Amanda Bynes’ Parents Awarded Conservatorship Over Troubled Actress

For more than a year, Amanda Bynes slowly spiraled out of control. A few bad decisions were followed by some clearer warning signs which were followed by some straight up bizarre behavior. Now and again, there were some rumbles about family members, friends and neighbors reaching out to offer help, but in general, the actress was left to her own devices. Thankfully, that’s not happening anymore. A judge in Ventura, California officially granted her mother Lynn a full conservatorship this morning.

According to People, Bynes’ doctors recommended she be held for an additional thirty days, extending the initial 5150 psychiatric hold for the second time. Judge Glen M. Reiser quickly made that recommendation official and further granted the request of Bynes’ parents to be given oversight of their daughter’s finances and basic life decisions, such as where she should live. Amanda’s attorney formally objected to the motion, but with her psych hold getting extended, her chances of successfully preventing such a move were slim. Luckily for her, however, the conservatorship will only extend until September 30. If all goes according to plan, there will be enough evidence of Amanda’s long-term health and mental competence by that point to come up with a formal game plan.

In the final months before she was picked up by the police and placed into the psych unit, Bynes reportedly ran through more than $1 million of her savings. She also was kicked out of several apartment buildings and insulted a lot of people. Clearly, her behavior in no way reflected the smart, funny girl who took Hollywood by storm so many years ago. With medication and someone else overseeing her choices, however, there’s no reason to think she won’t be able to get back to being that same person. After all, Britney Spears was a head-shaving mess before she was placed under a conservatorship, and now, those days are nothing more than a hazy, distant memory.

Amanada and her parents haven’t always been the closest. In fact, there are some rumors that they may have gone awhile without speaking. If so, that will make the conservatorship harder to implement, but hopefully, Lynn and Rick will leave all of those hard feelings behind them and simply focus on what is best for their daughter. She definitely needs some help, and even with the strain, they are probably the best people to see her through the weeds right now. Here’s to hoping Amanda is able to quickly recognize that when she gets out and is able to focus on nothing other than getting back to a place of comfort and competence.

We’re all certainly rooting for her.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.