Names and faces
■ Britney Spears’ father has asked a judge to end the conservatorship that has controlled the singer’s life and money for 13 years. James Spears filed his petition to terminate the conservatorship Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. “As Mr. Spears has said again and again, all he wants is what is best for his daughter,” the document said. “If Ms. Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Mr. Spears believes that she should get that chance.” Judge Brenda Penny, who oversees the case, will need to approve the move. In an email, Britney Spears attorney Matthew Rosengart said the filing “represents another legal victory for Britney Spears — a massive one — as well as vindication for Ms. Spears.” James Spears, who said in an Aug. 12 filing that he was planning to step down, but offered no timetable, has been the target of much of the anger surrounding the conservatorship from his daughter and the public. James Spears gave up his control over his daughter’s life decisions in 2019, keeping only his role overseeing her money. The conservatorship was established in 2008 when Britney Spears began to publicly struggle with her mental health due to intense media coverage and hordes of paparazzi following her everywhere. Tuesday’s filing said that Penny’s decision to allow her to select Rosengart as her attorney demonstrates that the court trusts her with major choices and that evidence shows she has apparently “demonstrated a level of independence” in her daily activities.
■ Ethel Kennedy, the wife of the late Robert F. Kennedy, says assassin Sirhan Sirhan should not be released from prison, further roiling a family divide over whether the man convicted of killing her husband in California in 1968 should be freed on parole. In a brief statement released on Twitter Tuesday by her daughter, lawyer and activist Kerry Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy said bluntly: “He should not be paroled.” “Bobby believed we should work to ‘tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of the world,’” Kennedy, 93, wrote, adding: “Our family and our country suffered an unspeakable loss due to the inhumanity of one man. We believe in the gentleness that spared his life, but in taming his act of violence, he should not have the opportunity to terrorize again.” Her statement came a week after former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, RFK’s oldest son, also denounced the possible parole of Sirhan, 77. Two other RFK offspring, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Douglas Kennedy, have said they support the release. Last month, the California Parole Board found that Sirhan no longer poses a threat to society after serving 53 years of a life sentence. The ruling will be sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will make the final decision.