While things are, certainly, moving ahead in Britney Spears' fight to end her conservatorship after 13 years, it's starting to become very clear that this process will be even more difficult than anyone may have thought. The pop singer's father, Jamie Spears, has agreed to step down from controlling all of her financial matters, but he's not going quietly. He's now filed a court document that directly fires shots at Britney Spears' mother, Lynne Spears.
Shortly after responding to the younger Spears petition for his suspension and removal from her conservatorship by saying he is "willing to step down when the time is right" in order to stop the "public battle with his daughter," Jamie Spears filed court papers of his own (via Insider), which take direct issue with his ex-wife, Lynne Spears. The superstar's mom submitted a sworn statement to the Los Angeles court on July 26 that offered complete support to her daughter in her efforts to have her ex-husband removed from her case. But, that statement also made several allegations against him, including that he "is incapable of putting my daughter's interests ahead of his own on both a professional and a personal level."
Jamie Spears has now responded to that claim by saying, in part:
In stark contrast, it appears that Lynne is the one who is incapable of putting her daughter's interests ahead of her own. Lynne has not been involved in her daughter's life for most of the past twelve years. Despite their estranged relationship, the Conservatorship Estate, during the entire duration of the Conservatorship, has paid and continues to pay for the mansion in Louisiana where Lynne lives, including all of her utility bills, weekly maid service, and all maintenance (totaling upwards of $150,000 per year and to date, nearly $2,000,000 in total).
One of the big questions people have had about Britney Spears' conservatorship since the singer spoke out in court and made some shocking claims about the abuses she feels she's suffered at her father's hands while under it, is who in her family knew what was going on and whether or not they were directly benefitting from her conservatorship. A report in early July did note that Lynne Spears and Britney's brother, Bryan, got payments from the conservatorship, but how much was unknown. It seems now that these payments for Lynne's home are likely at least a part of that.
Around the middle of July, after her statement to the court sent shockwaves through the Free Britney movement and her fandom in general, Britney Spears took to social media to speak against the “people closest” to her, as well as those she “loves the most,” and noted that she believes they left her “drowning." She also said that the statements from her family that came out after her court appearance, which offered unwavering support in her battle to have Jamie Spears removed, were only to "save face" in the public eye.
Another person who came out to support Britney publicly was her younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears. But, fans quickly took issue with some of her statements (including her saying that she didn't currently claim as her own or use any property paid for by Britney), as did her Grammy-winning sister, which led to both a social media war of words between the siblings, and to Jamie Lynn editing several of her Instagram posts after being called out for them. Meanwhile, it appears that their mother, Lynne Spears, has also been profiting from the conservatorship for many years.
While there's no way to know if this fractured family will ever recover from all of this, we can at least hope that Britney Spears can see the best outcome with her legal case sooner rather than later.
