The #FreeBritney movement gained more steam in June, when Britney appeared remotely at another hearing and told all on her 13-year conservatorship for the first time. She said she wanted it to end without a medical evaluation because she’s “not happy” and “it’s not OK to force me to do anything I don’t want to do.”
The public hearing was followed by a flurry of petitions from lawyers on all sides. In July, a judge handed her a legal victory by granting her permission to hire her own private attorney, and she chose former federal prosecutor Mathew Rosengart.
Soon after, he filed to replace her father Jamie with professional fiduciary Jason Rubin as conservator of her estate.
“Less than two weeks ago, we pledged that after 13 years of the status quo, my firm and I would move aggressively and expeditiously to file a petition to suspend and remove James P. Spears,” Mathew told reporters after a July 26 hearing. “We have done so, in less than two weeks. We look forward to litigating the matter in court.”
Her father, in turn, said he was “willing” to step down “when the time is right,” according to a court filing obtained by E! News. Jamie submitted another petition earlier this month that asked the judge to terminate her conservatorship altogether. It read, “If Ms. Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Mr. Spears believes that she should get that chance.”
Jamie maintains he put Britney’s best interests first. As his lawyer said in a statement obtained by E! News on Sept. 28, “Jamie loves Britney unwaveringly and wants only the best for her. He will never stop loving or supporting his daughter.”
The attorney added, “All of his actions were well within the parameters of the authority conferred upon him by the court.”
