Britney Spears has largely remained silent in public on the subject of her father’s conservatorship over her life and finances, even saying that the New York Times’ documentary Framing Britney Spears, which paints the conservatorship in a negative light, was “hypocritical†and made her “embarrassed.†However, Spears’s private opinion of the arrangement appears to be extremely negative. According to confidential court documents acquired by the Times and published today, Spears explored the removal of Jamie Spears as conservator as early as 2014, citing what her lawyer called “a ‘shopping list’ of grievances,†which included his drinking and controlling behavior, as well as taking large cuts of her earnings to furnish his own salary and limiting her to a weekly allowance.
Spears said in court that her father enacted “very harsh†consequences at any perceived mistakes on her part, and that the conservatorship comes with “a lot of fear.†In one harrowing account from a closed-door hearing in 2019, Spears “claimed she had been forced to perform while sick with a 104-degree fever, calling it one of the scariest moments of her life.†In 2016, she informed a court investigator “that she wanted the conservatorship terminated as soon as possible,†felt that she was being taken advantage of, and called Jamie’s role in her life “oppressive and controlling.†Another hearing regarding Spears’s conservatorship is scheduled for tomorrow.