Britney Spears to speak directly in court over financial affairs
Britney Spears will appear in a Los Angeles court in June. Photo: Getty
Pop star Britney Spears will personally address the Los Angeles court dealing with her controversial conservatorship in June.
Spears, 39, has been under a conservatorship since 2008, but rarely takes part in court hearings and has not publicly commented on the legal arrangement where a court-appointed adviser controls her personal and financial affairs, including her medical treatment, security and career.
“My client (Britney Spears) has requested a hearing at which she can address the court directly,” the singer’s lawyer Samuel Ingham told the court on Tuesday (local time).
“My client has asked that it be done on an expedited basis.”
The judge set a June 23 hearing for Spears to speak to the court.
The singer’s father, Jamie Spears, was appointed his daughter’s conservator in 2008 after the pop star was hospitalised for psychiatric treatment following a widely publicised breakdown.
Britney Spears, who became a teen phenomenon 20 years ago with hits like Baby One More Time and Oops!… I did It Again, made clear last year through her lawyer that she no longer wants her father involved in her affairs.
A previous bid to remove him failed in August 2020 and a hearing on Tuesday on a new request to replace him with someone else was postponed until July without discussion.
Her lawayers have argued that Spears is “afraid of her father” and will not resume her career while he controls it.
Fans rallied outside the court during the latest hearing, continuing to call for Spears to be released from her current conservatorship arrangement.
A New York Times documentary called Framing Britney Spears brought new attention to the #FreeBritney movement and scrutiny on the ongoing court case.
Vivian Thoreen, a lawyer for Jamie Spears, said in interviews last month that the pop star had never requested the termination of the legal arrangement.
Spears has not performed in public since October 2018, though she frequently posts photos and videos of herself dancing at her Los Angeles area home.
In 2019, she pulled out of a Las Vegas concert residency and briefly entered a mental health facility.
-with AAP
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