More than two years after the termination of Britney Spears’s controversial 13-year conservatorship, she and her father, Jamie, have reached a confidential settlement over lingering legal fees, CNN reports. The two had been in a bitter fight over whether the singer should pay for millions of dollars in legal fees her father incurred during the conservatorship. The settlement means the case will not go to trial, which had been scheduled for May.
“Although the conservatorship was terminated in November 2021, her wish for freedom is now truly complete,” Spears’s attorney, Mathew Rosengart, said in a statement to CNN. “As she desired, her freedom now includes that she will no longer need to attend or be involved with court in this matter.”
In December 2021 — a month after a judge terminated the conservatorship that enabled Jamie to control nearly every aspect of Spears’s life — Jamie petitioned to have his daughter’s estate continue to pay for his legal fees. According to the New York Times, he asked for more than $2 million, with his lawyers arguing that “The fiduciary obligations Jamie owes did not end with his suspension or with the order terminating the Conservatorship.” Meanwhile, Spears’s attorney argued that Jamie had already paid himself millions from his daughter’s estate on top of alleged financial misconduct during the conservatorship. (According to Rosengart, Jamie allegedly used $6 million from Spears’s estate to pay a security company to access Spears and her mother’s phone records and GPS data).
The yearslong fight to end Spears’s conservatorship brought attention to the controversial legal arrangements, which can leave people powerless over their own lives. In 2021, Spears told the court that her father had controlled her professional and personal life since 2008. She accused her father and others who worked for him of forcing her to go to rehab, go on tour, have medical evaluations and take medications against her will. She called the conservatorship “abusive”and said she believed that her father and others who used her money to pay themselves while punishing her should go to jail.
Thursday’s court documents show that Jamie is now “fully and finally discharged as Former Conservator of the Estate,” per the Times. His attorney, Alex Weingarten, told the paper that all outstanding issues have been resolved, marking the very end of the conservatorship. Weingarten told CNN that “Jamie is thrilled that this is all over.”
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Tariro Mzezewa , 2024-04-29 19:55:00
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