the past 13 years, while he reaped millions of dollars from his daughter’s estate, and I look forward to taking Mr. Spears’s sworn deposition in the near future.”
Rosengart adds, “In the interim, rather than making false accusations and taking cheap shots at his own daughter, Mr. Spears should remain silent and step aside immediately.”
Jamie Spears has been co-conservator of Britney’s estate since 2008. In 2019, he became sole conservator following the resignation of attorney Andrew Wallet.
