IT SEEMED like a drastic arrangement from the start: a grown woman having no say in her own life. Relying on her dad to make every single decision for her – from who she can be friends with to what colour to paint her kitchen cabinets.
But a court decided in 2008 it was in Britney Spears’ best interests to have her father, Jamie, as her conservator, effectively granting him permission to control every aspect of her life.
After a public meltdown that culminated in the songbird shaving off her hair and attacking the paparazzi with an umbrella, it seemed intervention was needed. It was hoped the conservatorship would be temporary but year after year Jamie applied for it to be extended.
How must it feel for Britney, one of the most successful pop stars on the planet worth an estimated $60 million (R840m), to still have her father calling the shots 13 years down the line?
The world recently found out exactly how she felt when she dramatically broke her silence, revealing how her father made her life hell by imposing all kinds of draconian rules.
In a shocking 24-minute statement, given by video link to the Los Angeles Superior Court, Britney (39) claimed she’d been drugged on Jamie’s orders, compelled to work against her will, and prevented from having her contraceptive device removed because her father didn’t want her to have more children.
As she listed the reasons why the court should end her conservatorship, which is administered by Jamie along with a team of legal and financial experts, she sometimes spoke so fast Judge Brenda Penny had to ask her to slow down.
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