How Britney is determined to regain control of her life
As the fight for her full independence continues, Britney Spears is looking to the future with Sam Asghari
❛ SHE WANTS TO GET HER BOYS BACK AND THEN START A FAMILY WITH SAM ❜
She is one of the world’s biggest popstars but since her infamous
2007 meltdown, Britney Spears has been subject to “conservatorship”, which has seen her father, Jamie, and appointed “minders” have control over her personal, financial and career decisions.
The star, who shot to fame in the late ’90s with global chart-toppers, is now determined to prove she can live independently and is hoping that the rules of the legal contract could be lifted during a civil trial next month.
A source tells Closer, “Britney’s going to every effort to prove to welfare evaluators and psychology experts that she can take care of herself. She’s attending all her mental health appointments, adhering to a healthy lifestyle, being a responsible and engaged mum to her boys, and even having coaching with a financial expert to prove how dedicated she is to taking back the reins of her £42million fortune.”
LEGAL FIGHT
Britney – who’s making sure she is at her fittest and healthiest, posting her workout routines and nutritious cooking on Instagram – is also keen to make a fresh start with her long-term boyfriend Sam Asghari.
The source adds, “Sam’s trying to keep her spirits high and help her stay positive while ensuring she doesn’t get her hopes up and doesn’t spiral if her bid is not successful.”
Between 2008 and September 2019, Britney’s dad, Jamie, had legal control over Britney’s estate and financial and personal assets. He earned £100k a year acting as Britney’s conservator before being temporarily replaced, after falling ill, by her long-term care worker, Jodi Montgomery, last September. The conservatorship – or guardianship – reportedly means Brit needs permission before she can spend her own money, date someone, hire a lawyer or make career decisions.
Britney had been under the conservatorship since a series of meltdowns in 2007, which saw her shave off her hair, attack a photographer’s car with an umbrella, and get wheeled out of her Beverly Hills mansion on a stretcher, before being sectioned in a mental health facility.
Following her recovery, Britney was awarded 50-50 custody of her two sons, Sean, 14, and Jayden, 13, with ex Kevin Federline. She also released an album every couple of years, held down a Las Vegas residency and went on her sellout Piece Of Me tour in 2018.
But cracks began to show in January 2019 when Britney announced she was taking a break from work. Three months later, she checked into a mental health facility before reportedly asking the courts to end her conservatorship. At the time, Britney’s mum, Lynne, claimed her daughter was in “dire shape” and “needed her mother”. Until last September, Britney – who had her custody slashed from 50 per cent to 30 per cent by Kevin last year – credited her father with saving her life and they remained close until he allegedly clashed with Britney’s son Sean, although
Jamie denies an altercation taking place.
The conservatorship has generated controversy. It was reported last week that Britney’s mum, Lynne – who is divorced from Jamie, and has publicly disagreed with him having conservatorship over their daughter – had put in a request to a Los Angeles court to be included in any “special notice” of all matters regarding her daughter’s finances, seemingly aimed at helping her escape her current legal control.
FANS’ SUPPORT
Meanwhile Britney’s former photographer, Andrew Gallery, shared a letter allegedly penned by Britney in 2009, claiming she was “lied to and set up” by Jamie. The letter says she is a “completely different person” to her former troubled self and alleges she was manipulated into her 2007 divorce from Kevin.
He continued, “As for Kevin saying Britney divorced him, she was forced into saying it because she went to visit him in NY and he wouldn’t see her and the children, and her lawyers said if she doesn’t divorce him, he’s going to do it himself. No one knows the truth. She was lied to and set up. Her children were taken away and she did spin out of control, which any mother would in those circumstances.”
Some fans think the star is being manipulated, which has fuelled the #FreeBritney movement. Last week, the hashtag reached 50 million on TikTok and over 600,000 fans have signed a change.org petition demanding to allow her to choose her own lawyer.
Insiders recently told Closer how fitness trainer Sam – who’s been dating Britney since 2016 – has been her “rock” during the turmoil. And pals say she’s focusing on trying to regain more custody of her two sons.
CUSTODY HEARING
The source adds, “Britney’s desperate to be awarded more time with the boys and at least have it split 50/50, which she’s hoping will happen at their next custody hearing. The ideal situation would be to have her conservatorship lifted next month and then to get her boys back. Then she can look at starting a family with Sam towards the end of the year.”
And while she’s put her music career on hold, pals say she’s not ready to hang up her pop crown. The source adds, “Brit insists this isn’t the end of her career and she’s been using lockdown to work on ideas for another album, crediting her music to being part of her therapy.
“While she has no plans to make a musical comeback until she feels mentally and physically stable enough, she’s praying that when she does, she’ll have full control and, hopefully, another child, so she can have the happy ending she deserves.”