A judge has ruled that Jamie Spears will remain a co-conservator of his daughter, Britney Spears. While at face value, followers of the #FreeBritney movement or those who watched the recent New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears may not see this as a win, it’s actually a very positive development.
On Thursday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny denied Jamie’s objections to the establishment of Bessemer Trust as a third party co-conservator in the arrangement. Britney lost control of her finances and career 13 years ago, and Jamie Spears has held sway over her life ever since. Britney had contested the conservatorship in court in November. While Judge Penny declined to remove Jamie from his role, she did rule that Bessemer would henceforth serve alongside him as co-conservator.
Britney had threatened to stop performing all together if her father retained sole conservatorship, so the fact that Judge Penny ruled that wouldn’t be the case is, in its small way, a #FreeBritney victory. In fact, the singer’s attorney Samuel Ingham III stated as much in court, noting, “I could have drafted the petition to give the power to Bessemer Trust entirely, but I didn’t do that” (via Page Six).
Still, Ingham emphasized that his client “does not want her father as a co-conservator,” but acquiesced that “removal is a separate issue…”
Jamie Spears and Bessemer Trust have additional court appearances scheduled for March 17th and April 27th, where they’ll negotiate budgets and other financial issues related to Britney’s career.
For her part, Britney has subtly voiced support for the #FreeBritney movement. In a cryptic tweet posted following the release of Framing Britney Spears, the pop singer wrote, “Each person has their story and their take on other people’s stories !!!! We all have so many different bright beautiful lives!!! Remember, no matter what we think we know about a person’s life it is nothing compared to the actual person living behind the lens.”
On the music front, Spears recently unearthed the unreleased Glory-era track “Swimming in the Stars” and teamed with fellow ’90s icons Backstreet Boys for the new single “Matches” in December.