US pop star Britney Spears has spoken out against her conservatorship at a hearing in Los Angeles. In a rare public testimony, the singer told a court her father controlled her “100,000%” and he “loved” it.
“I am traumatised,” she said, speaking remotely. “I just want my life back.”
Jamie Spears was granted control over his daughter’s personal and business affairs in a court-ordered conservatorship in 2008.
The order was originally granted after the star was hospitalised amid concerns over her mental health.
There has been speculation for years about how MSpears, 39, felt about the arrangement, with fans eagerly combing her social media output for clues.
“I want to end this conservatorship without being evaluated,” she told the court, calling it “abusive”.
“I deserve to have a life, I’ve worked my whole life. I deserve to have a two to three-year break,” she said in an emotional 20-minute address.
Ms Spears said she wants to marry her boyfriend and have a baby, but the conservatorship will not allow her to. The singer claimed she has a contraceptive intrauterine device (IUD) fitted but her conservator would not let her have it removed so she can get pregnant.
“This conservatorship is doing me way more harm then good,” she said.
Specifics of the conservatorship have never been made public, but her father stepped down temporarily as his daughter’s personal conservator in 2019 because of health reasons – a move the pop star has requested to be made permanent.
She is seeking to permanently install Jodi Montgomery, a care professional, as her personal conservator instead of reinstating her father.
“He is sorry to see his daughter suffering and in so much pain,” the representative said in a statement read out in court. “Mr Spears loves his daughter, and he misses her very much.”
Mr Spears’ legal team has previously insisted he has done a good job of managing his daughter’s finances.
Dozens of fans from the so-called #FreeBritney movement gathered outside the court before the hearing, holding signs reading “Free Britney now!” and “Get out of Britney’s life!”
“Everything she said was absolutely heartbreaking and it was actually even worse than I really thought it was,” Megan Radford, one of the movement’s founders, told the BBC.
“But I’m so thankful that her truth is out there and it cannot be denied anymore.”
