Britney Spears decision: Judge approves pop singer hiring own lawyer amid conservatorship battle
Hearing taking place three weeks after Spears’s long address to judge
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Britney Spears’ conservatorship case resumed in court with a Los Angeles judge granting the pop singer the right to appoint her own lawyer, something she asked to do during her bombshell testimony three weeks prior.
The hearing was to address the aftermath of Spears’ remarks in June, specifically her drive to control who acts as her legal counsel.
Spears’ court-appointed lawyer, Samuel Ingham, had already requested to step down, effective as soon as the pop singer could appoint her own lawyer. On Wednesday, the judge approved for Spears to decide who should represent her in the conservatorship battle.
Lawyer Matthew Rosengart, a former federal prosecutor who now works for a top-tier Hollywood law firm, was spotted at the court hearing and was asked to take over as Spears’ legal counsel.
Reports indicated Spears would not likely speak during the hearing, but the pop singer instead gave another emotional testimony about what her life has been like under the conservatorship.
In the testimony, she called for her father, Jamie Spears, to be charged with “conservatorship abuse”.
“I would like to charge my father with conservatorship abuse,” said Spears, speaking to the court by phone, “I want to press charges against my father today. I want an investigation into my dad.”
In a statement given outside the courthouse, Mr Rosengart called for Mr Spears to voluntarily step down as his client’s conservator. “Jamie Spears should be removed as conservator because it is in [the] best interest of the conservatee,” he said.
Read more into Britney Spears’ conservatorship battle:
Hello and welcome to our coverage of today’s court hearing regarding Britney Spears’s conservatorship.
On 23 June, Britney Spears denounced the conservatorship that has ruled over her life and finances for more than a decade.
Her statement has caused ripples. In the weeks since Spears spoke to the court, her court-appointed attorney has resigned, and the estate management company that was meant to oversee her finances has withdrawn from the conservatorship.
Read her address in full in the story below:
Read Britney Spears’s full statement against her conservatorship
‘I want changes going forward. I deserve changes’ says Spears
Spears has reportedly secured a new attorney as part of her efforts to end the conservatorship.
Mathew Rosengart is expected to appear remotely during today’s hearing.
Rosengart, who also represents other celebrities including Ben Affleck, Sean Penn, and Steven Spielberg, is expected to argue that it is Spears’s constitutional right to choose her own lawyer:
Britney Spears hires Ben Affleck’s lawyer to help end conservatorship
Singer’s former attorney Samuel D Ingham resigned earlier this month after almost 13 years representing her
Following the court hearing on 23 June, Spears addressed her fans in an Instagram post.
“I apologise for pretending like I’ve been OK the past two years,” she wrote. “I did it because of my pride and I was embarrassed to share what happened to me … but honestly who doesn’t want to capture their Instagram in a fun light!!!! Believe it or not pretending that I’m OK has actually helped.”
Spears hasn’t posted about today’s hearing on social media, although she has been active on Instagram lately.
The singer’s most recent Instagram post, which she shared on Tuesday, consists in a series of photos of herself along with three shoe emoji:
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), along with 25 civil rights and disability rights organisations, have filed an amicus brief with the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in support of Britney Spears’ right to select her own attorney for her conservatorship proceedings.
The document, filed on Monday (12 July), sets out: “the importance of ensuring that a conservatee can select her own lawyer, where, as here, she has expressed a desire and an ability to do so.”
Read more about the filing here:
ACLU and disability groups file brief in support of Britney Spears
ACLU brief argues the pop icon should be free to choose her own lawyer
Britney Spears’s mother Lynne Spears has asked a court to “listen to the wishes of her daughter” when it comes to the singer’s conservatorship.
Lynne Spears filed the request as an “interested party and mother of the conservatee [Britney Spears]”, as reflected in a court document.
She is asking the court to allow her daughter to “hire her own private legal counsel” or to appoint “a private attorney of [Britney Spears]’s choosing”.
This is expected to be one of the talking points at today’s hearing.
Britney Spears’s sister Jamie Lynn Spears recently said her sister sent her a “box of goodies” for her children, after begging the pop star’s fans to cease sending her death threats:
Britney Spears sends sister Jamie Lynn ‘box of goodies’ amid ‘death threats’
Pop star’s sister appeared to confirm the pair were still in touch after Spears voiced desire to ‘sue [her] family’
Britney Spears will still be represented at Wednesday's hearing by her longtime court-appointed lawyer, Samuel Ingham III, who filed documents last week saying he resigned, effective as soon as she got a new attorney, which at the June hearing she said she wanted.
The Bessemer Trust, a financial company that Spears had sought as a replacement for her father last year but was instead appointed to work alongside him, also withdrew from the conservatorship last week, saying it no longer wanted to take part in a legal arrangement that she didn't want.
(The Associated Press)
Britney Spears has been under a legal guardianship since 2008, with her father Jamie and other legal guardians managing her financial and personal life.
However, Spears has shown resistance to the situation in recent years, with her lawyers stating that she wants the conservatorship to change and her father to be removed from it.
Here’s a timeline of the conservatorship so far:
A timeline of Britney Spears’s conservatorship
Singer has been under her court-appointed guardianship since 2008
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments