Attorneys for the pop star’s mother argued that changes in her life and the conservatorship were due, in part, to their behind-the-scenes efforts.
Ron Galella, Ltd. / Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Britney Spears and mother Lynne in 2000
Lynne Spears asked that her daughter Britney Spears’ estate pay roughly $650,000 for legal fees, which her attorneys say were incurred fighting the conservatorship — but hours later, the pop star slammed her mother in an Instagram post, saying that the legal arrangement was her idea in the first place.
In a petition filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Monday evening, attorneys for Lynne Spears appeared to take credit for some of the recent changes in her 39-year-old daughter’s life and in her conservatorship, saying that the work they did behind the scenes served her best interests.
“Lynne and her counsel submit that they have contributed to and achieved Lynne’s mission of breaking the restrictions imposed by the conservatorship, removing Jamie as conservator and have pushed toward the goal of ultimately terminating the entire conservatorship,” they wrote.
But hours later, on Tuesday, Spears called out her mother in a now-deleted Instagram caption, saying that while her dad is the one who created the conservatorship in early 2008, it was her mom “who gave him the idea.”
“I will never get those years back …. she secretly ruined my life … and yes I will call her and Lou Taylor out on it,” Spears wrote, referring to her former business manager, whose involvement in the conservatorship is being investigated by her attorneys.
“So take your whole ‘I have NO IDEA what’s going on’ attitude and go fuck yourself,” she continued.
Queen @britneyspears calls out her mom as the mastermind of the conservatorship and throws Lou Taylor’s name on new shocking and now deleted post from her Instagram account (November 2021) 👸🏼
Twitter: @BritneyOnline
It’s unclear whether Spears will contest her mother’s petition for fees, as she has done for similar requests filed by her father and former conservator, Jamie Spears. Spears’ attorney Mathew Rosengart did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News’ questions on Wednesday.
An attorney for Lynne Spears did not immediately respond to a request for comment on her daughter’s post.
Spears lost control of her life 13 years ago. Judge Brenda Penny is expected to terminate the conservatorship altogether at a hearing on Nov. 12. Penny will then consider pending fee petitions for the attorneys who represented Spears, her father, and Jodi Montgomery, the current conservator of Spears’ personal affairs, at another hearing on Dec. 8.
Her mother and her attorneys began raising questions about the restrictions her daughter was living under and about Jamie Spears’ fitness as conservator after the pop star spoke to the court in a closed hearing in May 2019, according to Lynne Spears’ petition. During that hearing, Spears reportedly told the court that she felt forced to enter a mental health facility and perform while she was sick.
As a result of their demand for a review of the conservatorship, the singer regained “some form of normalcy” to her life, her mother’s attorneys said. She was allowed to take vacations, “given driving privileges,” and “got her iPhone back,” they wrote. Lynne Spears and her counsel also worked with Sam Ingham, then the singer’s court-appointed attorney, to establish “a new medical regime that was not as debilitating as before” and pushed for a corporate fiduciary to help manage her estate, the petition said.
“It is because Lynne’s counsel questioned the adequacy of Jamie’s competence to remain as conservator of the person and identified the lack of checks and balances over his service as conservator of the estate … that in mid-2019 … real discussions began about limiting Jamie’s involvement in the conservatorship,” the petition states.
Rich Fury / Invision / AP
Still, all other counsel involved in the conservatorship were opposed to this idea, including Ingham, who “vehemently objected to the notion that Jamie should be removed in any capacity” during a call in July 2019, Lynne Spears’ attorneys said. And after the court denied Spears’ request to suspend her dad and appoint Bessemer Trust as the sole conservator of the estate in November 2020, Ingham resisted calls to file formal papers to remove Jamie Spears, according to the petition.
Ingham did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment regarding Lynne Spears’ claims.
After Spears told the court in an explosive hearing on June 23 that the conservatorship was abusive and she wanted it to end, Lynne Spears asked the court to allow her daughter to hire her own attorney, saying she has been “able to care for” herself for years. And since the court permitted her to do just that, Lynne Spears and her attorneys have been assisting her daughter’s new attorney, Rosengart, “in learning the history of this matter and will continue to do so as requested.”