Britney Spears’ father says he will step down from conservatorship
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Britney Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, said in a court document Thursday that he intends to eventually step down from his daughter's conservatorship, CNN reports.
Why it matters: This marks a significant victory for Britney Spears, who raised concerns about her father’s role as her conservator as early as 2014, but does not signal an immediate end to the conservatorship as the #FreeBritney movement has demanded.
The big picture: Jamie Spears' legal response to Britney Spears' petition to have him removed as her conservator maintains that there are “no actual grounds for suspending or removing" him and no reason for his "immediate suspension," Variety reports.
- Instead, the document states, the elder Spears believes the "public battle" with his daughter is not in her best interests, per Variety.
- The court document says that it is "highly debatable" whether a change in conservator is in Britney's best interests, but that Jamie Spears will work with her and her lawyer to ensure an "orderly transition to a new conservator."
- The document states that Jamie Spears will step aside once several outstanding matters are resolved, per CNN.
State of play: The filing comes only days after a judge denied Britney Spears' request to move up a September court date to August in order to expedite her father's removal, CNN reported.
- "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," Mathew Rosengart, Britney Spears' lawyer, told CNN about Thursday's filing.
- "We are disappointed, however, by their ongoing shameful and reprehensible attacks on Ms. Spears and others," he said, adding that there will be a "vigorous investigation" into Jamie Spears' actions as conservator.
Catch up quick: Spears has lived under a conservatorship headed by her father since 2008, after she experienced a mental health episode. The conservatorship oversees her finances, health and whereabouts.
- Addressing the court in June, Spears called the conservatorship "abusive" and detailed extreme restrictions implemented by the arrangement.
- At a hearing in July Spears said she was "extremely scared" of her father and wished to charge him with conservatorship abuse.
