Written by ANDREW DALTON

In the most anticipated hearing in the case in years, Britney Spears is expected to address a judge overseeing the conservatorship that has controlled the pop star’s money and affairs since 2008.

If Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny does not make a last-minute decision Wednesday to seal the proceedings, Spears’ words will be heard in open court for the first time in the 13-year conservatorship.

The hearing has been eagerly awaited by the fans in the so-called #FreeBritney movement, who feel she is being controlled unfairly against her will and are likely to gather outside the courthouse in large numbers.

Spears, who is scheduled to take part remotely, asked for the hearing so she could address the court directly.

Her court-appointed attorney, Samuel Ingham III, made the request at an April 28 hearing. He gave no indication of what the 39-year-old pop star wants to say.

But in recent court filings, Spears has sought a greater say over who runs the conservatorship, and has asked that her father, who had extensive power over her life and money for most of its existence, be removed.

Spears said through Ingham that she fears her father James Spears, and would not end a 2 1/2-year pause on her career as long as he has control over it.

The judge declined to remove James Spears entirely, though he now plays a smaller role. He serves as co-conservator of her finances along with estate management firm the Bessemer Trust, and in 2019 relinquished his role as conservator over his daughter’s life choices to a court-appointed professional.

Last week, Britney Spears said on Instagram that she wasn’t sure if she will ever perform live again.

“I have no idea,” she said, answering a fan who asked when she planned to take the stage. “I’m having fun right now. I’m in a transition in my life and I’m enjoying myself. So that’s it.”

Britney Spears has spoken in court in the conservatorship before, but the courtroom was always cleared and transcripts sealed.

The last time she was known to have addressed the judge was in May 2019.

Spears has since requested greater transparency from the court since then, and Penny has allowed far more to remain public.

The singer has never asked the court to end the conservatorship entirely, though she has emphasized in documents that she reserves the right to do so at any time.

It was put in place as she underwent a mental health crisis in 2008. She has credited it with saving her from financial ruin and keeping her a top flight pop star.

Her father and his attorneys have emphasized that she and her fortune, which court records put at more than $50 million, remain vulnerable to fraud and manipulation. Under the law, the burden would be on Spears to prove she is competent to be released and free to make her own choices.

 

Related Stories
‹
The California Wildfires Could Be Leaving Deeper Inequality in Their Wake
The California fires burned through a remarkable haven for generations of Black families avoiding discriminatory housing practices elsewhere.
Burlington Woman Arrested, Extradited from California Over Murder of Carrboro Man
The Carrboro Police Department is charging a Burlington woman with first degree murder in the latest update from a fatal shooting in May.
Ransomware Criminals Are Dumping Kids’ Private Files Online After School Hacks
Written by FRANK BAJAK, HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH AND LARRY FENN The confidential documents stolen from schools and dumped online by ransomware gangs are raw, intimate and graphic. They describe student sexual assaults, psychiatric hospitalizations, abusive parents, truancy — even suicide attempts. “Please do something,” begged a student in one leaked file, recalling the trauma of continually bumping into an […]
Los Angeles Schools Mandate Vaccines for 630,000 Students
Written by AMY TAXIN and JOHN ANTCZAK Students age 12 and older in the Los Angeles school system must be vaccinated before they can return to classrooms next year under one of the toughest anti-COVID mandates enacted in the nation. The board of the Los Angeles Unified School District voted Thursday to require all of […]
Town Burns to Ashes in Raging Northern California Wildfire
Written by CHRISTOPHER WEBER and NOAH BERGER Eva Gorman says the little California mountain town of Greenville was a place of community and strong character, the kind of place where neighbors volunteered to move furniture, colorful baskets of flowers brightened Main Street, and writers, musicians, mechanics and chicken farmers mingled. Now, it’s ashes. As hot, […]
The Joy of Music Returns for Grammy Winners, Performers
Written by DAVID BAUDER Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish made history at the Grammy Awards. Just as joyously, dozens of creators largely sidelined for a year due to the pandemic got to make music again. The Grammys on Sunday broke through the Zoom trap that has bedeviled other awards shows with a surprisingly intimate evening […]
California Wildfire Likely to Grow From Wind, Low Humidity
The destruction wrought by a wind-driven wildfire in the mountains northeast of Los Angeles approached 156 square miles Sunday, burning structures, homes and a nature center in a famed Southern California wildlife sanctuary in foothill desert communities. The blaze, known as the Bobcat Fire, is expected to grow through Sunday and Monday as critical fire […]
Weinstein Jury Selection to Start in NY, New Charges in Los Angeles
Potential jurors in Harvey Weinstein’s New York sexual assault trial are expected to fill a courtroom Tuesday as the former movie titan’s legal problems deepen with new charges in Los Angeles. In New York, jury selection is set to start Tuesday and could take weeks as prosecutors, Weinstein’s lawyers and the judge find people to serve on […]
LA Suburb Mourns Student Victims After School Shooting
A boy described as bright, quiet and “normal” pulled a gun from his backpack on his 16th birthday and opened fire at his high school before saving the last bullet for himself, authorities said. The shooting that killed two teenagers and wounded three others Thursday at Saugus High School in a Los Angeles suburb took […]
Situation Over: Shots Fired At LAX, TSA Agent Reportedly Targeted
Multiple people are injured after reports of gunfire at the Los Angeles International Airport.
›