Britney Spears tells court she wants father charged with abuse and wins key legal victory
Singer Britney Spears arrives at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. (Allen Berezovsky/WireImage)
Britney Spears has been permitted to hire her own lawyer to fight against her “abusive” conservatorship.
The star appeared in court again Wednesday (14 June), emotionally calling for her father to be charged with conservator abuse.
“Ma’am, that’s not abuse, that’s just f****** cruelty,” she told judge Brenda Penny as she rattled of a list of grievances, including hair vitamins and coffee being taken from her, according to Sky News.
“Excuse my language but it’s the truth.”
A judge approved Britney’s request for new counsel in a hearing three weeks after she blew open the doors on the shadowy legal arrangement that controls her life.
Going forward, Britney will be represented by Matthew S Rosengart, a prominent Hollywood lawyer and former federal prosecutor.
A judge approved Rosengart’s request to represent the star, and the resignations of her former court-appointed lawyer, Samuel D Ingham III.
It’s expected that Rosengart will help Britney formally request an end to the conservatorship that has governed her life since 2008.
She once again stated her wish for the conservatorship to end without the need for a medical evaluation, but said that above all, she wants her father to be ousted from his role as co-conservator of her estate.
“My dad needs to be removed today and I will be happy with Jodi [Montgomery, conservator of her person] helping me,” Britney said.
According to NBC News, Britney told a judge that she is “extremely scared” of her dad, Jamie Spears, and that she wants to “charge him with conservatorship abuse”.
“This conservatorship has ruined my life,” she added.
Wednesday’s hearing followed a bombshell testimony from Britney three weeks ago.
Speaking publicly on her conservatorship for the first time, the star compared her plight to sex trafficking and alleged that she had been banned from removing an IUD contraceptive device in order to have another baby.
As well as demanding an end to the conservatorship, which has taken away control of her personal and business affairs, Britney also expressed a desire to sue her family for the part they have played.
“I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive,” she said on 23 June. “There are thousands of abusive conservatorships.
“It is my wish and dream for all of this to end. I want my life back.”
