EXCLUSIVEBritney Spears Looking To Terminate Conservatorship & Retire From The Music Biz
Dec. 22 2020, Published 7:35 p.m. ET
Britney Spears is ready to take back control of her life. Multiple sources tell OK! that after more than a decade, Britney wants her father to be replaced as her conservator as part of a longterm plan that culminates with her leaving the music industry after more than two decades.
It is a plan that has been in the works for the past three years, explained one source with knowledge of the proceedings. "Britney and her father certainly have a rocky relationship at times, but this decision is not about Britney wanting to fire her father," said that individual. "She wants to terminate the conservatorship."
Jamie Spears has been in charge of Britney's life since 2008, and by all accounts had done an exemplary job despite some initial hesitations. Over the past year, however, there has been a shift, and growing concerns that Jamie might not be working with his daughter's best interests in mind. Sources say Britney is also ready to be more transparent about her life and mental health struggles, something her father is firmly against at this time. As a result, his relationship with Britney is fractured at the moment.
"Jamie is great and he is able to get the things done that no one wants to get done, because at the end of the day Britney is going to listen to her daddy," explained a source close to the family. "But I don't think he and Britney are even speaking at this point. And it's been months. The people who have really been there for Britney are her boys, Lynne, and Felicia."
Her 'boys' are sons Sean, 15, and Jayden, 14, and her boyfriend of four years, Sam Asghari. Lynne is of course Britney's mother, Lynne Spears, and Felicia her longtime assistant, Felicia Culotta. It has been the practice of both Lynne and Felicia to protect Britney from the start, which is why they both supported Jamie and the conservatorship.
"Britney was in financial ruin and surrounded by shifty characters with not a single trustworthy person by her side when this conservatorship went into effect," said the family source. "She had just gotten divorced, just had a baby, her aunt died, and then the worst thing of all I think was that Felicia took another job with the Jonas Brothers. These snakes were all just waiting to slither up next to Britney cause they knew that once Felicia was gone they could strike."
Things had been fraught prior to Felicia's exit, but Britney's downward spiral accelerated at a rapid rate in the months after the exit of her longtime assistant. Even more impressive, however, was the rate at which her father and the court-appointed co-conservator Andrew Wallet were able to turn things around.
"I always thought it was funny to hear people talk about Britney's conservator life like it was some kind of vacation or a relaxing trip to Canyon Ranch after Jamie took over," noted one person involved in the initial planning of her conservatorship. "But in that first year she is back doing TV a guest role on How I Met Your Mother, giving MTV its best ratings ever with her documentary Britney For the Record, opening the VMAs and, in my opinion, looking the best she ever has in her career on that red carpet."
That person continued: "Oh, and she hits number one again for 'Womanizer,' films that music video, gets a Grammy nomination, drops Circus and shatters pretty much all the pop music records when that debuts at one."
It has not let up since, as Britney has released five albums (The Singles Collection, Femme Fatale, B in the Mix: The Remixes Vol. 2, Britney Jean and Glory); pocketed $15 million to appear as a judge on X-Factor; recorded tracks with Rihanna ("S&M"), will.i.am ("Scream & Shout"), Iggy Azalea ("Pretty Girls"), Miley Cyrus ("Bangerz") and the Backstreet Boys; done three North American tours (Circus, Femme Fatale and Piece of Me), which grossed $330 million; and booked two Vegas residencies. This would all seem to work in Britney's favor since conservatorships are generally reserved for the elderly or infirm, but those close to her have long been much more concerned about her performances in front of smaller audiences.
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"I remember everyone freaking out about depositions," recalled the source. "And it was warranted at the start but I mean — look, I do not think there is anything nefarious going on here and these people really just want to protect Britney, but it is hard to argue that a woman who has amassed $60 million in wealth over the past 12 years while holding down a residency in Las Vegas and raising two polite and well-behaved boys is not of sound enough mind to sit for a deposition?"
That tactic eventually failed, and Britney was deposed back in 2016 by lawyers for Sam Lufti. She also ended an engagement to Jason Trawick in 2013, watched her ex-husband and the father of her children remarry in 2012, and finally spoke about her split with Justin Timberlake in 2011 after allowing him to control the narrative for a decade. At no point did any of these difficult events cause her to spiral or relapse into alcohol or drug abuse.
There was a spiral last year, however, when a series of traumatic events all happened at once. Her ex-husband Kevin Federline got a restraining order against Jamie after an incident between the man and one of his grandsons, Wallet left his post, and Jamie suffered a ruptured colon.
Britney, who may have been on a newly-introduced cocktail of drugs, ended up seeking treatment. It is unclear if this was at Jamie's insistence or she admitted herself, but when she left it became clear what she wanted to do next.
A judge last month put a wrench in Britney's plans, however, by allowing Jamie to stay on in his role until next September, though a new co-conservator has been assigned to work alongside him after sone financial issues came to light. It seems unlikely that the court will extend the conservatorship beyond that point, especially after Lynne herself chose to appear in court to back her daughter and call the dealings between Britney and her father "toxic."
"Britney loves to perform and she loves her fans, but her life revolves around her boys and her family," said the family source. "As for her career, there have been ups and there have been downs, but she is in a place where she is fondly looking back at her 20 years in the industry. And that's why she is ready to pack it up for good once she has completed her work obligations, reached an agreement with the record label, and wrapped up her residency which has been on hiatus indefinitely."
When asked what her new life might look like, the source replied: "Her Instagram account."
It should not surprise her biggest fans, however, or any of the 5.6 million people who watched her MTV documentary and saw the young pop star fighting back tears while she described her situation, saying: “I have really good days, and then I have bad days. Even when you go to jail, y'know, there’s the time when you’re gonna get out. But in this situation, it’s never ending. It's just like Groundhog Day every day.”
