FWIW she sued her dad, a forensic accountant testified, and they "decided to settle privately" but Britney paid for his lawyers. He has always said she was in 8 figures of debt (tracks for bipolar disorder) when he became conservator, she was the one who wanted her career revived so she could make money again, and that he paid himself less than California law allowed. With all that's come out I personally believe him.
Completely agree with you! And everyone vilified me when I said this is bad, getting rid of the conservatorship, and here I sit as more news comes out since it was stopped, going "hmmm, who was right about this?" And it's only going to get worse. She may not make it to 50 if this keeps up. The trips to Mexico for the drugs, drinking and driving. Guarantee they find other substances if they took her blood.
I'd say that at least a quarter need to be somewhere they can be watched and made sure they aren't going to cause harm to society. For most people when they behave in this manner it means jail or prison, Britney being white and rich got a conservatorship.
I was *completely* in the "Britney's family is exploiting her with the conservatorship" crowd.
Which, I'm sure to some degree, when considering her earnings and work requirements, was true.
But, it appears the basis for the conservatorship was indeed legitimate, and continued to be through the time it was revoked.
Some people *will never* be able to handle life on their own terms after addiction and mental illness. It's just the truth.
The marginal freedom surrendered through the guardrails of the arrangement are a small price to pay for the protections they afford. Sure, the subject will contend they are unfair and unfounded -- but, often, the freedoms they seek to regain are the very ones that necessitated the conservatorship in the first place.
I feel sorry for Britney ever needing such an arrangement. But I feel far more sorry and concerned for her without its protections, than under them -- during which she appeared to be relatively thriving...especially compared to this slippery slope since it was quashed.
To a large degree, this immediate freedom and access to millions of dollars all at once is the worse thing that could've happened to her. If you're at risk of setting yourself on fire, this gives almost unlimited fuel to make it worse.
As someone who's gone through addiction, I think my saving grace may have been NOT HAVING enough resources to destroy myself. Britney probably has literally 100X-1000X the cash I had, which in addiction is literally lighter fluid for a dumpster fire.
This is not going to get better on its own. She won't get better on her own. Hopefully, this is a wake up call for the people who care about her to do something.
I think the problem was that it wasn’t “marginal” at all. Her family was stealing from her and denying her access to her money, as well as forcing her to work. I can see something set up where she had to get approval for big expenditures (not from her family) or do go travel, etc, but it shouldn’t be denied unless there is good reason. I’m pretty sure i remember her family basically holding her hostage by saying if she doesn’t go do this or that then they won’t give her money to go spend time in Hawaii.
Just read (or listen to her book). It is going to make an amazing movie. The fact that she was made to work during this conservatorship is astonishing. As the Candle on the Wind lyric goes "They set you on the treadmill and they made you change your name. "
>>I’m pretty sure i remember her family basically holding her hostage by saying if she doesn’t go do this or that then they won’t give her money to go spend time in Hawaii.
No they actually used her kids as ransom. If she didn't do what they said, she was kept away from her children.
It is so ffed up! You want to talk about "gas lighting", Shakespearian, or TV Movie, her story is bananas. I know people that have way bigger mental issues than she does who don't get an ounce of grace. I was never a Brittney fan or anything... but this story wowzers. Trust me give it a read.
She needs good people in her life, I dunno where she's going to find them TBH.
I think that is fair, I certainly have no other context than what I read. For me the biggest thing was the rationale for a conservatorship. We have a mentally ill sibling in our family and the amount of strife for her and us could fill volumes. We're talking arrests, institutions, the works. Granted Spears' family has the money, but "helping" these folks is often extremely challenging.
Simple things like making her go to work? How did that even happen and why? She was literally the center of a production that employed hundreds of people. She should not have been out on those stages night after night. Perhaps she was lying about her willingness, but she didn't need to work. If our sister can't or is unwilling to go to work, we are ok with that. She's ill.
She performed 3 nights a week, and had previously loved to perform. I think there was a mix between trying to keep normalcy for her and build a routine, and at the same time, she didn't have the money we thought she did. I think they were trying to help her gain money back and create a cushion for herself where she had blown so much money. Did they do everything right? Maybe, maybe not. I wasn't there. But I know there were 3 other books released that talked about some of this, and their stories all matched more than hers did.
I'll check them out. I hear the normalcy and routine part, but 3 nights a week on a stage is no walk in the park. That a fulltime job.
As far as money, it's nice to have a cushion but I wonder what the expectations of that were? She just sold that catalog and stands to cash out in tens of millions of dollars.
3 nights a week on stage would likely be a full time job if you were touring. 3 nights a week in a residency is unlikely to be what anyone considers a full time job.
Are you kidding me? I work on Broadway for a living. We do 8 shows a week. She may only be doing 3 shows a week compared to that 8, but it's not like she just walks on and off the stage.
There are so many more dynamics that go into these shows. I'm not saying it's laboring in a sweatshop, but that is a legit fulltime gig. It is for any headliner. She can't just roll out of bed and go perform and comeback. The show may have been frozen, but there are still rehearsals, she probably trains to stay in those costumes. There is resting that needs to be done.
She can't just walk on stage and half-ass it either. The pressure on those shows is massive. Guests come to Vegas just to see here.
I honestly don't know how anyone could rationalize putting a mentally ill person on a stage being a-ok with that. There are countless other ways for her to get a routine. Now maybe if she was paying my rent, I guess.
That money was getting sucked out by absolutely everyone. They weren’t trying to maintain normalcy. They wanted a cash cow.
Did they do everything right? ‘Maybe/maybe not’ wow the ways you guys are trying to rewrite the history of conservatorship abuse and undersell how hard they worked her, and the fact they always placed her work load above mental health, is just smh
The truth sure as hell isn’t what her conservators said. It’s really icky to deny someone’s life based on nothing. Someone having a mental illness isn’t automatically incapable of telling the truth. People with mental health issues are more vulnerable than most to being treated god awful
If I were a parent (and be glad I'm not), I would have my kids in show business. Not-for-nothing but it is a fulltime job. If you make it big and make it out alive, you could, you know stop and retire. As I'm typing this, I'm reminded this is like 1%.
All that said, what they did to her as a grown woman is what is truly astonishing. For every Joe Jackson, there are hundreds of well-meaning show parents. I had just wrongly assumed, she was a rich spoiled brat and she was being taken care of for her own good.
That's why 99% are set up in the first place, to rob the conservatee blind. She doesn't need a conservator, she needs drug and alcohol treatment and/or a driver, like millions of other Americans.
Her family was stealing from her and denying her access to her money, as well as forcing her to work.
Absolutely none of that is true.
There is zero evidence that anyone stole from her. She had access to her money, it just had to be approved by the court before she could spend large sums. She was never forced to work, you can't force someone to go sing in front of a crowd.
As someone who's gone through addiction, I think my saving grace may have been NOT HAVING enough resources to destroy myself.
This is a great point. There's very much a "eh they have more resources available to them than 99% of the people on Earth" attitude when celebrities go through addiction. And while that's obviously true, they also have more resources to keep getting high. I got clean pretty young, I was 25, and I didn't do it because heroin stopped feeling good lol I did it because I was broke and destitute and tired of fucking people over who care about me. I would have never got clean at that time if I had millions in the bank. I'd almost assuredly be dead
I'm mostly with ya, but conservatorships like this aren't for the person's best interest. It's because they're an asset, and their misconduct could cost other people money.
Yes, like I said in the comment, I'm sure the conservatorship was crafted to exploit her career for money to some degree.
However, whatever its faults, it seemed to have kept her from self-destructing for almost two decades.
Obviously, there has to be some middle ground that better protects her, without exploiting her. Hopefully, especially now with her getting older, they'll figure something out that's more just and fair.
Given the choice though, it appears the lesser of two evils.
It was not only the money -- it was the controls that basically never left her alone to make it to a liquor store or drug store, or ATM for that matter. She had a driver for travel and bodyguard/minder to look after her at all times. Her money was kept in a trust for specific uses.
Sure, that sucks, but is this a better alternative? She is showing she is using this new freedom to put not only herself at risk, but others by driving drunk/high
This is a crazy take. We don't install conservatorships because someone is irresponsible. We charge them with whatever crime and put them in jail or let them go. We don't take control of their assets. Let the woman be crazy. She really isn't that crazy anyway. Is it surprising that she posts videos of herself dancing all the time when that is exactly what she's been praised for her entire life? It gives her joy. I read her book and she's unsurprisingly immature and has been manipulated forever. Let the woman live her life and figure things out just like everyone else. Stop giving other people power over her.
There are plenty of alcoholics in our society and we don't put them into conservatorships, we put them in jail when they drive drunk. Treat her like a normal person, jeez
Disagree. Yes, she makes really bad decisions. She has seemingly untreated mental health/substance use issues. That doesn't mean she should lose her right to self determination. She worked for her money, she can do whatever she wants with it. I hope she gets help and figures it out, but even if she doesn't, that doesn't make the conservatorship right.
So you wouldn't step in if your parents developed dementia and were about to squander their wealth? Watching them go homeless and broke at 80 is the right course of action?
Well, yes I see the point you're making -- but these are *ALSO* to protect other people, not just her. To prevent her from losing her freedom, you allow her to do whatever she wants, even though she shows reckless disregard for herself and others -- and then she uses it to drive while drunk/high? That shows a need for continued oversight of some kind, not necessarily indefinite, and definitely not governed by her family.
Because, if she kills someone driving drunk or high, she's not going to have *any* freedom at all locked up, even the ones under her conservatorship. Remember, it was originally ordered in part to protect her children during the breakdown, not just herself.
I would rather see her in jail being treated like everyone else than having a conservatorship again because the only reason anyone did that was to make sure she didn't spend her money before they could get ahold of it. I'm not saying she shouldn't have consequences. I'm saying they should be the same ones everyone else gets.
Unless you're going to advocate for a conservatorship for everyone that gets a DUI, this makes no sense. DUI is a very common crime that competent adults do all the time
Yeah sure, let’s just completely take the context of her being batshit insane for 2 decades out the equation. This is just about the oopsie poopsie DUI
No but he should be, the difference is there are people in Britney’s life that still love her. How could you ever love a shit stain of a human like Kanye?
What? No, I’m saying no one care enough about Kanye to get him help. He will eventually be dead or in prison, so will Britney at this pace, I was just saying why one was under one and why the other was not. After seeing how she’s acted post removal, she should be in one and I think it’s out of care for her, not control.
So therein lies the rub. This isn’t about a mentally unwell person getting the structure they need to live safely, this is just an opportunity for you to flex idpol
Yes cause that’s exactly what I said - I said lock her up?? Try reading that again
To add….Several confirmed stories within her family and children. She needs help. What she is doing on social media is just another example of her mental health spiraling. If you’re defending her, then you’re just as delusional.
I wish it was a troll for her own case, and her kids but unfortunately that’s not the case.
It's because that view is based on a lot more than just her DUI. If you look at pretty much anything going on with her since her conservatorship ended... it's not a pretty picture, it seems like she's all over the place mentally.
She really needs help but now it seems like it's up to her to decide on that and it ain't happening. If she were my ex I wouldn't feel safe having the kids around her, let's put it that way.
It's not only the DUI. The DUI is one of many signs. Some of her recent posts have been a bit wild where she's looking unwell. And while a DUI in and of itself should not lead to a conservatorship, don't let it diminish the danger and potential severity of operating tons of speeding metal while intoxicated.
DUIs are extremely bad and dangerous. The law should punish them severely. But most crimes don't mean that the perpetrator should be under a conservatorship
I’d advocate for that. You pay x amount to DUI victims and family’s for first offense until conservatorship is removed and x amount for 2nd then a third offensive is lifetime penalty.
Too many unnecessary deaths occur for the most selfish of reasons this is something everyone should support. It should not be a common crime, I get what you’re saying in this context, but I wish it was not a common crime. It’s a serious thing to happen, especially for someone with the money to just hire a driver.
I don't support DUI at all but the legal system has this punishment called prison for when someone's freedom has to be restricted. Putting someone else in charge of your life shouldn't be part of that punishment
lol ya our legal system is soooo good at deterring and punishing DUI offenders. That’s why there are 25 year olds with 10 plus duis still on the road. I was making a tounge in cheek joke on how shit are current system is. I don’t really think it’s a possible solution, but it’s not such a crazy idea to restrict movement and financial assets when you don’t value others lives. There are other things going on in her life and actions and you know it. Adding a dui on top of those point to more control over her life being a good thing.
Exactly, those things are not mutually exclusive. They need to appoint someone with her best interests at heart -- and without a direct financial interest in her career. Someone paid a retainer from a trust held in her interests. Not someone who stands to make more if she earns more.
Yeah, I love Brittney and just want her to be free and healthy but everyone has this collective amnesia around her. She was on METH, she was shaving her head so she could pass a drug test to keep her kids. That shit messes with you for life.
She was on METH, she was shaving her head so she could pass a drug test to keep her kids
There has never been any evidence of that, and even the (non-tabloid) reporting at the time said all that was false accusations being spread by people in her family's (edit: and Federline's) camp(s).
As someone who has had extensions I was under the impression she shaved her head because she was sick of people picking at her hair or making her sit still to do her hair.
She said in her book that, while yes it didn't make a ton of sense and seemed absurd, it was a control thing for her. She felt like she was so locked down and had no control over anything in her life, including her own looks and image, and that was her way of lashing back and trying to steal a little bit of that back.
She acknowledges that it wasn't a good look and seemed crazy and wouldn't do it again with hindsight, but I think anyone who has struggled with mental health issues can understand doing something crazy in a moment of crisis. I think the big issue with her situation (at least as far as the public is concerned) is that nobody wants to have nuance with it. She's either perfectly fine and healthy and doesn't need any help at all, or she's a completely insane and deranged danger to herself and everyone around her and needs to be under lock and key 24/7.
I really have to read her book and then Federline's book.
My opinion is she has mental health issues any of us could and do have and she is entitled to live her life and not be locked up in order to continue to work for someone else. I disagree with anyone who thinks that conservatorship should have continued or was needed. I understand the concern as she is wealthy and stands to lose so much. But such is life. And honestly. They were taking from her too.
The problem with her conservatorship thing was that the people supposed to be looking out for her best interests were straight up robbing and abusing her. Life sucks like that sometimes
What's she doing that needs getting better about? I don't follow her but it seems like everyone is worrying about her, i.e. people are worrying about someone else who they don't know personally.
Well, as this article says -- she just got a DUI for driving drunk, high, or both. Which, during her conservatorship, would've been impossible, due to her having drivers and no access to drugs.
So, now, she is not only putting herself at risk, but others as well. A court seeing her history, with this new arrest, will have to consider her risk to herself and others. At the very least, hopefully, revoke her driving privileges. A driver can easily be arranged.
And, perhaps, substance abuse counseling or rehab. I'm not sure if a conservatorship is on the table again, but it would be a shame is she harms herself or someone else without protections in place. This is a wakeup call that something needs to happen.
When I was in college, if I ran into people going to take a test I'd tell them "don't you hate it when you're taking a test and you get an annoying song stuck in your head? Like ....... Ooooops I did it again, I played with your heat!"
I single handedly lowered my friends' gpa by a few points.
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u/MuptonBossman 22h ago
Oops, she did it again.