A week after the release of a raw and unfiltered look at the career and conservatorship of Britney Spears, a Los Angeles judge has overruled Jamie Spears’ objections to an order establishing Bessemer Trust Co. as a co-conservator of her estate.
The pop icon’s situation is very unique and intentionally complicated, so here’s what that means. When we last left off in Britney’s high-profile hearings about her father’s 13-year conservatorship over her, on November 10, Judge Brenda Penny had appointed Bessemer, a financial fiduciary (someone whose job it is to take care of money or assets for another person) as co-conservator along with father Jamie.
It was a small but important victory, as her father had complete control over her finances (and just about everything else) for the past decade. Britney requested to remove her father entirely from the conservatorship, saying she won’t perform again until he’s out of the picture, but the judge denied the request. However, Judge Penny left the door open to potentially remove or at least suspend him in the future.
Now, as of February 11, Bessemer and Jamie are still co-conservators despite the latter’s objections. Britney’s attorney Samuel D. Ingham III reportedly told the court that the purpose of splitting the co-conservatorship was to give Jamie and Bessemer “an equal division of responsibility, in the hopes that they would sit down and figure out together the best way to handle this complex estate for the benefit of my client.”
“It’s no secret that my client does not want her father as co-conservator, but we recognize that removal is a separate issue,” Ingham continued.
While many fans in the #FreeBritney movement have been following the star’s case for a while and have vocally supported what they believe is her quest to rid herself of unwanted legal restraints, public support for Britney seems to be at an all-time high. Over the weekend, many watched the FX-Hulu documentary Framing Britney Spears, a New York Times documentary basically led viewers up to this exact court date. It’s actually pretty poetic, if you think about the most idealized outcome: The public, roused by a revealing documentary about Britney Spears, rallies to free her from the clutches of her controlling father. A few days later, amid the outpour of support across the world, the pop icon finally is rid of her conservatorship and twirls, python in hand, into the sunset.
Unfortunately, that’s not how most legal cases go, and Britney certainly still has a long road ahead, but at least now she knows that she has many more people in her corner.
Britney’s next court hearings are scheduled for March 17 and April 27.
