During this time, Spears was spotted driving her SUV with her son, Sean Preston, on her lap instead of strapped in the car seat. That's not to mention her infamous head-shaving incident, and the time she was seen attacking a photographer's car with an umbrella.
In 2008, Spears made several trips to rehab and was committed twice to a psychiatric ward — also known as a 5150 hold in California, where Spears lives, reported Laura Newberry for the Los Angeles Times. Newberry spent three months examining Spears' conservatorship.
Her father, Jamie Spears, petitioned for an emergency "temporary conservatorship" following Spears' second psychiatric hold, Newberry reported.
A conservatorship is also known as a legal guardianship. It's granted to those who are incapable of making decisions, such as the mentally disabled or the elderly. Law experts told Newberry a conservatorship is "unusual for someone as young and productive as Spears."
Jamie was granted oversight of her estate and health, which involves everything from negotiating business opportunities to restricting visitors, while attorney Andrew Wallet was assigned to help manage her financial assets.
Wallet once called the arrangement a "hybrid business model." As Newberry explains, this could mean that the conservatorship has helped Britney seal business deals she wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
In 2019, Jamie requested to extend his daughter's conservatorship to more than 10 states, including Hawaii, Florida, and Louisiana, Newberry reported.
Spears' most recent financial documents revealed that, as of 2018, she has a net worth of $59 million. She spent $400,000 on living expenses and $66,000 on household supplies.
She also spent $1.1 million on her legal and conservator fees that year. Her father took home $128,000 of that.
Spears was granted a restraining order against Sam Lufti in 2009 and 2019. He had reportedly claimed to be her former manager and was deemed by those close to Spears as a bad influence during her mental breakdowns.
The pop star's lawyers accused Lufti of attempting to "insinuate himself into Ms. Spears' life with disastrous results for her," Lisa Respers France reported for CNN, citing court filings. He was also accused of sending her mom disparaging texts to disrupt the conservatorship.
The most recent restraining order reportedly says Lufti must stay at least 200 yards away from Spears and can't make "disparaging public statements" about her, her family, her conservator, or her current manager, according to CNN.
A fan site began the #FreeBritney campaign in 2009 as a response to the conservatorship, reported Julia Jacobs for The New York Times. Even celebrities like Taryn Manning and Miley Cyrus have publicly expressed concern for Spears.
Newberry found no "independent evidence" that the conservatorship was harming Spears. The singer's attorney, Stanton Stein, told Newberry that Spears is involved in all career and business decisions. Two anonymous sources also told Chloe Melas of CNN that Spears has more control over her life than it appears.
"The conservatorship is not a jail," Larry Rudolph, Britney's manager, told Emily Yahr of The Washington Post. "It helps Britney make business decisions and manage her life in ways she can't do on her own right now."
Until 2019, Spears dropped an album every two to three years. She also had a four-year Las Vegas residency; her final performance grossed $1.1 million, the highest ever reported for a single theater Las Vegas residency show. That's not to mention her Piece of Me Tour in 2018 grossed an estimated $54.6 million.
During this time, Spears also launched clothing and perfume lines, landed a luxury fashion campaign, and served as a judge on The X Factor.
Spears had put her new Las Vegas residency, "Domination," on hold to deal with her mental health.
In April 2019, a fan podcast called "Britney's Gram" released a voicemail from an anonymous source who claimed to be a former paralegal involved with the conservatorship. He said that Spears was forced to attend the mental health facility. The podcast hosts told Yahr they verified the source's employment, but didn't give specifics.
But a source close to Spears told Melas that she checked into the mental health facility voluntarily to deal with the serious health issues her father was facing and because her medication stopped working. And Newberry reported that three weeks after checking in, Spears posted to Instagram: "Don't believe everything you read and hear."
Wallet wrote in court filings that the "conservatorship is engaged in numerous ongoing business activities requiring immediate attention," and that it was best he resign immediately, Newberry reported. Otherwise, Spears would suffer "substantial detriment, irreparable harm, and immediate danger," he wrote.
Wallet has said he's prevented "the many hundreds" of people working with Spears from giving her drugs, saving her from a financial crisis. The resignation might be a sign that he disagreed with Jamie on conservatorship terms, a lawyer whom Spears once spoke with about possibly contesting the conservatorship told Newberry.
A source close to Spears told Melas this is nothing new: "Of course she wants it [the conservatorship] to end, because she's not of the right mental state to understand her issues."
A lawyer claiming to represent Spears tried to end her conservatorship in 2009 but was denied by the judge, reported Yahr, adding that Spears' conservatorship terms wouldn't have allowed her to make this hire.
After the May hearing, Rudolph (Spears' manager) said he wasn't "sure if or when she will ever want to work again."
TMZ reported that Jamie filed paperwork stating he wanted to temporarily step down as conservator so he could focus on his health.
However, the move came after Jamie allegedly had an altercation with Spears' son, Sean, reported Kat Tenbarge for Insider. Spears' ex-husband and father of her two children, Kevin Federline, filed a police report that led to a child-abuse investigation. Charges weren't filed, but their children were reportedly granted a restraining order against Jamie.
The judge allowed Jamie to step down from his conservator role over Spears' personal life, but not her financial life. Jodi Montgomery, Spears' "care manager," was appointed as temporary conservator at Jamie's request, according to PEOPLE.
Jamie claimed that Elia falsely suggested that Jamie and his team were using social media to hurt Spears' image, making it seem that Spears was unstable and needed a conservatorship, Cori A. Robinson reported for Above The Law. These suggestions evoked several death threats against those involved in the conservatorship.
In December, the court ordered Elia to stop the claims against the conservatorship, particularly those suggesting the conservatorship is harming Spears.
Lynne, who is divorced from Jamie, filed a legal motion in early 2019 to be involved in the conservatorship process — she wanted to stay informed and have a say on her daughter's medical issues, Melas reported, citing court filings. She was reportedly present at Spears' court hearings that year.
Lynne has also reportedly been spotted "liking" comments on Instagram about the #FreeBritney movement, Yahr wrote. And when fans noticed that positive comments were being deleted from Spears' social media accounts, Lynne responded to an Instagram post saying she also noticed the comments had disappeared, Guy reported.
Montgomery will also remain temporary conservator until that date, reported Sarah Guy for International Business Times.
According to The Blast, which obtained new legal documents, the judge extended the conservatorship while those involved "figure out what is best" for Spears.
"Here we have a 37-year-old woman strong enough to be in the public eye and perform, but is supposedly not strong enough to look after her own children and her money," pop culture researcher Marc Brennan told Newberry.
Rudolph told Yahr Spears' father wants Spears to be free of the conservatorship. "He doesn't want this to continue forever," he said. "It's his daughter. He wants to see her happy. A functional life without any intervention like this."
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