Britney Spears’ documents will stay sealed to protect medical records

LOS ANGELES — Britney Spears’ conservatorship is over, but the legal proceedings in its wake have continued. And they’re getting even more contentious.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny granted a motion Wednesday to seal the termination plan of the singer’s nearly 14-year conservatorship to protect her “right to privacy over her private medical information.” Penny also rejected Spears’ father’s request to reserve funds in the conservatorship, according to court documents reviewed Thursday by The Times.

Those decisions were made during a heated hearing discussing finances and accounting, as well as requests made by several former attorneys to collect legal fees incurred.

Going into the hearing Wednesday, the entertainer’s attorney, Mathew Rosengart, who was instrumental in ending her conservatorship in November, rejected the notion that Spears should pay her father Jamie Spears’ estimated $30 million in legal bills while he served as her conservator. Rosengart also fervently shut down Jamie’s attorney’s suggestion to have the entertainer’s medical records unsealed.

In court filings, Rosengart fired off a litany of objections to Jamie Spears’ requests, accusing him of financial misconduct and other improprieties such as reading his 40-year-old daughter’s therapy notes and privileged communications with her lawyers.

The tension continued in the courtroom Wednesday when the attorneys squabbled over purported “lies” that they believe shaped public opinion about the case.

Jamie Spears’ attorney, Alex M. Weingarten, accused Rosengart of planting fake stories in the media, Variety reported, an allegation that Rosengart vehemently denied.

Rosengart reportedly asked that Weingarten be admonished: “He has attacked me. He has attacked this court. And it is intolerable,” Rosengart said.

Indeed, much of the “… Baby One More Time” hit-maker’s case had been shrouded in mystery, but the singer finally spoke up and asserted last summer that she felt constrained and abused under the legal arrangement, which long controlled her day-to-day activities, as well as her finances, for nearly 14 years before it was terminated.

Weingarten in court Wednesday reportedly contended that the conservatorship was put into place because the singer “was irresponsible with her finances.” But Penny shut down that declaration, reportedly saying: “Please, let’s not go there. Let’s not go down that road.”

The next major hearing in the case has been set for July 27.