Britney Spears’ estranged father Jamie has been suspended effectively immediately from her conservatorship. He has held the role of conservator since 2008.
Britney Spears, 39, got some positive news during her court appearance on Wednesday, September 29: her dad Jamie Spears, 69, has been suspended effectively immediately from her conservatorship, Variety has confirmed. The Spears patriarch has been conservator of his daughter’s estate since 2008. HollywoodLife has reached out to Britney’s lawyer for comment.
According to reporters in the courtroom on Wednesday, Jamie will be replaced by John Zabel, a certified public accountant. The conservatorship will still remain in place for now, but another court hearing will be set sometime before the end of the year to consider terminating the conservatorship entirely, according to CNN reporter Chloe Melas.
Ahead of Wednesday’s court hearing, Jamie made the unexpected move of filling papers to step down from his role as Britney’s conservator on September 7, after spending years defending the arrangement. Brit and her lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, had filed legal docs to terminate the 13-year conservatorship that she’s been in since 2008, and recently named licensed CPA John Zabel as the ideal candidate to temporary replace Jamie. Britney’s personal conservator is Jodi Montgomery, who has also been onboard to dissolve the pop star’s conservatorship.
Britney first made it clear that she wanted to end her conservatorship during an emotional testimony in court on June 23. It was over 20 minutes long and some of the things she claimed were bone-chilling. Not only did she claim her family has harmed her both mentally and emotionally, but she further claimed that she had been forced to work seven days a week and was stripped of her privacy. The singer, who recently got engaged to longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari, also claimed that under the conservatorship, she’s not allowed to get married or remove the IUD that’s stopping her from having more children.
The “…Baby One More Time” crooner later returned to court on July 14, where she doubled down on her request to remove Jamie from the arrangement completely — and said she wanted him charged with conservatorship abuse. “I am petitioning the court because I want my dad out as conservator,” she said. “I want to press charges on my dad today.” Britney later added, “My lawyer didn’t fight for me one time. No, I am not perfect. I am not crazy. My family never cared.” At that hearing, Britney was granted permission to hire Mathew as her personal lawyer.
Britney’s conservatorship was put in place in 2008 after the singer was involuntarily committed, following a very public breakdown and psychiatric hospitalizations. The superstar had a legion of die-hard supporters that sparked the #FreeBritneyMovement, and her controversial situation was notably thrust into the spotlight thanks to the FX/Hulu documentary Framing Britney. The follow-up doc, Controlling Britney Spears, was released on Sept. 24.