Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
HOSTAGE TO FORTUNE
Her father controls her millions, now a new documentary asks if Britney Spears will ever be free
The conspiracy theory has been raging for more than a decade – is pop icon Britney Spears being held hostage by her father so that he can control her finances, or is he simply trying to protect her wellbeing? Her army of loyal fans believe it’s the former, and they’re so intent on saving her they’ve launched a ‘Free Britney’ movement that’ s gathering momentum.
Since 2008 Britney has been under a conservatorship order, which means others – her father
Jamie included – control what she does, who she sees and how she spends her money. The official line is that it’s about protecting her money, and even her life, following years of mental health struggles. But fans claim it’s an abuse of her human rights. Britney herself has recently taken steps to remove her father, and now a new BBC2 documentary from BAFTAwinning journalist Mobeen Azhar delves in and asks whether the former teenage pop princess will ever taste freedom again.
The only access her fans have to their idol is via her social media accounts, with some believing even they are controlled, while others say she’s sending coded messages asking for help. Billy Bradfield, Britney’s long-term friend and make-up artist, says she’s clear on what she wants. ‘It’s this super-complex thing, but she just wants to be able to drive her car when she wants to. Currently she does not have that right.’
Born and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Britney was groomed for stardom by her mother Lynne. She enrolled her in talent competitions, put her on as many TV shows as she could and got her an agent. And it worked – at 16, Britney got the record deal that launched her career and her first two albums, Baby One More Time and Oops I Did It Again, turned her into a household name.
But it soon became clear that Britney was struggling to deal with life in the spotlight and in 2007 she had a very public breakdown which saw her shave her head and attack a photographer’s car with an umbrella. She ended up in a mental institution and in early 2008 her father took control by securing the conservatorship.
But Billy refutes any suggestion that it’s for her own protection. ’ That’ s not true ,’ he says. ‘It’s important to point out that there is an army of attorneys on the conservatorship side working against Britney, and her money is paying for them, while she only has a court-appointed attorney.
‘Britney is in a place now where she has nothing to be ashamed of. She has no problem with everything that happened, she’s past that. We know she had challenges, like we all do, but she’d like it that her family didn’t need to be involved, so there could be some healing.’
At the heart of the issue is her fortune, thought to be £50 million, with Britney’s supporters believing it’s her bank balance that’s driving the legal battle and not what’s best for her. Samuel Ingham has been her courtappointed lawyer for 12 years.
Lisa Maccarley, a legal expert in conservatorships, reveals the eyewatering legal bills Britney’s estate is being forced to pay him.
‘It’s my understanding that Mr Ingham receives $10,000 a week,’ she tells Mobeen. ‘When they deprived her of an attorney of her own choice, that is the day justice died for Britney Spears. There is no outside agency you can approach to say this is a systemic flaw.’
Mobeen meets a host of people who think they know what’s going on, from blogger Jordan Miller who orchestrated ‘Free Britney’ and says Jamie Spears threatened to destroy him, to celebrity journalist Perez Hilton who believes Britney would be dead without the order. Yet Mobeen is none the wiser as to exactly what the truth is .‘ it feels like the only people winning are the lawyers,’ he says. ‘Like the fans I was hoping for a happy ending, but I don’t know what that is. There’s no doubt the law is open to abuse. At the centre is Britney in a gilded cage. She never asked to be the poster girl of legal reform, she just wanted to be a star. But that status could end up holding
her prisoner.’ n
Katie Begley The Battle For Britney: Fans, Cash And A Conservatorship, Wednesday, 9pm, BBC2, and on BBC iplayer now.