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Britney Spears’s lawyers say #FreeBritney movement is not ‘a conspiracy theory or a joke’

Singer wants her father removed from her ‘voluntary’ conservatorship

Isobel Lewis
Friday 04 September 2020 08:25 BST
Britney Spears reveals she burned down her gym

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Britney Spears’s lawyers have refuted her father’s claims that the “#FreeBritney” movement is a “joke” in the ongoing legal battle surrounding her conservatorship.

Since 2008, the “Toxic” singer has been in a conservatorship, where a guardian or protector is appointed by a court to manage the life of someone due to physical or mental limitations.

Spears’s has been overseen by her father Jamie Spears for 12 years, but in recent legal documents the singer stated that she was “strongly opposed” to him being her sole conservator and wanted him removed.

Over the past year, fans have launched an online campaign demanding that the courts “Free Britney” while claiming that she is “trapped” in her conservatorship.

But while Jamie said in August that the movement was “a joke” run by “conspiracy theorists”, new legal documents obtained by TMZ on Thursday (3 September) have apparently shown that Spears “welcomes and appreciates the informed support of her many fans”.

Spears in 2019
Spears in 2019 (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)

“Britney herself is vehemently opposed to this effort by her father to keep her legal struggle hidden away in the closet as a family secret,” the singer’s lawyer said.

"Far from being a conspiracy theory or a 'joke' as James reportedly told the media, in large part this scrutiny is a reasonable and even predictable result of James' aggressive use of the sealing procedure over the years to minimize the amount of meaningful information made available to the public."

The publication states that Spears’s lawyers attached an article about the #FreeBritney campaign to the legal documents and said that she’s trying to regain some personal autonomy in her life.

Instead of her conservatorship being managed by her father, Spears hopes it will be handed over to an independent lawyer. This contradicts the #FreeBritney movement’s belief that the singer is unhappy with the conservatorship itself.

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“This is a voluntary conservatorship,” her attorney wrote earlier this week. “Conservatee wishes to exercise her right to nominate a conservator of the estate.”

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