Britney Spears’ father, Jamie, lost a new bid to be the sole conservator of his daughter’s estate.
On Thursday, a judge overruled Spears’ objection to being a co-conservator of the estate along with private financial firm Bessemer Trust, which was enacted in November by Judge Brenda Penny. Britney had also requested removing her father as conservator entirely, but that request was denied.
Britney’s lawyer, Samuel Ingham, said in court Thursday that the co-conservatorship is meant as “an equal division of responsibility, in the hopes that they would sit down and figure out together the best way to handle this complex estate for the benefit of my client.” Ingham added that “It’s no secret that my client does not want her father as co-conservator, but we recognize that removal is a separate issue.”
This is a small but promising development for the Free Britney movement, which maintains the singer’s life and financial decisions have been unfairly controlled since 2008, when the conservatorship was enacted. The documentary Framing Britney Spears, which debuted last weekend on Hulu, renewed scrutiny around Jamie Spears’ role in his daughter’s life and career—as well as the media’s insidious role in distorting Britney’s image.
Justin Timberlake, who was called out after the doc aired, apologized on Friday to both Spears and Janet Jackson, saying he wants to “take accountability for my own missteps.”
Britney has not directly commented on the documentary, but she posted to Instagram earlier this week, writing, “Remember, no matter what we think we know about a person’s life it is nothing compared to the actual person living behind the lens.”