Singer Britney Spears on Wednesday won the right to choose her own lawyer to help her end a 13-year-long conservatorship and tearfully pleaded for the court to oust her father immediately from the role of controlling her business affairs.
Bryan Wood reports.
Pop star Britney Spears on Wednesday won the right to choose her own attorney to help her end a 13-year-long conservatorship.
Her father, Jamie Spears, has controlled most of her assets since 2008, after Britney had a public mental health breakdown.
Spears told the Los Angeles judge by phone on Wednesday, “You’re allowing my dad to ruin my life.
I have to get rid of my dad and charge him with conservatorship abuse.” Los Angeles Superior Court judge Brenda Penny approved former federal prosecutor Mathew Rosengart to represent Spears moving forward, after her court-appointed attorney stepped down last week.
Rosengart, who has represented Hollywood stars like Sean Penn and Steven Spielberg, said his goal was to end the conservatorship.
Last month, Spears called the legal arrangement abusive in a 20-minute public address.
She revealed she has been prevented from marrying or having children and is often compelled to take medication against her will.
Spears said Wednesday she was fed up with multiple psychological evaluations in the last 13 years and wanted the conservatorship to end without another one, adding, “I’m not a perfect person, but their goal is to make me feel like I’m crazy." Jamie Spears' attorney on Wednesday said that many of the singer's complaints were not valid.
Meanwhile, dozens of her fans rallied outside the courthouse chanting “Free Britney.” The next hearing in the case was set for late September.
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