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Britney Spears Has Been Granted Permission To Hire Her Own Lawyer.

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Britney Spears, whose ongoing conservatorship has become a source of public concern and political focus, was granted permission Wednesday by the judge overseeing her case to hire an attorney of her choice. The judge also approved her hiring of former federal prosecutor Mathew Rosengart, who is said to have attended the hearing.

In the wake of her dramatic June 23 appearance in a virtual hearing — in which Spears, 39, made a rare public statement about the misery she has endured as a conservatee and asked for the termination of the “embarrassing” arrangement — fans and observers have anxiously awaited new developments. Many rallied across the country Wednesday, including in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., in support of her as the case returned to court once again.

Conservatorships are notoriously complex arrangements, and Spears’s has been especially confusing for observers, as many of its details and inner workings have been concealed from public view. Below are some of the most frequently asked questions about Spears’s conservatorship so you can get up to speed.

What is a conservatorship?

A conservatorship is a legal arrangement that places a vulnerable adult under the supervision of another adult, a “conservator.” In some cases, the conservator assumes responsibility for the vulnerable person’s finances or their “person” — their daily activities and whereabouts. In some cases, like Spears’s, the conservator or conservators assume responsibility for both.

Most conservatorships are enacted in situations involving a change in the mental capacity or decision-making ability of a person in control of a significant amount of wealth. “If they didn’t have assets, nobody would need to ask the court for the appointment of somebody to manage those assets,” says Lisa Cukier, a partner at the Boston law firm Burns & Levinson who has worked extensively with guardianships and conservatorships. “If the assets are small, it doesn’t matter.”

Who is Jamie Spears?

Jamie Spears, 69, is Britney Spears’s father. He was married to her mother, Lynne Spears, 66, until 2002. Because their daughter’s career began in childhood, Jamie and Lynne have long been closely involved with her professional life.

How did Britney Spears end up under a conservatorship in the first place?
In 2008, after months of erratic behavior during her high-profile divorce and custody battle (see: 2007’s widely publicized head-shaving spectacle, and the paparazzi confrontation soon afterward that resulted in Spears attacking a photographer’s car with an umbrella), Spears was placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold. While she was hospitalized in Los Angeles, Spears’s parents initiated proceedings to place her under the temporary conservatorship of her father, Jamie, and a lawyer named Andrew Wallet, who was appointed by the court.

Why is the conservatorship in the news now?

The conservatorship has been a source of curiosity for some fans for more than a decade, but interest in it went mainstream in February with the arrival of the New York Times-Hulu documentary “Framing Britney Spears.” The film (which was nominated Tuesday for two Emmys) re-examined and re-litigated some of the biggest controversies of Spears’s career, quietly making the case that the obsessive, invasive tabloid culture of the late 1990s and 2000s was largely responsible for her brief era of bizarre behavior and, indirectly, the conservatorship that followed. Its popularity prompted some viewers to demand apologies from journalists and other figures who made comments to and about Spears’s sexuality, public image and parenting decisions that were perceived as rude or disrespectful — including Justin Timberlake, Diane Sawyer and Matt Lauer.

In June, Spears made a rare request to speak on her own behalf at a court hearing and asked that the virtual proceedings be open to the public. On June 23, Spears spoke at length about the “demoralizing” indignities and miseries of her life as a conservatee: She described being forced to take prescription drugs, as well as mandated to go multiple times a week to therapy sessions in places where paparazzi and the public could clearly see her coming and going. She also described wanting to have another baby but being barred by her conservators from visiting a doctor to have her IUD removed.

Spears requested toward the end of the hearing that her conservatorship be terminated entirely. Local protests timed to her hearing on July 14 have since been organized in cities around the country and abroad, some of them by the #FreeBritney movement. (As of Wednesday, Spears had not officially filed a petition to terminate the conservatorship.)

What is the #FreeBritney movement?

The #FreeBritney movement is an activist group, formed mostly online, that began to materialize in 2009 soon after the details of Spears’s conservatorship became public. Those affiliated with #FreeBritney often allege that Spears is a victim of conservatorship abuse: Most believe she is in fact capable enough to live independently, and some believe that her conservators placed her under their care unfairly and for longer than necessary for their own benefit.

How long has Britney Spears been under a conservatorship?

Spears has been under her conservatorship for 13 years. The arrangement was considered temporary at first, but in time, it seems to have become permanent — a common trajectory for conservatorships, according to experts.

Periodic hearings to renew temporary guardianships or conservatorships “take up a lot of judicial resource. It’s difficult for the family. It’s difficult for the protected person,” says Cukier. “So sometimes the courts will say, ‘Look, you’ve been here for three temporary periods, just make it permanent. And if you want to terminate the conservatorship later’ — which is something Britney is dealing with — ‘then come back to court with your medical evidence.’”

Who are the conservators?

Spears’s conservatorship has undergone multiple changes over the years since it was first implemented. Wallet, the court-appointed lawyer, resigned as co-conservator in 2019, leaving Jamie Spears the sole conservator. Jamie stepped away temporarily later that year after undergoing colon surgery. In the interim, his responsibilities were assigned to a professional fiduciary named Jodi Montgomery. In 2020, Spears requested through her lawyer that Montgomery be made conservator in her father’s stead, and that a bank be appointed as a conservator of her estate. The bank, Bessemer Trust, was approved to be a co-conservator alongside Jamie.

In July, however, Spears said that she wanted to be released from her conservatorship entirely, and soon afterward, Bessemer Trust asked to withdraw its involvement. (According to the New York Times, the bank said in its July 2021 court filing that it had not begun acting as a co-conservator and had not been authorized to do so before withdrawing.) Judge Brenda Penny accepted the resignation Wednesday.

In the days after Spears’s emotional court testimony asking for her “life back,” her conservators began to squabble among themselves. Jamie Spears, for example, blamed Montgomery’s handling of the conservatorship for some of the hardship Spears described and called for an investigation, according to court documents. (Montgomery’s lawyers told TMZ that Montgomery had only ever conducted the conservatorship in accordance with the California Code of Ethics.) And when Montgomery asked the court for extra security in response to death threats she received after Spears’s testimony, Jamie filed an objection.

Who has spoken out in support of Britney Spears?

Several celebrities have voiced their support for the pop star. Rapper Missy Elliott and actress Jameela Jamil on Twitter called for Spears’s release from the arrangement. Christina Aguilera, Spears’s contemporary at the top of the teen pop charts in the 2000s, tweeted a lengthy thread championing Spears’s cause, saying, “It is unacceptable that any woman, or human, wanting to be in control of their own destiny might not be allowed to live life as they wish.” Mariah Carey also tweeted: “We love you Britney!!! Stay strong.”

Madonna, meanwhile, posted a photo of herself wearing a Britney Spears shirt in her Instagram story in July, along with the caption: “Give this woman her life back.” Paris Hilton said on her podcast, “This Is Paris,” that Spears had “built a huge empire. She’s a legend, she’s an icon, she’s a mother. She’s amazing and she has these people controlling her money, her life.” Miley Cyrus changed the lyrics to “Party in the U.S.A.” at a performance in Las Vegas to include the words “Free Britney.”

Even Spears’s younger sister — Jamie Lynn, former star of Disney’s “Zoey 101” and an actress on Netflix’s “Sweet Magnolias” — broke with her family’s history of silence around the conservatorship to make a statement. “I don’t care if she wants to run away to a rainforest and have a zillion babies in the middle of nowhere, or if she wants to come back and dominate the world the way she has done so many times before, because I have nothing to gain or lose either way,” the younger Spears said in an Instagram story days after the June 23 court hearing. “Maybe I didn’t support her the way the public would like me to, with a hashtag on a public platform. But I can assure you I’ve supported my sister long before there was a hashtag, and I’ll support her long after.”

Who has resigned from Britney Spears’s team?

In the weeks since her blistering court testimony, several people associated with Spears’s conservatorship have distanced themselves or quit.

In the June hearing, Spears noted that she had never been informed that her conservatorship could be terminated, and added that “my attorney says I can’t — it’s not good, I can’t let the public know anything they did to me.” Soon afterward, Samuel D. Ingham III, the court-appointed lawyer who became Spears’s attorney when she was deemed unfit to choose her own representation, placed a request with the court to step down from his role. His resignation was approved Wednesday.

In addition to Bessemer Trust withdrawing from its role as co-conservator of Spears’s finances, Spears’s longtime manager Larry Rudolph also resigned, citing Spears’s apparent indication that she plans to officially retire.

What will it take for Britney Spears to get out of her conservatorship?

In theory, termination of a conservatorship is somewhat simple, according to Cukier. Theoretically, if Cukier were to find herself under a conservatorship she no longer needed, she says, “I would go into court with my clinical data showing that I have been evaluated for my mental capacity to manage my own finances. And I would prove to the court that I now have been restored to mental capacity to handle these issues.”

In the June hearing, Spears noted that she had never been informed that her conservatorship could be terminated, and added that “my attorney says I can’t — it’s not good, I can’t let the public know anything they did to me.” Soon afterward, Samuel D. Ingham III, the court-appointed lawyer who became Spears’s attorney when she was deemed unfit to choose her own representation, placed a request with the court to step down from his role. His resignation was approved Wednesday.

In addition to Bessemer Trust withdrawing from its role as co-conservator of Spears’s finances, Spears’s longtime manager Larry Rudolph also resigned, citing Spears’s apparent indication that she plans to officially retire.

What will it take for Britney Spears to get out of her conservatorship?

In theory, termination of a conservatorship is somewhat simple, according to Cukier. Theoretically, if Cukier were to find herself under a conservatorship she no longer needed, she says, “I would go into court with my clinical data showing that I have been evaluated for my mental capacity to manage my own finances. And I would prove to the court that I now have been restored to mental capacity to handle these issues.”

Last month’s hearing inspired another wave of support from Washington. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said on his podcast in July that what’s happening to Spears “needs to end,” while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in an interview with Politico that while the federal government’s power to change conservatorship law is limited, it isn’t nonexistent. “It turns out that the federal government collects a lot of data about conservatorships: where they’re used, when they’re used, how long they’re used. But they keep all that data secret,” she said. “This is an area where sunshine might help.”

On Wednesday, Gaetz joined fans and members of the #FreeBritney movement at a rally outside the courthouse in Los Angeles. “There’s a lot that still divides us,” he said in an address to the crowd. “But one thing we can all agree on is that Jamie Spears is a d—.”

Source  : WashingtonPost

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Naomi Osaka writes for TIME on putting mental health first: “It’s O.K. not to be O.K.”

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Life is a journey.

In the past few weeks, my journey took an unexpected path but one that has taught me so much and helped me grow. I learned a couple of key lessons.

Lesson one: you can never please everyone. The world is as divided now as I can remember in my short 23 years. Issues that are so obvious to me at face value, like wearing a mask in a pandemic or kneeling to show support for anti-racism, are ferociously contested. I mean, wow. So, when I said I needed to miss French Open press conferences to take care of myself mentally, I should have been prepared for what unfolded.

 

Lesson two was perhaps more enriching. It has become apparent to me that literally everyone either suffers from issues related to their mental health or knows someone who does. The number of messages I received from such a vast cross section of people confirms that. I think we can almost universally agree that each of us is a human being and subject to feelings and emotions.

Perhaps my actions were confusing to some because there are two slightly different issues at play. In my mind they overlap, and that’s why I spoke about them together, but let’s separate them for the sake of discussion.

 

The first is the press. This was never about the press, but rather the traditional format of the press conference. I’ll say it again for those at the back: I love the press; I do not love all press conferences.

I have always enjoyed an amazing relationship with the media and have given numerous in-depth, one-on-one interviews. Other than those super-stars who have been around much longer than I (Novak, Roger, Rafa, Serena), I’d estimate that I’ve given more time to the press than many other players over recent years.

I always try to answer genuinely and from the heart. I’ve never been media-trained, so what you see is what you get. The way I see it, the reliance and respect from athlete to press is reciprocal.

However, in my opinion (and I want to say that this is just my opinion and not that of every tennis player on tour), the press-conference format itself is out of date and in great need of a refresh. I believe that we can make it better, more interesting and more enjoyable for each side. Less subject vs. object; more peer to peer.

Upon reflection, it appears to me that the majority of tennis writers do not agree. For most of them, the traditional press conference is sacred and not to be questioned. One of their main concerns was that I might set a dangerous precedent, but to my knowledge, no one in tennis has missed a press conference since. The intention was never to inspire revolt, but rather to look critically at our workplace and ask if we can do better.

 

I communicated that I wanted to skip press conferences at Roland Garros to exercise self-care and preservation of my mental health. I stand by that. Athletes are humans. Tennis is our privileged profession, and of course there are commitments off the court that coincide. But I can’t imagine another profession where a consistent attendance record (I have missed one press conference in my seven years on tour) would be so harshly scrutinized.

Perhaps we should give athletes the right to take a mental break from media scrutiny on a rare occasion without being subject to strict sanctions.

In any other line of work, you would be forgiven for taking a personal day here and there, so long as it’s not habitual. You wouldn’t have to divulge your most personal symptoms to your employer; there would likely be HR measures protecting at least some level of privacy.

In my case, I felt under a great amount of pressure to disclose my symptoms—frankly because the press and the tournament did not believe me. I do not wish that on anyone and hope that we can enact measures to protect athletes, especially the fragile ones. I also do not want to have to engage in a scrutiny of my personal medical history ever again. So I ask the press for some level of privacy and empathy next time we meet.

There can be moments for any of us where we are dealing with issues behind the scenes. Each of us as humans is going through something on some level. I have numerous suggestions to offer the tennis hierarchy, but my No. 1 suggestion would be to allow a small number of “sick days” per year where you are excused from your press commitments without having to disclose your personal reasons. I believe this would bring sport in line with the rest of society.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who supported me. There are too many to name, but I want to start with my family and friends, who have been amazing. There is nothing more important than those relationships. I also want to thank those in the public eye who have supported, encouraged and offered such kind words.

 

Michelle Obama, Michael Phelps, Steph Curry, Novak Djokovic, Meghan Markle, to name a few. Furthermore, I am eternally grateful to all my partners. Although I am not surprised as I purposefully chose brand partners that are liberal, empathetic and progressive, I am still tremendously thankful.

After taking the past few weeks to recharge and spend time with my loved ones, I have had the time to reflect, but also to look forward. I could not be more excited to play in Tokyo. An Olympic Games itself is special, but to have the opportunity to play in front of the Japanese fans is a dream come true. I hope I can make them proud.

Believe it or not, I am naturally introverted and do not court the spotlight. I always try to push myself to speak up for what I believe to be right, but that often comes at a cost of great anxiety. I feel uncomfortable being the spokesperson or face of athlete mental health as it’s still so new to me and I don’t have all the answers. I do hope that people can relate and understand it’s O.K. to not be O.K., and it’s O.K. to talk about it. There are people who can help, and there is usually light at the end of any tunnel.

Michael Phelps told me that by speaking up I may have saved a life. If that’s true, then it was all worth it.

 

Source: Time

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