I’ve documented Britney Spears’ conservatorship case for the last 13 years
Chapter I: You’re gonna have to see through my perspective
Britney Spears’ hands are tied when it comes to ridding herself of permanent personal and financial conservatorships.
Since day one, I’ve documented every detail of Britney’s never-ending legal tragedy. For 13 years, I’ve had a front row seat watching one of the most prolific icons of our generation surrender her independence to people with an insatiable appetite for power, money and control.
I’m Jordan Miller, the owner and founder of BreatheHeavy.com, a pop music news community with 300,000 visitors a month. I started BreatheHeavy as a Britney fan-site in 2004 when I was a sophomore in high school (I’m currently 32-years-old). That same year, Britney was shimmying in shimmering diamonds in the “Toxic” music video. We all witnessed her stratospheric rise to fame.
I loved Britney the pop star. Little did I know in time I’d come to adore Britney the person much more.
Before social media, fans flocked to BreatheHeavy to get updates about Britney. BreatheHeavy originally began as an ode to the pop titan, but it quickly became a lifeline for fans to communicate with one another during Britney’s times of despair. In its inception, BreatheHeavy shared the singer’s performances, photoshoot pictures, interviews and encounters. Soon, paparazzi photos, tabloid fodder and unsubstantiated rumors would dominate BreatheHeavy’s homepage instead.
What started out as a teen-built shrine to Britney quickly evolved into a community that banned together to wish their idol well during times of uncertainty. Little did I know BreatheHeavy would eventually transform into a home base for activists to shine a bright light on a precarious injustice that’s happening in plain sight to one of the world’s most famous and celebrated pop stars.
I am sharing my story because Britney Spears is trapped in a twisted legal situation so dire that it requires public pressure to inspire change.
On Feb. 1, 2008, the Los Angeles County probate court granted a temporary conservatorship over Britney the person as well as her finances. Her father, Jamie Spears, and his attorneys claimed, amongst other things, that Britney suffered from a “dementia-related illness.” Thirteen years later, Britney is still trapped in a probate conservatorship despite unprecedented success as a performer. These incongruities have inspired unwavering support from loyal fans and advocates.
It is known internationally as the #FreeBritney movement.
What is a conservatorship?
In 2008 following her public spiral, which included a few forced stints in rehab, a custody battle, and an umbrella bashing, a court commissioner named Reva Goetz granted Britney Spears’ father Jamie Spears conservatorships over his daughter.
Lisa MacCarley, a California estate and probate attorney, offered a detailed explanation as to what exactly a conservatorship is:
“In California, a conservatorship is a court-supervised process meant to protect adults who are deemed unable to provide for their own basic needs for physical health, food, clothing and shelter and to provide for the proper management and protection of their property,” MacCarley said. “The Court must evaluate evidence and find that a conservatorship is the least restrictive means of providing assistance to the individual facing conservatorship.”
“The person or entity appointed to make decisions for an incapacitated adult is called a ‘Conservator,’ typically a relative (in this instance Britney’s father), “and the person subject to the conservatorship is called a “Conservatee” (Britney).
However, as MacCarley points out, “if there is family conflict, an independent person is appointed whose loyalty is only to the conservatee.”
Mr. Spears was now conservator over Britney the person, and a man whom Britney did not know (A.K.A. a complete stranger) named Andrew Wallet, along with her father, was granted conservatorship over Britney’s estate and hard-earned millions. As the co-conservators of her estate, Mr. Spears and Mr. Wallet were granted access to Britney’s bank accounts, could sign contracts and other documents on her behalf and participate in litigation.
MacCarley says “a person facing conservatorship, such as Britney, is entitled to be represented by an attorney of his or her own choice” and that they are “entitled to cross-examine the witnesses who are seeking to conserve him or her.”
We know for certain via court documents Britney was not given that opportunity. She was not asked for permission to be in either conservatorships nor did she agree to them.
In an effort to protect herself, Britney first attempted to hire a lawyer named Adam Streisand, who was then working at Loeb and Loeb, to represent her. Streisand told Commissioner Goetz at a hearing on Feb. 4, 2008, that Britney did not want her father in control, however Britney’s court-appointed attorney, Samuel Ingham, told Commissioner Goetz that it was their opinion Britney lacked capacity to retain Mr. Streisand as her counsel. Commissioner Goetz sided with Jamie Spears and ejected Streisand from the courtroom, thus denying Britney the right to choose her own lawyer.
A few days later, Britney tried hiring a different attorney, a man named Jon Eardley, but it was too late. Britney’s father, along with Mr. Wallet, already had full-control, and in the eyes of Commissioner Goetz, Britney was not of sound mind to make life choices for herself.
“Someone wrestled the phone away from [Britney],” Eardley recalled in an interview after the fact. “I’ve not talked to her since then.”
To ensure Eardley could not meddle any further, Mr. Spears filed a restraining order against him (in Britney’s name) and the judge approved it, legally barring Eardley from having any further contact with her.
Any attempts Britney made to fight for her freedom during the birth of the conservatorships were blocked.
Leaked voicemails to Eardley can be found on the Internet. In one of them, the woman on the phone (I can’t flat out confirm it’s Britney but it is my opinion that it is) says she fears her dad will take her kids away from her.
“I just wanted to make sure that during the process of eliminating the conservatorship that my father has threatened me several times that… he’ll take my children away,” the woman says.
Britney’s conservatorship team adamantly denied this was Britney’s voice.
Britney’s worst nightmare came true.
In 2019, Mr. Spears allegedly got into a physical altercation with Britney’s eldest son, Sean Preston. His father and Britney’s ex-husband, Kevin Federline, took a restraining order out on Mr. Spears, barring him from seeing his grandkids. This cost Britney less visitation time with them.
The system has failed her because her father has failed her.
MacCarley pointed out that there is evidence of rampant dysfunction within the Los Angeles County probate court system. Judicial officers are “picking their favorite lawyers to be the attorneys for celebrities, which denies fairness and justice to conservatees (Britney).”
She adds: “it is also important to recognize that a person facing conservatorship absolutely has a say in who, if anyone, should be appointed as conservator, or not, even if a conservatorship is deemed to be necessary.”
Britney was denied these basic rights. The Los Angeles probate court system has also failed her.
Riddle me this…
How could a woman fit to tour, record albums, give interviews and raise her children be deemed so mentally incompetent by the Los Angeles probate court system that she’s unfit to manage her own life?
What happens when the conservator has ulterior motives and refuses to relinquish control? Or if they stand to gain money and power? These questions have remained unanswered for the last 13 years of Britney’s life. Britney will be 40-years-old this year.
MacCarley adds that Conservatees legally retain many rights, and that the conservator is “obligated to make all decisions based on what is in the Conservatee’s best interests.”
The conservatorships prohibit Britney from having direct access to her own hard-earned money and allegedly strips her from exercising basic human rights like seeing who she wants and driving.
Britney said in her 2008 MTV documentary, ‘Britney: For The Record’:
“I have really good days, and then I have bad days. Even when you go to jail you know there’s the time when you’re gonna get out, but in this situation, it’s never ending. It’s just like Groundhog Day every day… I think it’s too in control. If I wasn’t under the restraints I’m under, I’d feel so liberated. When I tell them the way I feel, it’s like they hear but they’re really not listening.”
She added, “If you do something wrong… you can move on, but I’m having to pay for a long time. I never wanted to become one of those prisoner people. I always wanted to feel free.”
This would mark the last time Britney would directly speak about the conservatorship. She allegedly tried in public and in secret in the past, but her attempts were intercepted by the powers that be.
While I can agree the conservatorship was instrumental in stopping Britney’s dire circumstance, it’s been abused.
Britney’s father/conservator, Jamie Spears, threatens to sue me
In 2009, Britney’s father signed on as Britney’s personal conservator and remained so until recently (a woman named Jodi Montgomery took his place). However, Mr. Spears is still a conservator over her estate, something Britney remains vehemently against. Via documents filed by her court appointed attorney, Samuel Ingham, in 2020, Britney says she is afraid of her father and won’t work until he’s removed.
Mr. Spears personally called me in 2009 and said he’d “destroy” me because I was publicly against the conservatorship and spoke out about it on BreatheHeavy. Britney’s lawyers (remember, Jamie Spears can legally “act” as Britney) demanded I shut BreatheHeavy down within 24 hours or face a lawsuit. Initially I obliged, writing a tearful letter to my readers explaining this wasn’t my choice:
This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but I know with the support of fans and readers, this unjust bullying will come to an end, and one day Jamie Spears’ reign over his daughter, her money, lawyers, career and life will cease.
Please understand this is NOT my decision, and I am being FORCED to take desperate measures in an effort to save this website and stand up for what is right.
I hired a lawyer pro bono and fought. I went on E! News that year and let it be known that my speaking out against the conservatorship landed me in hot water. Fortunately, Mr. Spears never pursued that lawsuit, but it sparked the #FreeBritney fire that’d burn for more than a decade.
Free Britney
The first time I wrote “Free Britney” was a post published on January 9th, 2009, one year after the temporary conservatorship was extended. I was outraged that Britney had to endure yet another year of her rights being violated.
My headline read: “Prisoner Forbidden Phone Privileges.” The story detailed a pay raise Mr. Spears received as Britney’s conservator. He was previously paid $10,000 a month of Britney’s money, but the judge agreed to upping it to $16,125 a month. It’s worth mentioning Mr. Spears had several businesses go under and filed for bankruptcy prior to taking over one of the wealthiest stars on the planet.
That report included papers regarding Britney’s financial matters. It stated Britney “is substantially unable to manage … her financial resources or to resist fraud or undue influence.”
When it comes to control over Britney the person, the papers state she is “unable properly to provide for his or her personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.’”
Keep in mind Britney was slated to embark on a strenuous world tour, The Circus Tour, just two months later. She had recorded and released an album a few months prior.
If Britney cannot care for herself, then the demands of a grueling tour would certainly be out of the question right? Right…?
In response to that 2009 report at the time I wrote:
“First her freedom, her kids, her money, her independence, and now her access to the outside world? Yes Britney needed someone last year to help her get things in order, but the time has come for Britney to be given a chance to stand on her own two feet! Or find a completely independent conservator that has no relation or ties to Britney and or her family, and one that is not motivated financially as her current conservator is. Open your eyes! FREE BRITNEY!”
For years, Britney coped with this blatant abuse of power, and it came to a head in what’s now known as the Free Britney movement, an energized call to action that seeks to restore autonomy in Britney’s life after 13 years of not having it. The movement gained serious momentum following a leaked voicemail from an unverified paralegal on an “emergency” podcast episode by BritneysGram. In it, the source claims Britney was sent to a mental health facility against her will and given medication she did not want to take.
The conservatorship was recently extended until September, 2021. Intermittent hearings are on the docket throughout the year, but I’m not convinced the court is in any rush to grant Britney her autonomy despite the singer going on the record to say she fears her father and won’t work until there’s a change.
Meanwhile, Britney’s lawyer, Sam Ingham, as well as Jamie Spears and his lawyers, are making thousands from Britney’s legal imprisonment (Britney is paying for her father’s legal fees, essentially funding a court battle against herself). There doesn’t appear to be an incentive on either side to free the songbird from her Calabasas cage, so until there’s meaningful change… the Free Britney movement must remain in flight.
Chapter II coming soon…
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By Jordan Miller, founder of BreatheHeavy 👨🏼💻
Fact checks by Lisa MacCarley and Lawyers For Britney 👩⚖️
