Have you been following the Britney Spears court appearance to end the 13 year conservatorship her father has had?
Here is a link to some of what she said in court today:Britney Spears Tells Judge She Wants Out of Conservatorship: “I’m Traumatized” – The Hollywood Reporter
I think it’s past time for her to have control over her own life. What makes her any different than any other adult? She may have had an issue in the past, or perhaps it was a convenient way for her father to take control. Recently she seems to be doing just fine. Who here would stand to be in her position and wouldn’t fight it?
This is something that should never have happened; a crime IMO.
I have never understood this at all. She not performing also due to this.
I agree. I’d go further and say it would never have happened if she was a male. I mean…look at Charlie Sheen!
Or if she weren’t rich. Not able to take her IUD out? Not able to have her boyfriend drive her around? What country is this we are living in?!
Not only ‘look at Charlie Sheen’. Charlie Sheen has custody of his kids!
I agree this is just crazy and I can’t believe it has gone on for 13 years!
This.
It sounds as if her court-appointed attorney, whom she paid a HUGE amount, was doing exactly what you’d expect - guarding his gravy train, trying to keep her under the control of the conservatorship. This has been a horrible injustice.
Apparently her request was denied. It’s crazy.
Hopefully in the end she can have the whole thing abolished.
It is crazy that the judge denied her request. I don’t know how this has gone on for 13 years and Britney has worked all this time and earned money, but can’t have control of her life.
I will never understand the law when Bill Cosby gets out of jail, but Britney can’t get an IUD out.
Free Britney!
I know nothing about Britney Spears, have never been a fan, but it seems to me conservatorships exist to help someone while they are having issues, medical, mental, whatever. To me it is clear that they are not meant to be permanent. Once the condition has been dealt with, shouldn’t the person get control of their life back? Jane Schmoe who doesn’t have 2 cents to rub together can crank out as many kids as she wants, but Britney Spears is forced to have an IUD? Seems whacked.
Even if she doesn’t perform or record again, she should have the right to spend her money as she pleases and live her life as she pleases. There are lots of nutty people who are allowed to control their lives, why not her?
The only logical reason I can think of with regard to the judge’s ruling is perhaps she knows something the rest of us don’t?
On the face of it, it seems completely outrageous.
My neighbor, aged 75, who has had serious bouts of mental illness throughout her entire life, and has been hospitalized many many, times, has a family who have tried unsuccessfully, to gain temporary conservatorship. This neighbor is incapable of holding down a job, is non -compliant with her meds, has accidentally set fire to her kitchen and left the home with her dying husband incapable of getting out of bed (the neighbors came to his rescue, before the fire dept. reached the house). This same neighbor lies naked, spreadeagled in the street, has threatened gun violence against other neighbors, brings homeless to live with her, offers sex to anybody passing by etc. etc. etc. Her sister, who loves her dearly and cares for her like a mother, has fought valiantly to gain control of her health and financial needs, all to no avail.
As an uninformed observer, I’d say my neighbor is far more in need of conservatorship that Brittney Spears; something is amiss and I don’t believe it is right.
I’m also wondering if there is more to this story.
H has a brother that is mentally ill. He lives in a group home and has his assets in a conservatorship. There are times when he seems completely normal. H had lunch with him this week and said you’d never know how ill he was if that’s all you saw. But H is also the recipient of phone calls where his brother claims that his real father is a space alien and that the government is spying on him. The fact is, that none of us really know how mentally ill she is.
She may very well still have major issues and a conservatorship may be appropriate, who knows. But what I don’t understand is how she can be forced to have her father involved against her wishes. There are certainly neutral parties that can do the kind of work her father is doing.
I think it’s pretty clear that both her father and her lawyer are in this to make money off of her. They are horrible people IMO. She may have needed some supervision at one point, but she is clearly their “cash cow”.
I guess I see the other side of the story and feel we have to trust the judge. If you met my son ALMOST any time, you would think he was the gentlest, kindest, sanest person you knew. But he can decompensate within a period of 24 hours and go outside to wait by the curb to be picked up by a chariot and taken up to heaven. And then go catatonic multiple times a day. In his case, he is cooperative and goes for treatment voluntarily. For that reason, we haven’t had to become his guardians. But if that weren’t the case and he didn’t acknowledge he needed help, there’s nothing we could do if we weren’t his guardians.
I have an online friend who wrote this:
<<<So, this isn’t going to be popular. I also don’t usually comment on a ton of pop culture, but this ties into my passion of adult mental health.
Right now everybody is screaming “free Britney!” and they are shocked and horrified that the judge did not end the conservatorship. As many of you know, I have over 20 years of experience in mental health. I also acted as an agent for the public guardian for adults for 6 years. Sometimes people NEED a guardian. It’s to protect them and to keep them from ruining every aspect of their life, finances and personal safety. Nobody likes having a guardian, heck nobody likes BEING a guardian. But it is usually necessary and the courts don’t do it lightly. It also takes documented evidence from medical or mental health doctors to speak to incapacity. There has to be proof.
I read the entire transcript of Britney’s conversation with the judge. She rambled, went off on paths of being persecuted and exhibited a lot of paranoid thinking, spoke so rapidly she couldn’t manage her own thoughts and the judge had to ask her to slow down multiple times. She went off on tangents that were totally unrelated to the topic. Also, if you look at her sentence structure, there is definitely something going on with her cognitively. I spent 6 years assessing capacity. When I read her statement I felt badly for her. She is heavily impacted by her mental health. So much so, that I do believe she more than likely needs a guardian to protect her. Is her dad the best person for that job? I don’t know, that is for the judge to decide. But it is pretty clear that left to her own, her life would probably be in shambles within months.
Do I feel bad for her? Yes, of course. It’s always sad to see somebody that heavily impacted by their mental health. Did her fame at such a young age impact that? Yes, more than likely. Does she need protection from herself and others? Oh my yes. Screaming about how horrible her guardian is only feeds the problem though. So, the well-meaning people doing it are only causing her more harm and mental anguish by feeding into the problem. Please stop. Unless you are trained to understand the nuances of debilitating mental health issues and until you have the facts, you shouldn’t be weighing in on drastic safety measures implemented to keep somebody safe and preserve their finances. It isn’t healthy for folks to have others feeding their delusional thinking. That’s how celebrities like Michael Jackson end up dead. Nobody loved him enough to tell him no and make him get help. Think about that when you are screaming “free Britney”>>>
I feel for you as luckily I have not had to face this with my children. If you ever did have to become your son’s guardian and at some point he preferred you not to be (and asked that someone else be), do you think that would be a valid position for him to take? Should a judge support those wishes? That is part of all this I’m struggling with here. If she truly still needs a guardian type person, shouldn’t she have some bit of control in that and not have her father involved if she doesn’t want him to be? She may have mental health issues but she’s still an adult and has rights .