Britney Spears became a star in 1998 with her song, Baby One More Time.
By 2007-2008, she was believed to be worth over $50 million.
But around this time, she was also hit by several controversies surrounding her parenting, bizarre public behaviour (she smashed a paparazzo’s SUV repeatedly with an umbrella), shaky performance at an awards show, etc.
Her mental health also suffered, and in 2008, she was admitted to a hospital.
After her stints at hospitals and rehabs, her father, Jamie Spears, filed a petition in the court to place his daughter under a temporary conservatorship.
Under conservatorship, a judge appoints an individual or organisation to care for another adult who is deemed unfit to care for themselves or to manage their own finances.
In 2008, Jamie was given the legal right to oversee and make decisions regarding Britney’s finances, health, business deals, and personal life.
Later that year, the conservatorship was extended indefinitely.
While all this happened, a fan movement started in 2009 that questioned how the court could justify the conservatorship while she was still a performing pop star.
Britney maintained her silence for the most part, but in April 2021, she asked a court-appointed lawyer, Samuel D. Ingham III, to directly seek permission to talk to the judge.
In June 2021, she got the opportunity to speak about how conservatorship restricted everything from whom she dated to the colour of her kitchen cabinets.
She also mentioned being drugged and compelled to work.
Further investigation revealed that she had raised concerns as early as 2014, but Ingham had not filed her complaint.
When asked why she didn’t come out in the open earlier (rather than waiting for the lawyer to do so), she said she didn’t know it was an option.
On 29 September 2021, the judge agreed that suspending the conservatorship was in Britney Spears’ best interest.
A California accountant, John Zabel, has been appointed as the temporary conservator of the singer’s finances.
