A tearful Britney Spears has told a court in Los Angeles she wants her father charged with conservatorship abuse.
The pop superstar addressed the court on Wednesday (local time) for the second time in less than a month and delivered more bombshell testimony.
Speaking to the room over the phone, she listed a series of grievances against the conservatorship, alleging her hair vitamins and coffee had been taken from her.
“Mam, that’s not abuse, that’s just f—ing cruelty,” a tearful Spears told Judge Brenda Penny.
“Excuse my language but it’s the truth.”
Spears, who took a short break to compose herself, demanded her father be removed from the conservatorship and be charged with “conservatorship abuse”.
The singer said she wanted the complex legal arrangement that oversees her life and career terminated without the need for a medical assessment, but indicated her top priority was ousting her father Jamie from his role while allowing co-conservator Jodi Montgomery to remain.
“My dad needs to be removed today and I will be happy with Jodi helping me,” she said.
The hearing took place inside a packed court in downtown Los Angeles, with about 60 masked journalists and fans in attendance.
Mathew S. Rosengart, the high-powered Hollywood lawyer Spears wants to represent her, was also there.
Judge Penny approved Spears hiring Mr Rosengart, who is a former federal prosecutor. He immediately called on Spears’ father to immediately resign as her conservator.
“We will be moving promptly and aggressively for his removal,” he said outside court.
“The question remains, why is he involved?”
Mr Rosengart’s arrival is expected to signal a more aggressive approach to ending the conservatorship.
But James Spears’ lawyer, Vivian Thoreen, said he woul dnot step down, adding Mr Spears only ever had his daughter’s best interests in mind.
Ms Thoreen said Spears had many inaccurate beliefs, among them that “her father is responsible for all the bad things that have happened to her.”
“Whether it’s misinformation, lack of correction, or being wrongly advised, I don’t know,” she said, emphasising that for nearly two years James Spears has had no say over his daughter’s life choices, only her money.
Spears has been under court supervision, with her father and a team of lawyers controlling her life and finances, since February 2008. She was in the midst of a public meltdown at the time and her family sought the conservatorship for her protection.
Spears’s former court-appointed lawyer Samuel Ingham III resigned after a dramatic hearing three weeks ago in which the pop star told Judge Penny: “I just want my life back.”
Ms Montgomery said she was committed to staying in the job and was putting a care plan in place to help end the conservatorship, something she said Mr Spears had expressed no desire to do.
-with AAP
The post Tearful Spears begs court to oust her father as conservator appeared first on The New Daily.
Powered by WPeMatico
