Britney Spears’s father, Jamie Spears, agreed to remove himself from his daughter’s conservatorship in early August. But according to the court documents he filed in response to the pop star’s lawyers’ request for his resignation, he’s not actually willing to abdicate that position until Britney’s estate makes payments to cover his attorneys’ fees and other various charges.
On Monday, Britney’s new attorney, Mathew Rosengart, filed court documents requesting the immediate suspension of her father at the next conservatorship hearing scheduled for September 29. He also responded to a number of the points of contention listed in Jamie’s response to the original motion to have him removed from his role as conservator of Britney’s estate. According to the court documents obtained by People, Jamie said he would be “willing to step down when the time is right” as long as there was an “orderly” transition of power and “a resolution of matters pending before the Court.” His voluntary resignation is also contingent upon the estate’s approval of payment for various expenses he accrued over a year, which include $1.4 million in attorneys’ fees and a substantial payment to third parties, including Tri-Star Sports & Entertainment Group, per People.
In a statement to People, Rosengart wrote, “Mr. Spears was forced to concede in his Aug. 12, 2021, ‘First Response’ to Britney Spears’s Petition to remove him that he must depart—and his departure is now inexorable. As we wrote in our new filing with the Court, however, the quid pro quo preconditions that Mr. Spears sought in his Aug. 12, 2021, court filing are inappropriate and unacceptable.” He continued, “Britney Spears will not be bullied or extorted by her father. Nor does Mr. Spears have the right to try to hold his daughter hostage by setting the terms of his removal. This is not about him, it is about the best interests of his daughter, which as a matter of law, mandate his removal. Even putting aside the legal issues requiring his prompt removal, if he loves his daughter, Mr. Spears should resign now, today, before he is suspended. It would be the correct and decent thing to do.”
In Monday’s court filing, the singer’s attorney went on to address previous statements made by Jamie’s lawyer Vivian Lee Thoreen, who said that Jamie’s “sole motivation” for remaining in the position of conservator is “his unconditional love for his daughter and a fierce desire to protect her from those trying to take advantage of her.” Rosengart countered that, “While Mr. Spears professes his purported ‘love’ and ‘support’ of his daughter even as he stripped her of her autonomy and dignity and engaged in abusive conduct toward her, his First Response reveals his true motivations: to receive or make large monetary payments.” He added, “Regardless of the past, Mr. Spears and his counsel are now on notice: the status quo is no longer tolerable, and Britney Spears will not be extorted. Mr. Spears’s blatant attempt to barter suspension and removal in exchange for approximately $2 million in payments, on top of the millions already reaped from Ms. Spears’s estate by Mr. Spears and his associates, is a non-starter.”
Jamie also claimed in his response to the original motion to have him removed from the conservatorship that there were “no urgent circumstances” requiring his resignation, but Rosengart retorted, “The world heard Ms. Spears’s courageous and compelling testimony. Britney Spears’s life matters. Her well-being matters. Every day matters. There is no basis to wait.” He also stated that Jamie’s decision to highlight in his response how he helped Britney while she was “suffering mentally and emotionally” was an attempt at “redemption.” Rosengart said, “Notwithstanding the stringent restrictions of HIPAA, he has gone so far in his filing as to discuss alleged details of Ms. Spears’s mental state. Mr. Spears levies allegations of Ms. Spears’s ‘issues,’ makes gratuitous comments on the amounts spent on Ms. Spears’s medical care, questions whether Ms. Spears understands or remembers what has been done to her, and makes other inapt claims, while also attacking Conservator of the Person Jodi Montgomery.” Montgomery has previously made it clear that she believes Jamie remaining in his current role would not be in the best interest of his daughter.
Britney’s attorney also pointed out that Jamie spent “seven pages of his Response airing grievances” with his ex-wife and Britney’s mother, Lynne Spears, who previously petitioned to give her daughter the right to hire her own lawyer and said she was “pleased” with Jamie’s decision to step down. “Lynne Spears does, indeed, support Mr. Spears’s suspension and removal, but the Petition must be granted regardless of her views,” Rosengart said. “As the Petition made abundantly clear, it is Mr. Spears’s independent adverse impact on his daughter’s life, well-being, and best interests that requires the Petition be granted. That Mr. Spears would use this solemn occasion to pick one more fight with his ex-wife (the mother of his daughter) speaks volumes.” Jamie’s attorney did not respond to People’s request for comment.
In conclusion, Rosengart requested the court to suspend Jamie at the next conservatorship hearing if he does not voluntarily resign before then.
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