Britney Spears asks justice to lift her guardianship

Published on : 06/24/2021 – 10:42

Britney Spears will she eventually succeed? Calling herself “depressed” and “traumatized”, the singer asked Wednesday, June 23 to a Los Angeles court to lift the guardianship she has been subject to since 2008 following psychological disorders. The star was thus deprived of a large part of his autonomy.

“I just want to resume my life, it’s been thirteen years and that’s enough”, launched the pop star who spoke, at his express request, during a hearing conducted via the internet.

Britney Spears spoke uninterrupted for about twenty minutes, with an extremely fast flow, listing the arguments to ask the judge Brenda Penny to lift this judicial measure which does her, according to her, “more harm than good”.

“I really think this tutelage is abusive,” she said. “I told the world that I am happy and that I am doing well” but “I am traumatized,” added the 39-year-old artist. “I’m not happy, I can’t sleep. I’m so angry,” she insisted, ensuring “cry every day”.

This placement under guardianship was pronounced after a highly publicized descent into hell. Very strict, the conditions stipulate that the decisions concerning the singer are taken in particular by her father, Jamie Spears, with whom she has long had difficult relations.

These arrangements have been hotly contested in recent years and Britney Spears’ lawyer recently asked the court to replace Jamie Spears with the professional tutor who currently shares this responsibility with the singer’s father.

Britney Spears also criticized Wednesday the attitude of her family which, according to her, “has done nothing at all”.

His court-appointed lawyer, Samuel Ingham, had already said in court that the singer was “afraid of her father” but this is the first time that the young woman has made such virulent remarks in public.

In a brief statement read in court, Jamie Spears said he was “sorry to see her in such pain” and said he loved his daughter “very much”.

“Free Britney”

Although occasionally present on social networks to keep in touch with his fans, the star had so far refrained from discussing in public his guardianship or his difficult relationship with his father. She told the judge on Wednesday that she did not know she had the right to request the lifting of this measure.

However, according to court documents cited by the New York Times, Britney Spears has repeatedly expressed strong opposition to the terms of her trusteeship regime.

“She said she felt that the guardianship had become an oppressive means of control against her,” wrote in a report dated 2016 a forensic investigator in charge of the case.

According to the report cited by the daily, Britney Spears informed the investigator that she wanted to end this guardianship regime as quickly as possible. “She is ‘fed up with being taken advantage of’ and says that she is the one who works and brings in the money but that she pays for everyone around her,” the document continues.

The New York Times ensures, for example, that under this supervision, the singer must pay not only her own legal fees but also those, significant, of the guardians who contest her claims in court.

This controversy has only revived the #FreeBritney campaign (# LibérezBritney in French) orchestrated in the street and on social networks by some fans, convinced that the singer is kept against her will under supervision and that she is sending appeals to the help coded on his Instagram account.

Several dozen of them were present Wednesday in court to show their support for their idol.

During the long period of depression that followed her divorce from Kevin Federline in 2006, and the loss of custody of her children in 2007, Britney Spears was notably seen barefoot at a gas station and shaving herself. skull.

Her placement under guardianship did not prevent the artist from remaining professionally active: she released three albums and provided a series of residency shows in Las Vegas, also making a few appearances in television shows.

In January 2019, however, she announced that she was suspending her artistic activities until further notice.

With AFP