Britney Spears’s father is fighting back against a challenge to his control of her money and affairs, saying there are “no grounds whatsoever” for removing him from the conservatorship.
In a new court document, Jamie Spears said he had “dutifully and faithfully served as the conservator of his daughter’s estate without any blemishes on his record”.
Mr Spears’s filing also claimed that Jodi Montgomery – a court-appointed professional who oversees Britney Spears’s life decisions, while her father handles her money – last month phoned him, “distraught”, seeking his help with his daughter’s mental health.
Singer Britney Spears at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in New York
In response, Ms Montgomery and her lawyer argued that Mr Spears had “misrepresented and manipulated” the call.
The filing is the latest instalment in a long-running dispute over the management of Britney’s affairs. The popstar was placed in a controversial conservatorship scheme in 2008 following some concerns about her mental health.
Concerns over the conservatorship has sparked the ‘Free Britney’ movement
Her father has largely controlled her life since then, but the singer recently said she would never perform again as long as the status continued, and has repeatedly called for his removal.
Mr Spears’s filing was a response to court papers filed they day before by Britney’s new lawyer Matthew Rosengart, which requested an emergency hearing to suspend him from the conservatorship.
The singer has alleged “forced medical treatment and therapy, improper medical care, and limitations on personal rights” under the scheme – claims which Mr Spears denies, calling them “untested”.
Mr Spears had controlled his daughter’s life decisions as well as her finances up until 2019, when Ms Montgomery took charge of those responsibilities.