Britney Spears has told a Los Angeles judge that she wants her court-ordered conservatorship to end, saying it is “abusive” and preventing her from living her full life.
In a passionate speech over the phone to a courtroom, Spears has sharply condemned her father, and the conditions of the conservatorship that has controlled her life, body, and finances for thirteen years.
“I want to end this conservatorship without being evaluated,” Spears, 39, told the judge.
“I’ve been in denial; I’ve been in shock; I am traumatized. I just want my life back.”
Spears’ court address, which went for 23 minutes, saw her talk openly about how controlled her life has been since 2008. She alleged that she was “forced” to tour in 2018 against her wishes, had all her possessions taken away, and had been put on lithium.
“It’s embarrassing and demoralizing what I’ve been through, and that’s the main reason I didn’t say it openly. I didn’t think anybody would believe me,” Spears said.
“I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive. I don’t feel like I can live a full life.”
“Lithium is a very, very strong and completely different medication from what I was used to,” she said. “I felt drunk… I couldn’t even have a conversation with my mom or dad.”
Spears also said she wants to get married to her boyfriend and have a baby, but the conservatorship does not allow her to get married, or go to a doctor to have her IUD removed.
“I have an IUD in my body right now that won’t let me have a baby and my conservators won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out,” she said.
Britney Spears: “I have an IUD in my body right now that won’t let me have a baby and my conservators won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out. I feel ganged up on. I feel bullied and I feel left out and alone.”
— Josie Ensor (@Josiensor) June 23, 2021
“I feel ganged up on. I feel bullied and I feel left out and alone…..In California, the only similar thing to this is called sex trafficking, making anyone work against their will, taking all their possessions away credit card, cash, phone, passport.”
She said her father controlled the conservatorship, and approves all of the conditions she lives under.
“He was the one who approved all of it,” Spears said. “I cried on the phone for an hour, and he loved every minute of it.”
“The control he had over someone as powerful as me, as he loved the control to hurt his own daughter 100,000 per cent. He loved it.”
In the years since Spears’ life was first put under the conservatorship, dedicated fans have asked questions about the conditions of the situation, and why she is seen as not capable of taking care herself, despite her continuing, successful career. They have created the #FreeBritney movement to protest the conservatorship.
Confidential documents reported on by the New York Times this week have also revealed that despite her public silence over the years, Spears has strongly objected to the conservatorship for a long time and has pushed for its end in private, more often than previously thought.
Spears told the court she has previously lied to the public about her wellbeing.
“I’ve lied and told the whole world; ‘I’m OK and I’m happy’. It’s a lie. I thought I just maybe if I said that enough,” she said in court.
“I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized. You know, fake it till you make it. But now I’m telling you the truth, OK? I’m not happy. I can’t sleep. I’m so angry it’s insane. And I’m depressed. I cry every day.
“And the reason I’m telling you this is because I don’t think how the state of California can have all this written in the court documents from the time I showed up and do absolutely nothing.”