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'No nails, no hairstyling, no massages, no acupuncture': Britney Spears claims she was banned from 'self-care' for A YEAR in shock revelation in conservatorship case

Britney Spears says she was banned from 'self-care' for an entire year in the testimony at her conservatorship court case on Wednesday. 

The Me Against The Music singer, 39, spoke in court to plead with a Los Angeles judge to free her from a conservatorship that has given her father Jamie control over her life and $60m fortune for the last 13 years, with Britney receiving a $2k-a-week allowance. 

Among many heartbreaking details in the statement, she said that she was told by her conservator Jodi Montgomery that no outlets were open for styling or beauty treatments, despite Britney seeing her mother and her maids come to her home with fresh nails and hair. 

She said: 'It also took a year, during COVID, to get me any self-care methods. said there were no services available. She’s lying, ma’am For a year, I didn’t have my nails done, no hairstyling, no massages, no acupuncture.'

Changing: Britney Spears says she was banned from 'self-care' for an entire year in the testimony at her conservatorship court case on Wednesday (Britney is pictured arlier this year, right)Changing: Britney is pictured looking preened on the red carpet in 2018

Changing: Britney Spears says she was banned from 'self-care' for an entire year in the testimony at her conservatorship court case on Wednesday (Britney is pictured earlier this year, right, and in 2018)

The groundbreaking case saw Britney plead in a passionate 25-minute appeal to Judge Brenda Penny to be emancipated from her father's grasps.  On the extent of her restrictions, she detailed how she was not allowed by her conservators to go to a salon for a year despite those around her being treated.  

Speaking about the deception, she said: 'It also took a year, during COVID, to get me any self-care methods. Jodi said there were no services available. She’s lying, ma’am. My mom went to the spot twice in Louisiana during COVID. For a year, I didn’t have nails done — no hairstyling and no massages, no acupuncture...

'Nothing for a year. I saw the maids in my home each week with their nails done different each time. She made me feel like my dad does. Very similar, her behavior and my dad, but just a different dynamic.'

She also said to the Judge: 'I want this conservatorship to end - I truly believe that this conservatorship is abusive. I want to be able to get married to my boyfriend and have a baby but the conservatorship told me I can't do that.'

Britney explained that her contraception is controlled by her conservators: 'I have an IUD (intrauterine device) inside me to prevent me from having a baby.

Tough: The singer, 39, spoke in court on Wednesday to plead with a Los Angeles judge to free her from a court-ordered conservatorship that has given her father Jamie control over her life and $60m fortune for the last 13 years (Britney pictured at home earlier this year)

Tough: The singer, 39, spoke in court on Wednesday to plead with a Los Angeles judge to free her from a court-ordered conservatorship that has given her father Jamie control over her life and $60m fortune for the last 13 years (Britney pictured at home earlier this year)

Heartache: The groundbreaking case saw Britney plead in a passionate 25-minute appeal to Judge Brenda Penny to be emancipated from her father's grasps (pictured in 2012)

 Heartache: The groundbreaking case saw Britney plead in a passionate 25-minute appeal to Judge Brenda Penny to be emancipated from her father's grasps (pictured in 2012)

'I want to go to a doctor and take it out so I can have a baby but they (the conservatorship) told me no. I feel ganged up on and bullied and alone.'

The status hearing did not hear any petitions, meaning that a decision was not asked for. Judge Penny said that she will set a hearing as soon as possible, so that Britney can make her petition. 

The last time Spears spoke directly to the judge was in May 2019 but the court was closed to the public and her testimony was sealed. 

Details of her mental health have never been disclosed. She began her statement with: 'I have a lot to say, so bear with me. I don't think I was heard on any level when I came to court last time.' 

A court sketch from inside the Los Angeles County Courthouse, with Judge Brenda Penny presiding

A court sketch from inside the Los Angeles County Courthouse, with Judge Brenda Penny presiding

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Speaking about her prior music and tour commitments, Spears said she 'is not here to be anyone's slave.' 

Speaking rapidly by audiolink with LA Superior Court - where dozens of fans and supporters gathered outside chanting 'Free Britney' and waving placards saying, 'We Love You Britney' - Spears launched an extraordinary attack on her father for his actions as her co-conservator. 

Her highly-recognizable voice was still girlish, but on Wednesday is was strong, emotional and so rapid-fire that it was tough sometimes to understand her words. 

At times she was tripping over her words, as though she could not wait to let out the obvious frustration and anger she feels over the conservatorship that has 'enslaved' her for 13 years. 

Her boyfriend, Sam Asghari, a 27-year-old Iranian personal trainer and actor, who she met when he starred in her 2016 video for the song Slumber Party, posted a photo to Instagram shortly before the hearing.

Hitting out: At times she was tripping over her words, as though she could not wait to let out the obvious frustration and anger she feels over the conservatorship that has 'enslaved' her for 13 yearsBritney is pictured in one of her Instagram posts during the pandemic

Hitting out: At times she was tripping over her words, as though she could not wait to let out the obvious frustration and anger she feels over the conservatorship that has 'enslaved' her for 13 years

It showed with him in a t-shirt reading: 'Free Britney'. He has been outspoken against her father, calling him 'a d***'.  'I want changes. I want changes going forward, and I deserve changes,' she said, at the end of a moving speech to the court.  It's my wish and dream for all of this to end.'

She said: 'In California, the only similar thing to this is called sex trafficking, making anyone work against their will, taking all their possessions away credit card, cash, phone, passport.

'The reason I'm telling you this is because I don't think the state of California can have all this written in the court documents from the time I showed up and do absolutely nothing.'

When a doctor put her on medications, including lithium - she she said made her feel 'drunk'. 'My family didn't do a thing about it. My dad was all for it,' she said.

When she was put in a $60,000-a-month treatment facility against her will, 'I cried on the phone to my dad for an hour and he loved every minute of it,' she said.

She added: 'My dad and everyone else who has played a key role in my conservatorship should be in jail. They have way too much control. I don't drink alcohol but I should, considering what they put my heart through.'

Supporters of Britney Spears gathered outside the Stanley Mosk courthouse in Los Angeles on Wednesday as the 39-year-old singer spoke at a hearing about her conservatorship

Supporters of Britney Spears gathered outside the Stanley Mosk courthouse in Los Angeles on Wednesday as the 39-year-old singer spoke at a hearing about her conservatorship 

BRITNEY'S STATEMENT IN FULL 

BRITNEY: 'I just got a new phone, and I have a lot to say, so bear with me. Basically, a lot has happened since two years ago, the last time — I wrote all this down — the last time I was in court.

'I will be honest with you. I haven’t been back to court in a long time, because I don’t think I was heard on any level when I came to court the last time. I brought four sheets of paper in my hands and wrote in length what I had been through the last four months before I came there. 

'The people who did that to me should not be able to walk away so easily. I’ll recap. I was on tour in 2018. I was forced to do… My management said if I don’t do this tour, I will have to find an attorney'

JUDGE PENNY: 'Ms. Spears, I hate to interrupt you, but my court reporter is taking down what you’re saying, so you have to speak a little more slowly'

BRITNEY: 'Oh, of course. Yes. Okay. The people who did this to me should not be able to walk away so easily. To recap: I was on tour in 2018. I was forced to do… 

'My management said if I don’t do this tour, I will have to find an attorney, and by contract my own management could sue me if I didn’t follow through with the tour. He handed me a sheet of paper as I got off the stage in Vegas and said I had to sign it. It was very threatening and scary...

'And with the conservatorship, I couldn’t even get my own attorney. So out of fear, I went ahead and I did the tour...

'When I came off that tour, a new show in Las Vegas was supposed to take place. I started rehearsing early, but it was hard because I’d been doing Vegas for four years and I needed a break in between...

'But no, I was told this is the timeline and this is how it’s going to go. I rehearsed four days a week. Half of the time in the studio and a half of the other time in a Westlake studio..

'I was basically directing most of the show. I actually did most of the choreography, meaning I taught my dancers my new choreography myself. I take everything I do very seriously. There’s tons of video with me at rehearsals. I wasn’t good — I was great. I led a room of 16 new dancers in rehearsals.

'It’s funny to hear my managers’ side of the story. They all said I wasn’t participating in rehearsals and I never agreed to take my medication — which my medication is only taken in the mornings, never at rehearsal...

'They don’t even see me. So why are they even claiming that? When I said no to one dance move into rehearsals, it was as if I planted a huge bomb somewhere. And I said no, I don’t want to do it this way.

'After that, my management, my dancers and my assistant of the new people that were supposed to do the new show all went into a room, shut the door and didn’t come out for at least 45 minutes. Ma’am, I’m not here to be anyone’s slave. I can say no to a dance move...

'I was told by my at-the-time therapist, Dr. Benson — who died in 2019 — that my manager called him and then that moment and told him I wasn’t cooperating or following the guidelines in rehearsals...

'And he also said I wasn’t taking my medication, which is so dumb, because I’ve had the same lady every morning for the past eight years give me my same medication. And I’m nowhere near these stupid people. It made no sense at all.

'There was a week period where they were nice to me, and I told them I don’t want to do the — They were nice to me, they said if I don’t want to do the new Vegas show, I don’t have to because I was getting really nervous...

'It was like lifting literally 200 pounds off of me when they said I don’t have to do the show anymore, because it was really really hard on myself and it was too much. I couldn’t take it anymore...

'So I remember telling my assistant, but y’know what I feel weird if I say no, I feel like they’re gonna come back and be mean to me or punish me or something. Three days later, after I said no to Vegas, my therapist sat me down in a room and said he had a million phone calls about how I was not cooperating in rehearsals, and I haven’t been taking my medication...

'All this was false. He immediately, the next day, put me on lithium out of nowhere. He took me off my normal meds I’ve been on for five years. And lithium is a very, very strong and completely different medication compared to what I was used to. 

'You can go mentally impaired if you take too much, if you stay on it longer than five months. But he put me on that and I felt drunk. I really couldn’t even take up for myself. I couldn’t even have a conversation with my mom or dad really about anything...

'I told him I was scared, and my doctor had me on six different nurses with this new medication, come to my home, stay with me to monitor me on this new medication, which I never wanted to be on to begin with...

'There were six different nurses in my home and they wouldn’t let me get in my car to go anywhere for a month...

'Not only did my family not do a goddamn thing, my dad was all for it. Anything that happened to me had to be approved by my dad. And my dad acted like he didn’t know that I was told I had to be tested over the Christmas holidays before they sent me away, when my kids went to home to Louisiana. He was the one who approved all of it. My whole family did nothing.

'Over the two-week holiday, a lady came into my home for four hours a day, sat me down and did a psych test on me. It took forever. But I was I was told I had to. Then after, I got a phone call from my dad, basically saying I’d failed the test or whatever, whatever. “I’m sorry, Britney, you have to listen to your doctors...

'They’re planning to send you to a small home in Beverly Hills to do a small rehab program that we’re going to make up for you. You’re going to pay $60,000 a month for this.” I cried on the phone for an hour and he loved every minute of it.

'The control he had over someone as powerful as me — he loved the control to hurt his own daughter 100,000%. He loved it. I packed my bags and went to that place. I worked seven days a week, no days off, which in California, the only similar thing to this is called sex trafficking...

'Making anyone work against their will, taking all their possessions away — credit card, cash, phone, passport — and placing them in a home where they work with the people who live with them. They all lived in the house with me, the nurses, the 24-7 security...

'There was one chef that came there and cooked for me daily during the weekdays. They watched me change every day — naked – morning, noon and night. My body – I had no privacy door for my room. I gave eight vials (?) of blood a week...

'If I didn’t do any of my meetings and work from eight to six at night, which is 10 hours a day, seven days a week, no days off, I wouldn’t be able to see my kids or my boyfriend. I never had a say in my schedule. They always told me I had to do this. And Ma’am, I will tell you, sitting in a chair 10 hours a day, seven days a week, it ain’t fun… and especially when you can’t walk out the front door...

'And that’s why I’m telling you this again two years later, after I’ve lied and told the whole world “I’m OK and I’m happy.” It’s a lie. I thought I just maybe if I said that enough maybe I might become happy, because I’ve been in denial...

'I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized. You know, fake it till you make it. But now I’m telling you the truth, OK? I’m not happy. I can’t sleep. I’m so angry it’s insane. And I’m depressed. I cry every day...

'And the reason I’m telling you this is because I don’t think how the state of California can have all this written in the court documents from the time I showed up and do absolutely nothing — just hire, with my money, another person and keep my dad on board...

'Ma’am, my dad and anyone involved in this conservatorship and my management who played a huge role in punishing me when I said no — ma’am, they should be in jail. Their cruel tactics working for Miley Cyrus as she smokes on joints onstage at the VMAs — nothing is ever done to this generation for doing wrong things...

'But my precious body, who has worked for my dad for the past f**king 13 years, trying to be so good and pretty. So perfect...

'When he works me so hard. When I do everything I’m told and the state of California allowed my father — ignorant father — to take his own daughter, who only has a role with me if I work with him, they’ve set back the whole course and allowed him to do that to me...

'That’s given these people I’ve worked for way too much control. They also threaten me and said, If I don’t go, then I have to go to court. And it will be more embarrassing to me if the judge publicly makes the evidence we have...

'You have to go. I was advised for my image, I need to go ahead to and just go and get it over with. They said that to me. I don’t even drink alcohol — I should drink alcohol, considering what they put my heart through...

'Also the Bridges facility they sent me to, none of the kids — I was doing this program for four months, so the last two months I went to a Bridges facility. None of the kids there did the program...

'They never showed up for any of them. You didn’t have to do anything if you didn’t want to. How come they always made me go? How come I was always threatened by my dad and anybody that participated in this conservatorship? If I don’t do this, what they tell me to enslave me to do, they’re gonna punish me...

'The last time I spoke to you by just keeping the conservatorship going, and also keeping my dad in the loop, made me feel like I was dead — like I didn’t matter, like nothing had been done to me, like you thought I was lying or something. I’m telling you again, because I’m not lying...

'I want to feel heard. And I’m telling you this again, so maybe you can understand the depth and the degree and the damage that they did to me back then.

'I want changes, and I want changes going forward. I deserve changes. I was told I have to sit down and be evaluated, again, if I want to end the conservatorship. 

'Ma’am, I didn’t know I could petition the conservatorship to end it. I’m sorry for my ignorance, but I honestly didn’t know that. But honestly, but I don’t think I owe anyone to be evaluated. 

'I’ve done more than enough. I don’t feel like I should even be in room with anyone to offend me by trying to question my capacity of intelligence, whether I need to be in this stupid conservatorship or not. I’ve done more than enough.

'I don’t owe these people anything — especially me, the one that has roofed and fed tons of people on tour on the road. It’s embarrassing and demoralizing what I’ve been through. 

'And that’s the main reason I’ve never said it openly. And mainly, I didn’t want to say it openly, because I honestly don’t think anyone would believe me. To be honest with you, the Paris Hilton story on what they did to her to that that school, I didn’t believe any of it. I’m sorry. I’m an outsider, and I’ll just be honest. I didn’t believe it.

'And maybe I’m wrong, and that’s why I didn’t want to say any of this to anybody, to the public, because I thought people would make fun of me or laugh at me and say, “She’s lying, she’s got everything, she’s Britney Spears.”

'I’m not lying. I just want my life back. And it’s been 13 years. And it’s enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve owned my money. And it’s my wish and my dream for all of this to end without being tested...

'Again, it makes no sense whatsoever for the state of California to sit back and literally watch me with their own two eyes, make a living for so many people, and pay so many people, trucks and buses on the road with me and be told, I’m not good enough. But I’m great at what I do. And I allow these people to control what I do, ma’am. And it’s enough. It makes no sense at all.

'Now, going forward, I’m not willing to meet or see anyone. I’ve met with enough people against my will. I’m done. All I want is to own my money, for this to end, and my boyfriend to drive me in his f*king car.

'And I would honestly like to sue my family, to be totally honest with you. I also would like to be able to share my story with the world, and what they did to me, instead of it being a hush-hush secret to benefit all of them. 

'I want to be able to be heard on what they did to me by making me keep this in for so long, it is not good for my heart. I’ve been so angry and I cry every day. It concerns me, I’m told I’m not allowed to expose the people who did this to me.

'For my sanity, I need you to the judge to approve me to do an interview where I can be heard on what they did to me. And actually, I have the right to use my voice and take up for myself. My attorney says I can’t...

'It’s not good. I can’t let the public know anything they did to me and by not saying anything, is saying it’s OK.

'It’s not OK. Actually, I don’t want an interview — I’d much rather just have an open call to you for the press to hear, which I didn’t know today we’re doing, so thank you. Instead of having an interview, honestly, I need that to get it off my heart, the anger and all of it that’s been happening.

'It’s not fair they’re telling me lies about me openly. Even my family, they do interviews to anyone they want on news stations. My own family doing interviews, and talking about the situation and making me feel so stupid. And I can’t say one thing. And my own people say I can’t say anything.

'It’s been two years. I want a recorded call to you actually, we’re doing this now — which I didn’t know that we’re doing this. My lawyer, Sam , has been very scared for me to go forward because he’s saying if I speak up, I’m being overworked in that facility of that rehab place, that rehab place will sue me. He told me I should keep it to myself. 

'I would personally like to — actually, I’ve grown with a personal relationship with Sam, my lawyer, I’ve been talking to him like three times a week now, we’ve kind of built a relationship but I haven’t really had the opportunity by my own self to actually handpick my own lawyer by myself. And I would like to be able to do that.

'The main reason why I’m here is because I want to end the conservatorship without having to be evaluated. I’ve done a lot of research, ma’am. And there’s a lot of judges who do end conservatorships for people without them having to be evaluated all the time. The only times they don’t is if a concerned family member says something’s wrong with this person.

'And considering my family has lived off my conservatorship for 13 years, I won’t be surprised if one of them has something to say going forward, and say, “We don’t think this should end, we have to help her.” Especially if I get my fair turn exposing what they did to me.

'Also I want to speak to you about my obligations, which, I personally don’t think at the very moment I owe anybody anything. I have three meetings a week I have to attend no matter what. I just don’t like feeling like I work for the people whom I pay. I don’t like being told I have to, no matter what, even if I’m sick. Jodi the conservator says I have to see my Coach Ken even when I’m sick... 

'I would like to do one meeting a week with a therapist. I’ve never before, even before they sent me to that place, had two therapy sessions. I had a doctor and then a therapy person. What I’ve been forced to do illegal in my life. I shouldn’t be told I have to be available three times a week to these people I don’t know.

'I’m talking to you today because I feel again, yes, even acting Jodi is starting to kind of take it too far with me. They have me going to therapy twice a week and a psychiatrist. 

'I’ve never in the past – wait, they had me going, yeah, twice a week and Dr. Gold, so that’s three times a week. I’ve never in the past had to see a therapist more than once a week. It takes too much out of me going to this man I don’t know.

'Number one, I’m scared of people. I don’t trust people with what I’ve been through. And the clever setup of being in Westlake, one of the most exposed places in Westlake, which, yesterday, paparazzi showed me coming out of the place literally crying in therapy. 

'It’s embarrassing, and it’s demoralizing. I deserve privacy when I go and have therapy, either at my home, like I’ve done for eight years. They’ve always come to my home. Or when Dr. Benson — the man that died — I went to a place similar to what I went to in Westlake which was very exposed and really bad. 

'Okay, so where was I? It was like, it was identical to Dr. Benson, who illegally, yes 100% abused me by the treatment he gave me, to be totally honest with you, I was so —

JUDGE PENNY: 'Ms. Spears, excuse me for interrupting you, but my reporter says if you could just slow it down a little bit, because she’s trying to make sure she gets everything that you’re saying...

BRITNEY: 'OK, cool… And to be totally honest with you, when Dr. passed away, I got on my knees and thanked God. In other words, my team is pushing it with me again...

'I have trapped phobias being in small rooms because of the trauma, locking me up for four months in that place. It’s not okay for them to send me — sorry, I’m going fast — to that small room like that twice a week with another new therapist that I pay that I never even approved. I don’t like it. I don’t want to do that. And I haven’t done anything wrong to deserve this treatment...

'It’s not okay to force me to do anything I don’t want to do. By law, Jodi and this so-called team should honestly – I should be able to sue them for threatening me and saying if I don’t go and do these meetings twice a week, we can’t let you have your money and go to Maui on your vacations...

'You have to do what you’re told for this program and then you will be able to go. But it was a very clever thing, one of the most exposed places in Westlake, knowing I have the hot topic of the conservatorship, that over five paparazzis are going to show up and get me crying coming out of that place. I begged them to make sure that they did this at my home, so I would have privacy. I deserve privacy...

'The conservatorship, from the beginning, once you see someone, whoever it is, in the conservatorship making money, making them money, and myself money and working – that whole statement right there, the conservatorship should end...

'I shouldn’t be in a conservatorship if I can work and provide money and work for myself and pay other people — it makes no sense. The laws need to change. What state allows people to own another person’s money and account and threaten them and saying, “You can’t spend your money unless you do what we want you to do.” And I’m paying them...

'Ma’am, I’ve worked since I was 17 years old. You have to understand how thin that is for me every morning I get up to know I can’t go somewhere unless I meet people I don’t know every week in a office identical to the one where the therapist was very abusive to me...

'I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive, and that we can sit here all day and say oh, conservatorships are here to help people. But ma’am, there is a thousand conservatorships that are abusive as well...

'I don’t feel like I can live a full life. I don’t owe them to go see a man I don’t know and share him my problems. I don’t even believe in therapy. I always think you take it to God. I want to end the conservatorship without being evaluated. In the meantime, I want this therapist once a week...

'I just want him to come to my home. I’m not willing to go to Westlake and be embarrassed by all these scummy paparazzi laughing at my face while I’m crying, coming out and taking my pictures as all these white nice dinners, where people drinking wine at restaurants, watching these places. They set me up by sending me to the most exposed places, and I told them I didn’t want to go there because I knew paparazzi would show up there...

'They only gave me two options for therapists. And I’m not sure how you make your decisions, ma’am. But this is the only chance for me to talk to you for a while. I need your help, so if you can just kind of let me know where your head is. I don’t really honestly know what to say but my requests are just to end the conservatorship without being evaluated. I want to petition basically to end the conservatorship. But I don’t want to be evaluated, and be sat in a room with people four hours a day, like they did me before. And they made it even worse for me after that happened...

'I’m honestly new with this. And I’m doing research on all these things. I do know common sense and the method that things can end – for people, it has ended without them being evaluated. So I just want you to take that in consideration...

'It also took a year, during COVID, to get me any self-care methods. She said there were no services available. She’s lying, ma’am. My mom went to the spot twice in Louisiana during COVID. For a year, I didn’t have my nails done — no hairstyling and no massages, no acupuncture. Nothing for a year. I saw the maids in my home each week with their nails done different each time. She made me feel like my dad does. Very similar, her behavior and my dad, but just a different dynamic...

'Team wants me to work and stay home instead of having longer vacations. They are used to me sort of doing a weekly routine for them. And I’m over it. I don’t feel like I owe them anything at this point. They need to be reminded they actually work for me...

'I was supposed to be able to — I have a friend that I used to do AA meetings with. I did AA for two years. I did three meetings a week. I’ve met a bunch of women there. And I’m not able to see my friends that live eight minutes away from me, which I find extremely strange...

'I feel like they’re making me feel like I live in a rehab program. This is my home. I’d like for my boyfriend to be able to drive me in his car. And I want to meet with a therapist once a week, not twice a week. And I want him to come to my home. Because I actually know I do need a little therapy. (Laughing.)

'I would like to progressively move forward and I want to have the real deal, I want to be able to get married and have a baby. I was told right now in the conservatorship, I’m not able to get married or have a baby, I have a inside of myself right now so I don’t get pregnant. I wanted to take the out so I could start trying to have another baby. But this so-called team won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out because they don’t want me to have children – any more children. So basically, this conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good...

'I deserve to have a life. I’ve worked my whole life. I deserve to have a two to three year break and just, you know, do what I want to do. But I do feel like there is a crutch here... 

'And I feel open and I’m okay to talk to you today about it. But I wish I could stay with you on the phone forever, because when I get off the phone with you, all of a sudden all I hear all these no’s — no, no, no. And then all of a sudden I get I feel ganged up on and I feel bullied and I feel left out and alone. And I’m tired of feeling alone...

'I deserve to have the same rights as anybody does, by having a child, a family, any of those things, and more so. And that’s all I wanted to say to you. And thank you so much for letting me speak to you today.'

JUDGE PENNY: 'Ms. Spears, you’re quite welcome. And also, I just want to tell you that I certainly am sensitive to everything that you said and how you’re feeling and I know that it took a lot of courage for you to say everything you have to say today, and I want to let you know that the court does appreciate your coming on the line and sharing how you’re feeling.'

 

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BRITNEY'S STATEMENT IN FULL 

BRITNEY: 'I just got a new phone, and I have a lot to say, so bear with me. Basically, a lot has happened since two years ago, the last time — I wrote all this down — the last time I was in court.

'I will be honest with you. I haven’t been back to court in a long time, because I don’t think I was heard on any level when I came to court the last time. I brought four sheets of paper in my hands and wrote in length what I had been through the last four months before I came there. 

'The people who did that to me should not be able to walk away so easily. I’ll recap. I was on tour in 2018. I was forced to do… My management said if I don’t do this tour, I will have to find an attorney'

JUDGE PENNY: 'Ms. Spears, I hate to interrupt you, but my court reporter is taking down what you’re saying, so you have to speak a little more slowly'

BRITNEY: 'Oh, of course. Yes. Okay. The people who did this to me should not be able to walk away so easily. To recap: I was on tour in 2018. I was forced to do… 

'My management said if I don’t do this tour, I will have to find an attorney, and by contract my own management could sue me if I didn’t follow through with the tour. He handed me a sheet of paper as I got off the stage in Vegas and said I had to sign it. It was very threatening and scary...

'And with the conservatorship, I couldn’t even get my own attorney. So out of fear, I went ahead and I did the tour...

'When I came off that tour, a new show in Las Vegas was supposed to take place. I started rehearsing early, but it was hard because I’d been doing Vegas for four years and I needed a break in between...

'But no, I was told this is the timeline and this is how it’s going to go. I rehearsed four days a week. Half of the time in the studio and a half of the other time in a Westlake studio..

'I was basically directing most of the show. I actually did most of the choreography, meaning I taught my dancers my new choreography myself. I take everything I do very seriously. There’s tons of video with me at rehearsals. I wasn’t good — I was great. I led a room of 16 new dancers in rehearsals.

'It’s funny to hear my managers’ side of the story. They all said I wasn’t participating in rehearsals and I never agreed to take my medication — which my medication is only taken in the mornings, never at rehearsal...

'They don’t even see me. So why are they even claiming that? When I said no to one dance move into rehearsals, it was as if I planted a huge bomb somewhere. And I said no, I don’t want to do it this way.

'After that, my management, my dancers and my assistant of the new people that were supposed to do the new show all went into a room, shut the door and didn’t come out for at least 45 minutes. Ma’am, I’m not here to be anyone’s slave. I can say no to a dance move...

'I was told by my at-the-time therapist, Dr. Benson — who died in 2019 — that my manager called him and then that moment and told him I wasn’t cooperating or following the guidelines in rehearsals...

'And he also said I wasn’t taking my medication, which is so dumb, because I’ve had the same lady every morning for the past eight years give me my same medication. And I’m nowhere near these stupid people. It made no sense at all.

'There was a week period where they were nice to me, and I told them I don’t want to do the — They were nice to me, they said if I don’t want to do the new Vegas show, I don’t have to because I was getting really nervous...

'It was like lifting literally 200 pounds off of me when they said I don’t have to do the show anymore, because it was really really hard on myself and it was too much. I couldn’t take it anymore...

'So I remember telling my assistant, but y’know what I feel weird if I say no, I feel like they’re gonna come back and be mean to me or punish me or something. Three days later, after I said no to Vegas, my therapist sat me down in a room and said he had a million phone calls about how I was not cooperating in rehearsals, and I haven’t been taking my medication...

'All this was false. He immediately, the next day, put me on lithium out of nowhere. He took me off my normal meds I’ve been on for five years. And lithium is a very, very strong and completely different medication compared to what I was used to. 

'You can go mentally impaired if you take too much, if you stay on it longer than five months. But he put me on that and I felt drunk. I really couldn’t even take up for myself. I couldn’t even have a conversation with my mom or dad really about anything...

'I told him I was scared, and my doctor had me on six different nurses with this new medication, come to my home, stay with me to monitor me on this new medication, which I never wanted to be on to begin with...

'There were six different nurses in my home and they wouldn’t let me get in my car to go anywhere for a month...

'Not only did my family not do a goddamn thing, my dad was all for it. Anything that happened to me had to be approved by my dad. And my dad acted like he didn’t know that I was told I had to be tested over the Christmas holidays before they sent me away, when my kids went to home to Louisiana. He was the one who approved all of it. My whole family did nothing.

'Over the two-week holiday, a lady came into my home for four hours a day, sat me down and did a psych test on me. It took forever. But I was I was told I had to. Then after, I got a phone call from my dad, basically saying I’d failed the test or whatever, whatever. “I’m sorry, Britney, you have to listen to your doctors...

'They’re planning to send you to a small home in Beverly Hills to do a small rehab program that we’re going to make up for you. You’re going to pay $60,000 a month for this.” I cried on the phone for an hour and he loved every minute of it.

'The control he had over someone as powerful as me — he loved the control to hurt his own daughter 100,000%. He loved it. I packed my bags and went to that place. I worked seven days a week, no days off, which in California, the only similar thing to this is called sex trafficking...

'Making anyone work against their will, taking all their possessions away — credit card, cash, phone, passport — and placing them in a home where they work with the people who live with them. They all lived in the house with me, the nurses, the 24-7 security...

'There was one chef that came there and cooked for me daily during the weekdays. They watched me change every day — naked – morning, noon and night. My body – I had no privacy door for my room. I gave eight vials (?) of blood a week...

'If I didn’t do any of my meetings and work from eight to six at night, which is 10 hours a day, seven days a week, no days off, I wouldn’t be able to see my kids or my boyfriend. I never had a say in my schedule. They always told me I had to do this. And Ma’am, I will tell you, sitting in a chair 10 hours a day, seven days a week, it ain’t fun… and especially when you can’t walk out the front door...

'And that’s why I’m telling you this again two years later, after I’ve lied and told the whole world “I’m OK and I’m happy.” It’s a lie. I thought I just maybe if I said that enough maybe I might become happy, because I’ve been in denial...

'I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized. You know, fake it till you make it. But now I’m telling you the truth, OK? I’m not happy. I can’t sleep. I’m so angry it’s insane. And I’m depressed. I cry every day...

'And the reason I’m telling you this is because I don’t think how the state of California can have all this written in the court documents from the time I showed up and do absolutely nothing — just hire, with my money, another person and keep my dad on board...

'Ma’am, my dad and anyone involved in this conservatorship and my management who played a huge role in punishing me when I said no — ma’am, they should be in jail. Their cruel tactics working for Miley Cyrus as she smokes on joints onstage at the VMAs — nothing is ever done to this generation for doing wrong things...

'But my precious body, who has worked for my dad for the past f**king 13 years, trying to be so good and pretty. So perfect...

'When he works me so hard. When I do everything I’m told and the state of California allowed my father — ignorant father — to take his own daughter, who only has a role with me if I work with him, they’ve set back the whole course and allowed him to do that to me...

'That’s given these people I’ve worked for way too much control. They also threaten me and said, If I don’t go, then I have to go to court. And it will be more embarrassing to me if the judge publicly makes the evidence we have...

'You have to go. I was advised for my image, I need to go ahead to and just go and get it over with. They said that to me. I don’t even drink alcohol — I should drink alcohol, considering what they put my heart through...

'Also the Bridges facility they sent me to, none of the kids — I was doing this program for four months, so the last two months I went to a Bridges facility. None of the kids there did the program...

'They never showed up for any of them. You didn’t have to do anything if you didn’t want to. How come they always made me go? How come I was always threatened by my dad and anybody that participated in this conservatorship? If I don’t do this, what they tell me to enslave me to do, they’re gonna punish me...

'The last time I spoke to you by just keeping the conservatorship going, and also keeping my dad in the loop, made me feel like I was dead — like I didn’t matter, like nothing had been done to me, like you thought I was lying or something. I’m telling you again, because I’m not lying...

'I want to feel heard. And I’m telling you this again, so maybe you can understand the depth and the degree and the damage that they did to me back then.

'I want changes, and I want changes going forward. I deserve changes. I was told I have to sit down and be evaluated, again, if I want to end the conservatorship. 

'Ma’am, I didn’t know I could petition the conservatorship to end it. I’m sorry for my ignorance, but I honestly didn’t know that. But honestly, but I don’t think I owe anyone to be evaluated. 

'I’ve done more than enough. I don’t feel like I should even be in room with anyone to offend me by trying to question my capacity of intelligence, whether I need to be in this stupid conservatorship or not. I’ve done more than enough.

'I don’t owe these people anything — especially me, the one that has roofed and fed tons of people on tour on the road. It’s embarrassing and demoralizing what I’ve been through. 

'And that’s the main reason I’ve never said it openly. And mainly, I didn’t want to say it openly, because I honestly don’t think anyone would believe me. To be honest with you, the Paris Hilton story on what they did to her to that that school, I didn’t believe any of it. I’m sorry. I’m an outsider, and I’ll just be honest. I didn’t believe it.

'And maybe I’m wrong, and that’s why I didn’t want to say any of this to anybody, to the public, because I thought people would make fun of me or laugh at me and say, “She’s lying, she’s got everything, she’s Britney Spears.”

'I’m not lying. I just want my life back. And it’s been 13 years. And it’s enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve owned my money. And it’s my wish and my dream for all of this to end without being tested...

'Again, it makes no sense whatsoever for the state of California to sit back and literally watch me with their own two eyes, make a living for so many people, and pay so many people, trucks and buses on the road with me and be told, I’m not good enough. But I’m great at what I do. And I allow these people to control what I do, ma’am. And it’s enough. It makes no sense at all.

'Now, going forward, I’m not willing to meet or see anyone. I’ve met with enough people against my will. I’m done. All I want is to own my money, for this to end, and my boyfriend to drive me in his f*king car.

'And I would honestly like to sue my family, to be totally honest with you. I also would like to be able to share my story with the world, and what they did to me, instead of it being a hush-hush secret to benefit all of them. 

'I want to be able to be heard on what they did to me by making me keep this in for so long, it is not good for my heart. I’ve been so angry and I cry every day. It concerns me, I’m told I’m not allowed to expose the people who did this to me.

'For my sanity, I need you to the judge to approve me to do an interview where I can be heard on what they did to me. And actually, I have the right to use my voice and take up for myself. My attorney says I can’t...

'It’s not good. I can’t let the public know anything they did to me and by not saying anything, is saying it’s OK.

'It’s not OK. Actually, I don’t want an interview — I’d much rather just have an open call to you for the press to hear, which I didn’t know today we’re doing, so thank you. Instead of having an interview, honestly, I need that to get it off my heart, the anger and all of it that’s been happening.

'It’s not fair they’re telling me lies about me openly. Even my family, they do interviews to anyone they want on news stations. My own family doing interviews, and talking about the situation and making me feel so stupid. And I can’t say one thing. And my own people say I can’t say anything.

'It’s been two years. I want a recorded call to you actually, we’re doing this now — which I didn’t know that we’re doing this. My lawyer, Sam , has been very scared for me to go forward because he’s saying if I speak up, I’m being overworked in that facility of that rehab place, that rehab place will sue me. He told me I should keep it to myself. 

'I would personally like to — actually, I’ve grown with a personal relationship with Sam, my lawyer, I’ve been talking to him like three times a week now, we’ve kind of built a relationship but I haven’t really had the opportunity by my own self to actually handpick my own lawyer by myself. And I would like to be able to do that.

'The main reason why I’m here is because I want to end the conservatorship without having to be evaluated. I’ve done a lot of research, ma’am. And there’s a lot of judges who do end conservatorships for people without them having to be evaluated all the time. The only times they don’t is if a concerned family member says something’s wrong with this person.

'And considering my family has lived off my conservatorship for 13 years, I won’t be surprised if one of them has something to say going forward, and say, “We don’t think this should end, we have to help her.” Especially if I get my fair turn exposing what they did to me.

'Also I want to speak to you about my obligations, which, I personally don’t think at the very moment I owe anybody anything. I have three meetings a week I have to attend no matter what. I just don’t like feeling like I work for the people whom I pay. I don’t like being told I have to, no matter what, even if I’m sick. Jodi the conservator says I have to see my Coach Ken even when I’m sick... 

'I would like to do one meeting a week with a therapist. I’ve never before, even before they sent me to that place, had two therapy sessions. I had a doctor and then a therapy person. What I’ve been forced to do illegal in my life. I shouldn’t be told I have to be available three times a week to these people I don’t know.

'I’m talking to you today because I feel again, yes, even acting Jodi is starting to kind of take it too far with me. They have me going to therapy twice a week and a psychiatrist. 

'I’ve never in the past – wait, they had me going, yeah, twice a week and Dr. Gold, so that’s three times a week. I’ve never in the past had to see a therapist more than once a week. It takes too much out of me going to this man I don’t know.

'Number one, I’m scared of people. I don’t trust people with what I’ve been through. And the clever setup of being in Westlake, one of the most exposed places in Westlake, which, yesterday, paparazzi showed me coming out of the place literally crying in therapy. 

'It’s embarrassing, and it’s demoralizing. I deserve privacy when I go and have therapy, either at my home, like I’ve done for eight years. They’ve always come to my home. Or when Dr. Benson — the man that died — I went to a place similar to what I went to in Westlake which was very exposed and really bad. 

'Okay, so where was I? It was like, it was identical to Dr. Benson, who illegally, yes 100% abused me by the treatment he gave me, to be totally honest with you, I was so —

JUDGE PENNY: 'Ms. Spears, excuse me for interrupting you, but my reporter says if you could just slow it down a little bit, because she’s trying to make sure she gets everything that you’re saying...

BRITNEY: 'OK, cool… And to be totally honest with you, when Dr. passed away, I got on my knees and thanked God. In other words, my team is pushing it with me again...

'I have trapped phobias being in small rooms because of the trauma, locking me up for four months in that place. It’s not okay for them to send me — sorry, I’m going fast — to that small room like that twice a week with another new therapist that I pay that I never even approved. I don’t like it. I don’t want to do that. And I haven’t done anything wrong to deserve this treatment...

'It’s not okay to force me to do anything I don’t want to do. By law, Jodi and this so-called team should honestly – I should be able to sue them for threatening me and saying if I don’t go and do these meetings twice a week, we can’t let you have your money and go to Maui on your vacations...

'You have to do what you’re told for this program and then you will be able to go. But it was a very clever thing, one of the most exposed places in Westlake, knowing I have the hot topic of the conservatorship, that over five paparazzis are going to show up and get me crying coming out of that place. I begged them to make sure that they did this at my home, so I would have privacy. I deserve privacy...

'The conservatorship, from the beginning, once you see someone, whoever it is, in the conservatorship making money, making them money, and myself money and working – that whole statement right there, the conservatorship should end...

'I shouldn’t be in a conservatorship if I can work and provide money and work for myself and pay other people — it makes no sense. The laws need to change. What state allows people to own another person’s money and account and threaten them and saying, “You can’t spend your money unless you do what we want you to do.” And I’m paying them...

'Ma’am, I’ve worked since I was 17 years old. You have to understand how thin that is for me every morning I get up to know I can’t go somewhere unless I meet people I don’t know every week in a office identical to the one where the therapist was very abusive to me...

'I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive, and that we can sit here all day and say oh, conservatorships are here to help people. But ma’am, there is a thousand conservatorships that are abusive as well...

'I don’t feel like I can live a full life. I don’t owe them to go see a man I don’t know and share him my problems. I don’t even believe in therapy. I always think you take it to God. I want to end the conservatorship without being evaluated. In the meantime, I want this therapist once a week...

'I just want him to come to my home. I’m not willing to go to Westlake and be embarrassed by all these scummy paparazzi laughing at my face while I’m crying, coming out and taking my pictures as all these white nice dinners, where people drinking wine at restaurants, watching these places. They set me up by sending me to the most exposed places, and I told them I didn’t want to go there because I knew paparazzi would show up there...

'They only gave me two options for therapists. And I’m not sure how you make your decisions, ma’am. But this is the only chance for me to talk to you for a while. I need your help, so if you can just kind of let me know where your head is. I don’t really honestly know what to say but my requests are just to end the conservatorship without being evaluated. I want to petition basically to end the conservatorship. But I don’t want to be evaluated, and be sat in a room with people four hours a day, like they did me before. And they made it even worse for me after that happened...

'I’m honestly new with this. And I’m doing research on all these things. I do know common sense and the method that things can end – for people, it has ended without them being evaluated. So I just want you to take that in consideration...

'It also took a year, during COVID, to get me any self-care methods. She said there were no services available. She’s lying, ma’am. My mom went to the spot twice in Louisiana during COVID. For a year, I didn’t have my nails done — no hairstyling and no massages, no acupuncture. Nothing for a year. I saw the maids in my home each week with their nails done different each time. She made me feel like my dad does. Very similar, her behavior and my dad, but just a different dynamic...

'Team wants me to work and stay home instead of having longer vacations. They are used to me sort of doing a weekly routine for them. And I’m over it. I don’t feel like I owe them anything at this point. They need to be reminded they actually work for me...

'I was supposed to be able to — I have a friend that I used to do AA meetings with. I did AA for two years. I did three meetings a week. I’ve met a bunch of women there. And I’m not able to see my friends that live eight minutes away from me, which I find extremely strange...

'I feel like they’re making me feel like I live in a rehab program. This is my home. I’d like for my boyfriend to be able to drive me in his car. And I want to meet with a therapist once a week, not twice a week. And I want him to come to my home. Because I actually know I do need a little therapy. (Laughing.)

'I would like to progressively move forward and I want to have the real deal, I want to be able to get married and have a baby. I was told right now in the conservatorship, I’m not able to get married or have a baby, I have a inside of myself right now so I don’t get pregnant. I wanted to take the out so I could start trying to have another baby. But this so-called team won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out because they don’t want me to have children – any more children. So basically, this conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good...

'I deserve to have a life. I’ve worked my whole life. I deserve to have a two to three year break and just, you know, do what I want to do. But I do feel like there is a crutch here... 

'And I feel open and I’m okay to talk to you today about it. But I wish I could stay with you on the phone forever, because when I get off the phone with you, all of a sudden all I hear all these no’s — no, no, no. And then all of a sudden I get I feel ganged up on and I feel bullied and I feel left out and alone. And I’m tired of feeling alone...

'I deserve to have the same rights as anybody does, by having a child, a family, any of those things, and more so. And that’s all I wanted to say to you. And thank you so much for letting me speak to you today.'

JUDGE PENNY: 'Ms. Spears, you’re quite welcome. And also, I just want to tell you that I certainly am sensitive to everything that you said and how you’re feeling and I know that it took a lot of courage for you to say everything you have to say today, and I want to let you know that the court does appreciate your coming on the line and sharing how you’re feeling.'

 

 

 'I want to remove my IUD so I can have a baby but they told me no': Britney Spears tells court her father won't let her reproduce or marry and treats her like a 'slave' - as she begs judge to free her from conservatorship

Britney Spears on Wednesday begged a Los Angeles judge to free her from a court-ordered conservatorship that has given her father Jamie control over her life and $60 million fortune for the last 13 years.

'I want this conservatorship to end - I truly believe that this conservatorship is abusive,' the 39 year-old pop superstar pleaded in a passionate 25-minute appeal to Judge Brenda Penny.

'I want to be able to get married to my boyfriend and have a baby but the conservatorship told me I can't do that. I have an IUD (intrauterine device) inside me to prevent me from having a baby.

'I want to go to a doctor and take it out so I can have a baby but they (the conservatorship) told me no. I feel ganged up on and bullied and alone.'

The status hearing did not hear any petitions, meaning that a decision was not asked for. Judge Penny said that she will set a hearing as soon as possible, so that Britney can make her petition. 

Britney Spears is pictured driving around her Los Angeles neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon after the dramatic conservatorship hearing. Her boyfriend Sam Asghari, 27, is in the passenger seat and a bodyguard in the back

Britney Spears is pictured driving around her Los Angeles neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon after the dramatic conservatorship hearing. Her boyfriend Sam Asghari, 27, is in the passenger seat and a bodyguard in the back

The singer went for a drive shortly after her explosive testimony before Judge Brenda Penny

The singer went for a drive shortly after her explosive testimony before Judge Brenda Penny

Britney Spears is pictured with her father Jamie. The pair have not spoken since August. She has been fighting since last year to lift a conservatorship that he presided over since 2008

Britney Spears is pictured with her father Jamie. The pair have not spoken since August. She has been fighting since last year to lift a conservatorship that he presided over since 2008

Spears is pictured on Tuesday leaving the sheriffs' office, ahead of the hearing

Spears is pictured on Tuesday leaving the sheriffs' office, ahead of the hearing

A court sketch from inside the Los Angeles County Courthouse, with Judge Brenda Penny presiding

A court sketch from inside the Los Angeles County Courthouse, with Judge Brenda Penny presiding

more videos

Britney Spears speaks out against 'abusive' conservatorship during hearing

Maya Jama hosts Crouchy's Year-Late Euros in 'cycling' shorts

Kyle asks Natalie Imbruglia about her relationship David Schwimmer

Jade Thirlwall 'runs away' in funny response to question of babies

Dick and Angel are back on screens in Make Do and Mend

Tamara Ecclestone celebrates daughter's birthday with pinata fun

Megan Thee Stallion flaunts her curves in Fashion Nova bikinis

Courtney Stodden responds to Britney Spears hearing

Incredible video of man flying in Times Square on levitating board

Fitness star Chloe Ting shares 10 minute workout for defined abs

Fans in London celebrate as Sterling's goal against Czech Republic

Columbia University study shows psychological stress turns hair gray

Britney is seen on Tuesday leaving Ventura County Sheriffs Office, the day before her hearing

Britney is seen on Tuesday leaving Ventura County Sheriffs Office, the day before her hearing

The last time Spears spoke directly to the judge was in May 2019 but the court was closed to the public and her testimony was sealed. 

Details of her mental health have never been disclosed. 

Spears began her statement with: 'I have a lot to say, so bear with me. I don't think I was heard on any level when I came to court last time.' 

Speaking about her prior music and tour commitments, Spears said she 'is not here to be anyone's slave.' 

Speaking rapidly by audiolink with LA Superior Court - where dozens of fans and supporters gathered outside chanting 'Free Britney' and waving placards saying, 'We Love You Britney' - Spears launched an extraordinary attack on her father for his actions as her co-conservator. 

Her highly-recognizable voice was still girlish, but on Wednesday is was strong, emotional and so rapid-fire that it was tough sometimes to understand her words. 

At times she was tripping over her words, as though she could not wait to let out the obvious frustration and anger she feels over the conservatorship that has 'enslaved' her for 13 years. 

Protesters gathered in Los Angeles on Wednesday ahead of the eagerly-anticipated hearing

Protesters gathered in Los Angeles on Wednesday ahead of the eagerly-anticipated hearing

One fan held a cardboard cutout of the 39-year-old singer and a megaphone, rallying others to the cause

One fan held a cardboard cutout of the 39-year-old singer and a megaphone, rallying others to the cause

Supporters of the singer had made a series of placards to wave outside the courtroom. Spears herself was not in court, but appeared via an audiolink

Supporters of the singer had made a series of placards to wave outside the courtroom. Spears herself was not in court, but appeared via an audiolink

more videos

Britney Spears speaks out against 'abusive' conservatorship during hearing

Maya Jama hosts Crouchy's Year-Late Euros in 'cycling' shorts

Kyle asks Natalie Imbruglia about her relationship David Schwimmer

Jade Thirlwall 'runs away' in funny response to question of babies

Dick and Angel are back on screens in Make Do and Mend

Tamara Ecclestone celebrates daughter's birthday with pinata fun

Megan Thee Stallion flaunts her curves in Fashion Nova bikinis

Courtney Stodden responds to Britney Spears hearing

Incredible video of man flying in Times Square on levitating board

Fitness star Chloe Ting shares 10 minute workout for defined abs

Fans in London celebrate as Sterling's goal against Czech Republic

Columbia University study shows psychological stress turns hair gray

What is a conservatorship?

A conservatorship is a legal concept whereby a probate court appoints a person to manage an incapacitated person or minor's financial and personal affairs.

It is often a relative.

The terminology and details vary state-by-state, but the general principals are all similar.

The conservator's duties include overseeing finances, medical care and living arrangements.

In Britney's case, the conservators also oversee visitation arrangements with her two teenage sons, who are under the full custody of her ex-husband, Kevin Federline.

It is most frequently used for someone who is severely mentally incapacitated, or suffering from dementia.

Yet in the 13 years of Britney's conservatorship, she has released four albums - two of them going platinum; appeared as a judge on both The X Factor and American Idol; and had a four-year residency in Las Vegas that reportedly grossed close to $138 million.

The specific details of Britney's case have not been revealed.

Unless a judge says otherwise, they still retain rights to make certain decisions, according to the California handbook.

They can control salaries they earn, spend an allowance, retain legal representation, vote in elections, get married, draft their own wills, make medical decisions for themselves and ask a judge to terminate conservatorships or replace their guardians.

'All conservatees have the right to be treated with understanding and respect and to have their wishes considered. They have all basic human rights, as well, and the right to be well cared for by you,' the California handbook says.

Britney says that she has not had these rights. It is unclear whether this is a violation of her case, or as agreed.

There are two types of conservators: a conservator of the person, who looks after meals, housekeeping, transport, housing and recreation, and a conservator of the estate who manages finances and protects assets.

Sometimes one person can play both roles.

The conservator of the estate must file periodic activities reports by the first year after their appointment and every two years following, until the relationship is terminated.

The estate managers have to disclose asset values, gains and losses, and show receipts for all expenditures of conservatorship funds. They are also prohibited from borrowing money from the conservatee or lending out their cash.

Many countries have similar systems.

In the U.K. it is called a deputyship. In Britain, however, the court will appoint an independent conservator, rather than a family member.

 

Her boyfriend, Sam Asghari, a 27-year-old Iranian personal trainer and actor, who she met when he starred in her 2016 video for the song Slumber Party, posted a photo to Instagram shortly before the hearing.

It showed with him in a t-shirt reading: 'Free Britney'. He has been outspoken against her father, calling him 'a d***'. 

'I want changes. I want changes going forward, and I deserve changes,' she said, at the end of a moving speech to the court. 

'It's my wish and dream for all of this to end.'

She said: 'In California, the only similar thing to this is called sex trafficking, making anyone work against their will, taking all their possessions away credit card, cash, phone, passport.

'The reason I'm telling you this is because I don't think the state of California can have all this written in the court documents from the time I showed up and do absolutely nothing.'

When a doctor put her on medications, including lithium - she she said made her feel 'drunk'.

'My family didn't do a thing about it. My dad was all for it,' she said.

When she was put in a $60,000-a-month treatment facility against her will, 'I cried on the phone to my dad for an hour and he loved every minute of it,' she said.

She added: 'My dad and everyone else who has played a key role in my conservatorship should be in jail. They have way too much control.

'I don't drink alcohol but I should, considering what they put my heart through.'

Speaking so fast she was asked twice by Judge Penny to slow down, the singer talked of being 'enslaved' by her father. 

'He made me feel like death, with the depth of what he did to me.

'I want to end this conservatorship. I don't want to be evaluated. I have had enough.

'I don't want to be in this stupid conservatorship any more. It's embarrassing and humiliating.

'I'm not lying. I just want my life back. It's been 13 years and it's enough. I'm done.'

The troubled singer said she was lying when she told people while she was in the mental treatment facility three years ago that she was happy.  

'When I went there they took everything away from me. They watched me change, naked every single day. I sat in a chair for 10 hours a day, seven days a week.

'I am not happy. I can't sleep. I'm so angry, It's insane. I'm scared by people. I don't trust people.

'The conservatorship should end. What state allows people to say, 'You can't spend your money unless you do as we say.'

Spears also criticized her mother, Lynne, who, she said, went to spas during the pandemic. 

'But I didn't go to the spa or have my nails done for a year.

'My mom sees me like my dad does.'

Britney concluded: 'I should not be in a conservatorship like this if I can work, provide for myself and provide for other people.

'I am being told I cannot see my money unless I do what they say … and I am paying them.' 

As she ended her speech, Britney told the judge: 'I wish I could stay on the phone to you forever. Because when I go off this phone the 'nos' will start again. No no no.'  

After her phone tirade which Judge Penny called 'courageous,' her attorney, Samuel Ingham told the court that Spears had not asked her to file a motion to end the conservatorship.

Spears is seen with her boyfriend Sam Asghari at the 2019 Daytime Beauty Awards in September 2019 in Los Angeles

Spears is seen with her boyfriend Sam Asghari at the 2019 Daytime Beauty Awards in September 2019 in Los Angeles

Britney's boyfriend shows his support 

Britney Spears' boyfriend posed in a 'Free Britney' T-shirt on Instagram Wednesday, as the pop singer is expected to appear in court virtually amid her conservatorship battle with father Jamie Spears. 

Support: Sam Asghari wore a 'Free Britney' T-shirt on Wednesday

Support: Sam Asghari wore a 'Free Britney' T-shirt on Wednesday 

Sam, 27, a personal trainer and actor, has previously voiced his dislike of Britney's father, saying in February this year: 'In my opinion, Jamie is a total d**k.'  

He posted his thoughts on Instagram at the time, adding: 'I have zero respect for someone trying to control our relationship and constantly throwing obstacles our way.' 

The pair met in 2016, when the Iranian-born actor was cast in the video for her song Slumber Party.

In February, he told People: 'I have always wanted nothing but the best for my better half, and will continue to support her following her dreams and creating the future she wants and deserves. 

'I am thankful for all of the love and support she is receiving from her fans all over the world, and I am looking forward to a normal, amazing future together.'

A month later, he told Forbes he hoped to become a father soon.  

'My priorities in life are to remain humble and understand where I came from and where I'm going. I want to take my career to the next step when it comes to acting. 

'I want to take my relationship to the next step, as well. I don't mind becoming a father. I want to be a young dad.'

Spears has two teenage sons, 15-year-old Sean and 14-year-old Jayden, whom she shares with ex Kevin Federline. The two were married from 2004 to 2007. 

'But my client directs me to file a petition to end the conservatorship, I will do that.'

Ingham - who was appointed by the court - also said he would willingly step aside if Spears wanted to hire her own attorney, as she indicated during her address to the court.

Jamie Spears' lawyer, Vivian Thoreen - responding to Britney's attack on her father- told Judge Penny in a two-sentence statement that Jamie 'is sorry to see his daughter suffering and in so much pain.

She added: 'Mr Spears loves his daughter and misses her very much.' 

Judge Penny said she wanted to schedule a new hearing to finalize next steps. 

'There is no petition before the court. A number of those items that Miss Spears brought before the court, we will be discussing, and they do require petitions,' said Judge Penny.   

Earlier, Spears was almost denied access to her own virtual court hearing on Wednesday, after a court clerk failed to recognize her voice on the phone line. 

When she rang in, the court clerk was hesitant to admit her to the proceedings.

Asked to identify herself, the singer replied: 'Oh, me? Britney Spears.'  

Wednesday's hearing drew a large and colorful crowd outside the courthouse in Los Angeles.

Waving home-made signs and placards, fans of the singer demanded that her freedom be restored. 

The #FreeBritney campaign is a grassroots movement started by fans of the singer, who feel that her 13-year-long conservatorship battle should now come to an end - and that Britney should regain autonomy over her life and affairs. 

On Wednesday night actress Rose McGowan - among the first to speak out against Harvey Weinstein - told Fox News that Britney's hearing had been historic.

She said that it showed a woman trying to regain her power from an exploitative entertainment machine, and commended the singer for having the courage to speak out. 

Spears, 39, has been trying for a year to fire her father as her conservator, calling him 'obsessed' with her and describing his influence over her business affairs as 'oppressive.'

But Judge Penny refused last year to sack 68 year-old Jamie and instead appointed a financial services company, Bessemer Trust, to share conservatorship duties with him.  

Anew report from the New York Times claims that she has been attempting to fight against the restrictions as far back as 2014.

It is claimed that she told the court that she felt forced by the conservatorship into a stay at a mental health facility and to perform against her will. 

The newspaper said that a court investigator wrote in a 2016 report: 'She articulated she feels the conservatorship has become an oppressive and controlling tool against her'. 

The investigator added that Britney said the system had 'too much control'. 

Britney was not in court in person on Wednesday due to restrictions from COVID-19. 

But she, Jamie, her mother Lynne Spears, 66 - who is divorced from Jamie - and a small army of attorneys representing all three Spears and the conservatorship, were live on audio or video connection with the judge during the hearing. 

Her father's lawyer, Vivian Thoreen, has argued that Jamie is only interested in helping his internationally famous daughter.

'For over 12 years, Mr Spears has more than capably and dutifully served as the conservator of his daughter's estate, always doing what he believed was in his daughter's best interest,' said Thoreen in court documents.

'Mr Spears has performed his job well. This is a fact. He has taken the estate from being in debt and facing tens of millions of dollars of lawsuits, to a current value of well over $60 million.

'Mr Spears did this all while also serving as conservator of the person ….and working diligently with a team of professionals to restore to good health and revive her career as best as possible under the circumstances.' 

Fans of the singer, who have for years raised concern about her wellbeing, appeared outside the courthouse in LA on Wednesday

Fans of the singer, who have for years raised concern about her wellbeing, appeared outside the courthouse in LA on Wednesday

Supporters of Britney Spears gathered outside the Stanley Mosk courthouse in Los Angeles on Wednesday as the 39-year-old singer spoke at a hearing about her conservatorship

Supporters of Britney Spears gathered outside the Stanley Mosk courthouse in Los Angeles on Wednesday as the 39-year-old singer spoke at a hearing about her conservatorship 

Fans of the singer have called with increasing urgency for Britney to be released from her conservatorship, with the hashtag 'Free Britney'. The movement has been around since 2009, but has gathered momentum in recent years with celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Rose McGowan calling for the singer's financial autonomy to be restored

Fans of the singer have called with increasing urgency for Britney to be released from her conservatorship, with the hashtag 'Free Britney'. The movement has been around since 2009, but has gathered momentum in recent years with celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Rose McGowan calling for the singer's financial autonomy to be restored

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Britney Spears speaks out against 'abusive' conservatorship during hearing

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Dick and Angel are back on screens in Make Do and Mend

Tamara Ecclestone celebrates daughter's birthday with pinata fun

Megan Thee Stallion flaunts her curves in Fashion Nova bikinis

Courtney Stodden responds to Britney Spears hearing

Incredible video of man flying in Times Square on levitating board

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Britney Spears' passionate fans gathered outside court in Los Angeles on Wednesday

Britney Spears' passionate fans gathered outside court in Los Angeles on Wednesday

Admirers of the singer, who exploded onto the scene in 1998 with her hit Baby One More Time, are demanding reform of the system of conservatorship

Admirers of the singer, who exploded onto the scene in 1998 with her hit Baby One More Time, are demanding reform of the system of conservatorship

Signs outside the courthouse in Los Angeles directed fans to the gathering

Signs outside the courthouse in Los Angeles directed fans to the gathering

Spears' supporters held aloft placards they had made showing their support for the mother of two, who has been performing since she was a child

Spears' supporters held aloft placards they had made showing their support for the mother of two, who has been performing since she was a child

One man showed off artwork he had made to show his support for the Louisiana-born singer, insisting that she deserved better protection from those around her and claiming she was a prisoner

One man showed off artwork he had made to show his support for the Louisiana-born singer, insisting that she deserved better protection from those around her and claiming she was a prisoner

But at a court hearing last November, Ingham told the court that Britney was 'afraid' of her dad and would not perform again until he was no longer in charge of the conservatorship he's been overseeing since her much-publicized breakdown in 2008.

Despite those claims from Ingham - who also accused Jamie of making questionable business decisions without consulting Britney - Judge Penny ruled that Jamie should stay on, with California-based Bessemer Trust appointed as co-conservator until at least September this year.

The judge did not rule out the possibility of eventually granting Britney's wish to be free of her father - whose $16,000 a month salary as conservator comes out of the star's estate. 

Jamie said he has not seen Britney since August 2020. 

He told CNN: 'I love my daughter and I miss her very much. When a family member needs special care and protection, families need to step up, as I have done for the last 12-plus years, to safeguard, protect and continue to love Britney unconditionally.

'I have and will continue to provide unwavering love and fierce protection against those with self-serving interests and those who seek to harm her or my family.'

Spears is seen performing at the MGM National Harbor in Maryland in July 2018, during the Piece of Me tour

Spears is seen performing at the MGM National Harbor in Maryland in July 2018, during the Piece of Me tour

more videos

Britney Spears speaks out against 'abusive' conservatorship during hearing

Maya Jama hosts Crouchy's Year-Late Euros in 'cycling' shorts

Kyle asks Natalie Imbruglia about her relationship David Schwimmer

Jade Thirlwall 'runs away' in funny response to question of babies

Dick and Angel are back on screens in Make Do and Mend

Tamara Ecclestone celebrates daughter's birthday with pinata fun

Megan Thee Stallion flaunts her curves in Fashion Nova bikinis

Courtney Stodden responds to Britney Spears hearing

Incredible video of man flying in Times Square on levitating board

Fitness star Chloe Ting shares 10 minute workout for defined abs

Fans in London celebrate as Sterling's goal against Czech Republic

Mum asks Alexa how to twerk in hilarious viral TikTok

Jamie claimed that he had been on good terms with Britney until her lawyer, Ingham, filed court documents last summer seeking his removal from the conservatorship. From that time, he said, communication ended between father and daughter.

Last year, at her father's request, Spears' conservatorship (the one dealing with her personal affairs, not the conservatorship controlling her finances) was temporarily transferred from Jamie to Jodi Montgomery.

While he blamed his temporary stepping down on health issues, Jamie's decision came amid accusations that he had been involved in an altercation with Britney's then 14 year-old son Sean Preston

Kevin Federline - Britney's ex husband and the father of Sean and his brother Jayden James, 13 - made a police report and took out a restraining order against his former father-in-law after the incident.

A 'very angry' Jamie reportedly broke down the door of a room Sean had locked himself in, and 'shook' the frightened teenager.

Britney was said to be furious over what happened and worried that the incident could jeopardize the joint custody agreement she has with Federline that already gives him a much larger percentage of time with the boys than she has.

Her mother, Lynne, went to court last year - hand in hand with her anxious daughter - to try to take a bigger role in her care and support Britney's request to Judge Penny that she be given more say in her life decisions than the conservatorship allows.

Lynne wanted the judge to grant her more access to medical records and treatment plans for Britney, who pulled out of her Las Vegas residency show Domination last year and soon afterward spent a month at a mental health facility.

At a later court hearing, Lynne's attorney, Gladstone Jones, told the court that she agreed with Britney's decision that Jamie should be removed as her conservator.

'It has broken Lynne's heart that things have come to this point' said Jones, who added that the relationship between Britney and her father had become 'toxic.'

Spears' controversial conservatorship sparked the so-called #FreeBritney movement whose followers have regularly turned up in droves at the star's LA court hearings.

The movement - along with the TV documentary Framing Britney Spears which was released last February - prompted California legislators to look at how court-ordered conservatorships are handled in the future.

Britney Spears' dad Jamie releases statement insisting he 'loves his daughter very much' and is 'sorry to see her suffering' following bombshell hearing... after it's revealed he now lives in RV in Louisiana after earning millions from conservatorship 

Jamie Spears has issued a brief statement following his daughter's shocking hearing in Los Angeles where she revealed details of her conservatorship. 

Following Britney's remote appearance in court, Jamie Spears' legal team have released a statement insisting he 'loves his daughter very much.'

They said: 'He is sorry to see his daughter suffering and in so much pain. Mr Spears loves his daughter very much.'

The statement comes after a New York Times report revealed that the 68-year-old Jamie has moved back to his hometown in Kentwood, Louisiana, living in an RV.

He reportedly sold the house that Britney grew up in and he has been living in an RV that is parked at a warehouse, which contains memorabilia from his daughter's career, just on the outskirts of Kentwood.

Jamie has been in control of his daughter's conservatorship for the past 13 years, controlling what is believed to be a fortune of $60 million.

His daughter is only given an allowance of $2,000 per week. 

Statement: Britney Spears' father Jamie Spears has issued a brief statement following his daughter's shocking hearing in Los Angeles where she revealed details of her conservatorship

Statement: Britney Spears' father Jamie Spears has issued a brief statement following his daughter's shocking hearing in Los Angeles where she revealed details of her conservatorship

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