Britney Spears, who said last year she was cancelling her Vegas residency to care for her father, now says she is “afraid” of him and won’t perform again as long as he continues to be her conservator.
“My client has informed me that she is afraid of her father,” the pop star’s lawyer Samuel D. Ingham III told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny on Tuesday. “She will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career.”
Jamie Spears' lawyer Vivan Lee Thoreen countered that Ingham’s comments about the father-daughter relationship are inadmissible hearsay.
Ingham said the two haven’t spoken in a long time – something Thoreen said was because of Ingham.
Britney’s mother and Jamie’s ex-wife Lynne said in a statement that the relationship between Jamie and Britney was toxic. “It has broken Lynne’s heart that things have come to this point,” read a statement from lawyer Gladstone N. Jones. “Contentiousness is not uncommon in families, but this is not a usual family.”
Penny declined to remove Jamie as co-conservator, a position he has held since his famous daughter suffered a mental health crisis in 2008. The judge said she is open to hearing additional arguments in the future.
Bessemer Trust, a company approved by Spears, will remain as co-conservator.
Spears has been trying to have her father fired for several months. In September, Ingham said in a court filing that she wants “the power and authorization to pursue opportunities related to professional commitments and activities including but not limited to performing, recording, videos, tours, TV shows, and other similar activities” – providing they are approved by Bessemer Trust and her “medical team.”
In January 2019, Spears cited her father’s health as the reason she was scrapping plans for her Domination residency. “It’s important to always put your family first… and that’s the decision I had to make,” she said. “A couple of months ago, my father was hospitalized and almost died. We’re all so grateful that he came out of it alive, but he still has a long road ahead of him. I had to make the difficult decision to put my full focus and energy on my family at this time.
“We have a very special relationship and I want to be with my family at this time just like they have always been there for me.”
But, this past March, Spears’ youngest son Jayden Federline said he doesn’t think she will make music again.
During an Instagram Live, he shared: “I remember one time I asked her, I said, ‘Mom, what happened to your music?’ and she was like, ‘I don't know, honey. I think I might just quit it.’ I'm like, ‘What? What are you saying? Like, do you know how much bank you make off of that stuff?’”
The teenager described his grandfather Jamie as “a pretty big d**k” and said “he can go die.”
Spears hasn't released a studio album since 2016's Glory and hasn't performed since her Piece of Me Tour ended in October 2018.
Tuesday’s hearing reignited the fan-driven “#FreeBritney” movement on social media.
Last month, Spears returned to Instagram after a 13-day absence to assure fans there was no reason for concern.
“So I know that there have been a lot of comments and a lot of people saying a lot of different things about me, but I just want to let you guys know that I am fine,” the 38-year-old singer insisted in a clip. “I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life.”