Britney Spears conservatorship: Jamie Spears 'willing' to step down as singer's conservator
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 02: Singer Britney Spears performs onstage during 102.7 KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2016 presented by Capital One at Staples Center on December 2, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMed
LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears' father says he is ‘willing to step down’ from his role as conservator of the singer's estate.
According to a court document obtained by FOX 11, Jamie Spears is working with the court and the singer's attorney to "prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator."
Britney Spears' attorney Mathew Rosengart called Jamie Spears' decision to step down as "vindication" for his daughter.
"We are pleased that Mr. Spears and his lawyer have today conceded in a filing that he must be removed. It is vindication for Britney. We are disappointed, however, by their ongoing shameful and reprehensible attacks on Ms. Spears and others," Rosengart said, in part, in a statement.
Trial Attorney Dmitry Gorin says on the one hand, Jamie is saying he’ll step down but on the other— he’s asking the court to keep him as conservator.
"It's important to note the documents his lawyers filed maintain that he should not be removed that in fact, legally, he’s properly on the case, and that he's helped his daughter extensively during these proceedings," Gorin stated.
It is unknown if or when the singer's father will step down.
The singer has been in the conservatorship for about 13 years. Jamie Spears has been a co-conservator for his daughter after the pop superstar suffered a mental-health crisis in 2008. Leading up to Thursday's development, the conservator gave Jamie control of Britney's estate.
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For months, Britney Spears had been pushing for the conservatorship to end, calling the experience abusive and at one point this year, the singer revealed she had once considered suing her family.
"I’m not lying, I just want my life back," Spears told the Los Angeles Superior Court judge, Brenda Penny in a virtual court earlier in the year. "I want to end the conservatorship without being evaluated."
The singer's push to end the conservatorship has prompted a #FreeBritney movement across social media and even outside the courthouse during many of Spears' conservatorship hearings.
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Below is the full statement issued by Rosengart:
"I announced in Court on July 14 that, after 13 years of the status quo, it was time for Mr. Spears to be suspended or removed as conservator and that my firm and I would move aggressively and expeditiously for that outcome.
Twelve days later, my firm filed a Petition for Mr. Spears’s suspension and removal based on strong, insurmountable legal grounds, which were unequivocally supported by the law and all parties involved, including Jodi Montgomery, Britney Spears, and her medical team.
We are pleased that Mr. Spears and his lawyer have today conceded in a filing that he must be removed. It is vindication for Britney. We are disappointed, however, by their ongoing shameful and reprehensible attacks on Ms. Spears and others.
We look forward to continuing our vigorous investigation into the conduct of Mr. Spears, and others, over the past 13 years, while he reaped millions of dollars from his daughter’s estate, and I look forward to taking Mr. Spears’s sworn deposition in the near future.
In the interim, rather than making false accusations and taking cheap shots at his own daughter, Mr. Spears should remain silent and step aside immediately."