PEOPLE CLOSE TO BRITNEY SPEARS AND LAWYERS TIED TO HER CONSERVATORSHIP NOW REASSESS HER PHENOMENAL CAREER AND BRUTAL DOWNFALL, AS SHE BATTLES HER FATHER IN COURT OVER WHO SHOULD CONTROL HER LIFE.
For part one, click here!
Framing Britney Spears
2004
Then she’s interviewed saying that she doesn’t want to do music and entertainment forever. Maybe just as something on the side. We see her relationship with Kevin Federline start to blossom. Felicia said that she wasn’t surprised at all when they got engaged. The tabloids go nuts for that relationship. Brittain Stone, photography director US Weekly, 2001-2011, said that he could spend $100k a week on imagery for the magazine.
Daniel Ramos, celebrity videographer, 2004-2013, said that he never wanted to be a paparazzi but a video maker. He said it sucks you in and is hard to get out once you start making the kinds of money that they make. He said at the beginning Britney enjoyed the paparazzi and she was very friendly. It was like she needed them and they needed her. Brittain said that there was a hunger for the unposed shots and when they got those the magazines would sell like crazy.
Then Britney and Kevin go on Ellen and announce they’re having a baby. Once she started having kids, Daniel said it exploded. Everyone wanted a piece of Britney. Liz Day from NYT said that almost immediately the tabloids are portraying Britney as an unfit mother.
June 15, 2006, On NBC’s Dateline a pregnant Britney Spears sits down with the host, Matt Lauer, to discuss what she feels is a dangerous tabloid press. Lauer talks about her putting her son, Sean on her lap while she was driving. She said that she was scared because paparazzi were up next to her banging on the doors so she got out and got her baby and left. In the interview, Britney explains that her father used to drive with her in his lap as a child.
He says that all these people are weighing in and saying what she’s doing is dangerous and asking if Britney is a bad mom. Britney has two kids almost back to back. There’s speculation that Britney and Kevin have marital problems and then almost immediately after she has their second child Britney files for divorce. She goes for sole custody. Then Kevin files for sole custody himself. In her book, Lynne Spears said that she thinks Britney was suffering from postpartum depression.
Brittain Stone said that the main thing that became the most fascinating was her unraveling. Britney starts going out with Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton and tabloids attack her further. Brittain says that the goal isn’t to be negative about people, but to enjoy their lives in a somewhat aspirational/relatable way.
Then we see the paparazzi attacking Britney. Just clobbering her. Will not leave her alone and she is not doing ok with it. In the interview with Matt Lauer, he asks her what it’ll take for the paparazzi to leave her alone, and she says she doesn’t know and starts crying.
2007
The big news story that’s everywhere? Britney shaving her head. Kim said, “It’s so fun to take a young, talented, beautiful girl and rip her to shreds.” Jay Leno and David Letterman go in on her. Making fun of her completely. Wesley Morris said that the fact that people could look at her and only see a crazy person proves what a vulturous industry she was working in.
February 21, 2007. For nearly four months, Britney and Kevin have been in a battle over the custody of their two children.
Daniel Ramos said that he got a call from some guy named Roberto that said to grab his video camera and maybe he could get Britney by himself. He caught up to them and found out that Britney was visiting Kevin at his home. They went to a gas station, and she was with her cousin Allie. He’s videotaping her and asking if she’s ok. That he’s concerned about her. While getting his shots. They go back to Kevin’s house and buzz, but he won’t let her in. She’s upset, they pull behind a jiffy lube store.
Daniel goes up to her car and says, “Hey Britney, all I’m gonna do is ask you a couple of questions, and then I’m just gonna leave you alone.” Allie goes up to them and asks them to please just leave them alone. Britney, fed up, grabs an umbrella and goes ham on his car. And you know what? Good for her. He said it wasn’t a good night for Britney, but it was a good night for them because it was a money shot. He’s asked by the director if having the paps around affected Britney at all and he says, “I don’t really think, because working on her for so many years, she never gave a clue or information to us that, ‘I don’t appreciate you guys. Leave me the eff alone.” The director is like, “What about when she asked you to leave her alone?” And he said, “there were times when she asked to be left alone for the day, but it wasn’t like leave me alone forever.”
Lynne does an interview where they ask her what was happening. Britney claimed that things were bad with her, and her mom had something to do with it. Lynne says that they just were trying to do what they could to help. They had no control over anything that was happening.
October 2007, Britney loses physical custody of her children. She is given visitation rights.
She’s fired her longtime manager, alienated from members of her family. A reporter says that Britney is desperately seeking friendship and will befriend anyone. Enter Sam Lutfi. Joe Coscarelli, pop music reporter, New York Times, says that it’s common for Sam to attach himself to celebrities often when they’re the most vulnerable. Sam became her advisor, and tried to be her manager. Britney’s parents saw Sam as sort of the architect for a lot of her downfall.
Wesley Morris said that there wasn’t any talk about her mental health, only what was wrong with her. There was too much money to be made off her suffering. There was a category on Family Feud that was “Name something Britney Spears has lost in the past year.” The answers were her hair, her mind, her marriage, her career.
2008
By early 2008, Britney had become a frequent punch line in tabloid headlines and on television.
January 2008, Britney was rushed to a hospital. She refused a court order to turn her kids over to Kevin. She went to the hospital for mental health.
January 14, 2008, she was in court for custody.
January 31, 2008, brought back to the hospital and put on a 5150 hold. A 5150 hold is the number of the section of the Welfare and Institutions Code, which allows a person with a mental challenge to be involuntarily detained for a 72-hour psychiatric hospitalization. A person on a 5150 can be held in the psychiatric hospital against their will for up to 72 hours. This is when Jamie files for temporary conservatorship over Britney. It’s weird because she’s so young and productive but there’s speculation that she’s battling with mental health issues or drug addiction. It’s weird because Jamie hasn’t really been in her life much before this.
Vivan Lee Thoreen, lawyer, was involved in the preliminary proceedings of the conservatorship. She won’t talk about anything that she did, but she talks about it in hypothetical terms. She said that the rights of the conservatee is what everyone is worried about. Some people need conservatorship over the person, what am I gonna eat, where will I live? Having a conservatorship over estate is someone who cannot control their finances or they’re susceptible to undue influence or fraud.
Undue influence seemed like a real concern for Britney’s parents. They file for a restraining order against Sam Lutfi. In the legal documents it says that he had taken control of her life, house, finances and had been drugging her. Lutfi denies allegations, but the court granted the restraining order. He never seemed to exit the picture. He sued the family and popped up in later restraining orders as recent as 2019. One day after Britney was hospitalized a temp conserv. was granted. Jamie Spears is appointed conservator of Britney’s person. He and a man named Andew Wallet were appointed conservators over her estate and finances.
Britney is released from the hospital and goes to the Beverly Hills hotel. Larry King is talking about it on his show with Anderson Cooper and Michael Moore says, “Wouldn’t it be less sad if we just leave her alone and let her live her life?”
Adam Streisand, trial lawyer, does stuff with conservatorships and battles over estates. He gets a call from her family because Jamie was trying to establish a conservatorship over her. They met at the Beverly Hills hotel and the first question he had was if Britney had the capacity to hire him and the ability to take his advice. Britney was able to understand what was happening. He said that she had sound judgment.
Britney also said she only wanted one thing. For her dad to not be the conservator. Not over anything regarding her. The day he went to court the judge said, “I have a medical report, and you haven’t seen it, and I’m NOT gonna show it to you. But it says that she’s not capable of retaining and directing counsel on her own.” He wasn’t allowed to represent her and someone was appointed to her.
The court appointed the lawyer Samuel D. Ingham III as Britney’s court-appointed counsel.
The conservator can appoint security guards for her all day and says who can and can’t visit her. They have control of her medical records and can talk to her doctors. They have control of her house and can even cancel her credit cards. They can control her tv and music deals and are deeply involved with her finances. People said that she accepted the conservatorship because she was scared of not seeing her kids. A few weeks after she started having visitation rights restored.
October 28. 2008 The conservatorship is made permanent.
Vivian Lee Thoreen said if there is a conservatorship agreement and the conservatee at some point consents, the conservatee can’t just one day wake up and say I don’t want this anymore. A petition would have to be filed to terminate it. Then a trial would have to take place. It’s the burden of the conservatee to say I don’t need this anymore. She then says after being asked that she’s never known anyone who had successfully terminated a conservatorship.
Shortly after the filming of her interview, Vivian Thoreen rejoined the conservatorship legal team representing Jamie Spears. Then we see Jamie making her breakfast, cheese grits. During the first year of the conservatorship, Britney’s team grants MTV to do a documentary called Britney: For the Record. You get a look into the dynamics of Britney and Jamie. There’s so. Much. tension. Almost immediately she went back to work. Within 2 months she guest starred on tv, and by the end of 2008 she’s recorded and released an album and is preparing to go on tour.
2009
Felicia said that once the conservatorship went into effect her role changed. She was showing people to their seats, she was giving backstage tours. She said that the family didn’t hire her after that, the touring company hired her. She said that she thinks they just didn’t know her role that she had before. At this point she’s doing a ton. Then she does a residency in Vegas. She was bringing in $1 million a week. Jamie gets approved to receive 1.5% of the gross revenues related to performances and merchandise.
She’s living the life of a busy popstar but she’s being treated like she’s not capable of herself. Dave Holmes said that when there’s that much money to be made you have to question the motives of everyone around you. Especially if they’re putting her into positions where she can’t decide anything for herself.
Britney gets instagram. She never talks about the conservatorship and people start wondering if she’s sending messages through it. Babs Gray, “Britney’s Gram” Podcast host, said that they started with being fascinated with her IG and then Tess Barker, host, said that Tess one day was like, “Why don’t we do a podcast and just dissect Britney’s instagram?”
2018
October 15, 2018 Andrew Wallet, her coconservator was petitioning for a raise from the court. “The conservatee’s business activities have greatly accelerated due to her increased well being, and her capacity to be more engaged in furthering her career activities. The next several years promise to be very lucrative for the conservatorship estate. This conservatorship should be viewed as a hybrid business model.”
October 18, 2018 Live in Las Vegas. She was gonna announce the Domination residency and do a performance and then do an interview. She comes up, walks down, passes the stage, keeps walking and gets into a car and leaves. She announces on IG that she will not be doing her Las Vegas show. It’s the beginning of the end of her pretending everything is ok. She disappears. Then out of nowhere Andrew Wallet quits.
Then Britney posts a meme on IG. It said “We all need to take a little me time. :)” Which the girls from the podcast said they knew that she’s an emoji girl, not an emoticon girl. Seemed suspicious. TMZ reports that Britney checked herself voluntarily into a mental health facility. Then they get a voicemail. The source and claims have not been verified by the New York Times. He said that he was a paralegal with the law firm that handled Britney’s conserv. And that she had been in the mental facility since mid January. It was not a decision she made.
Britney’s gram shares the info they got.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Britney’s manager, Larry Rudolph, denied the anonymous caller’s claim, stating that Britney asked to go to the facility and that conservators have no legal standing to force treatment.
Then we meet #FreeBritney activists who are pushing the free Britney movement. Jamie. Is. pissed. He said it’s conspiracy shit. Then you hear that Britney and her dad aren’t on good terms. Kevin Federline takes out a restraining order against Jamie. He said that he’s been violent with one of Britney’s sons.
September 9, 2019, Citing health reasons, Jamie Spears temporarily steps down and is replaced as conservator of Britney’s person. He remains in control of her finances. Lynne Spears is now requesting to be in charge of the conservatorship. She said she just wants to have a voice in her daughter’s life.
2020
July 23, 2020 Bryan Spears, Britney’s brother, gives an interview to the podcast “As NOT seen on Tv.” He said that he doesn’t understand the free Britney thing. That he thinks that she’s held against her will every day. He kinda goes on to say that she likes to speak her mind and do what she wants to do and that kinda sucks. The interview attracts attention as the family rarely speaks about the conservatorship. He said he’s asked her about it, and she’s always wanted to get out of it but the reality of it at that point.. Who knows.
We jump back to the beginning. August, 2020, Britney appears to be publicly signaling that she wants some changes. Her case could make changes to the conservatorship world as a whole. Britney with her lawyer says that she wants a bank to become conservator over her finances. There are legal documents that state, “at this point in her life… Britney welcomes and appreciates the informed support of her many fans. Britney herself is vehemently opposed to this effort by her father to keep her legal struggle hidden away in the closet as a family secret… In this case, it is not an exaggeration to say that the whole world is watching.”
November 10th there’s a court hearing. The whole family is there and the public is allowed in there as well. Lynne wants sole conservatorship over Britney’s estate. Liz Day said that there’s some talk about there being a conflict of interest in conservatorships. In Britney’s case, she’s paying for almost everyone on all sides. She’s paying for her own lawyer, her conservators and her conservator’s lawyers. The judge didn’t suspend Jamie that day. The public calls on him to step down, and he refuses saying that he loves Britney and it would actually harm her for him to step down. The judge allowed Britney to add on the bank to be her co-conservator.
Adam Streisand said, “Her lawyer Ingham said, ‘Britney’s a high functioning conservatee.’ I don’t even know what that means. If she’s saying I don’t want my father to be a conservator. I won’t perform if he is. Maybe she doesn’t need a conservatorship. The problem is we don’t know what we don’t know.”
Felicia ends it saying that she knows that at some point Britney will tell her story. The truth will come out.
Court hearings for the conservatorship, including the dispute over Jamie Spears’s role as co-conservator of the estate, remain ongoing.
The following people or their representatives did not respond to or declined requests to be interviewed on camera: Jamie Spears, Lynne Spears, Jamie Lynne Spears, Bryan Spears, Andrew Wallet, Samuel D. Ingham III and Sam Lufti. The New York Times attempted to reach Britney Spears directly to request her participation in this project. It is unclear if she received the requests.
According to the interwebs, Jamie and Lynne divorced in 2002 and reconciled in 2010.
