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Britney Spears shares texts sent from mental health facility

<p dir="ltr">Britney Spears has shared - and quickly deleted - a series of screenshots of messages she sent her mother, childhood friend and former lawyer during a 2019 stay in a mental health facility she alleges she was forced into.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-be7e98ca-7fff-540d-2be6-a1f8b2823146">“It’s a little different with proof,” Spears captioned the now-deleted post on Instagram on Monday, per <em><a href="https://pagesix.com/2022/07/25/britney-spears-shares-texts-she-sent-from-mental-health-facility/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Page Six</a></em>.</span></p> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/07/brit-text2.jpg" alt="" width="1279" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Britney Spears claimed her messages went unanswered in a now-deleted post on social media. Image: Page Six</em></p> <p dir="ltr">The first screenshot shows texts the Toxic singer sent to her mum, Lynne Spears, which she claimed Lynne didn’t respond to.</p> <p dir="ltr">“He was saying he wants to UP the seraquil [sic] and I’m like whoaaaaaaa horsey go f**k yourslwf [sic],” the first text reads.</p> <p dir="ltr">It is unclear whether the pop star was referring to a doctor at the facility or her dad, Jamie Spears, who controlled her medical care as her conservator.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Seraquil I thought was a sleep aid but it’s for bipolar and is WAAAAAY Stronger than lithium,” she continued in the text messages.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I literally feel alll [sic] the sick medicine in my stomach.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I feel like he’s trying to kill me. I swear to god I do.”</p> <p dir="ltr">According to <a href="https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-4718/seroquel-oral/details" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WedMD</a>, Seroquel, also known as quetiapine, is an antipsychotic medication used to treat mood disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.</p> <p dir="ltr">Spears claimed that she got “no response” from Lynne at the time, but heard from her when she checked out of the facility.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f1897ebd-7fff-94cf-c771-221c384f61e5"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“Her words were, ‘You should have let me visit you and give you a hug’,” Spears wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/07/brit-texts1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Britney Spears shared screenshots of texts sent to her mother (left) and her childhood friend Jensen Fitzgerald (right) which she claims went unanswered. Images: Page Six</em></p> <p dir="ltr">In the second screenshot, Spears messaged her friend Jansen Fitzgerald to help her find a new lawyer, having been appointed a lawyer to represent her when her conservatorship began in 2008 and not having the right to hire her own counsel until 2021.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I need John bells [sic] number please,” the text to Fitzgerald reads. “When u can.”</p> <p dir="ltr">She went on to ask her friend about lithium, the mood-stabilising drug Spears said made her feel “drunk” after her medication was changed without her say.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I have a feeling well you will say OK but it still doesn’t make sense,” Spears wrote, adding in the caption that she “never heard back” from Fitzgeral either.</p> <p dir="ltr">But, her friend took to social media on Monday afternoon and insisted she “did respond”, speculating that “some of [her] messages were deleted” from Spears’ phone, which Jaime allegedly monitored.</p> <p dir="ltr">“When she left the facility my phone number was blocked from her and we have never spoken again,” Fitzgerald added. “I have tried to reach her through every possible outlet and always failed.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Lynee shared Fitzgerald’s response on her own Instagram pagel and that she has “all the ‘whole conversations as well”.</p> <p dir="ltr">In the final screenshot, Spears can be seen messaging her court-appointed lawyer, Samuel D Ingham III, telling him she wanted to change after she was released from the facility.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I want to talk about going to court when this is done and getting my medical rights,” she wrote..</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7cd90e57-7fff-3652-6652-6663af93272d"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“When this program is over I don’t want to work at all … I want to live for me and have an adventurous life,” Britney told Ingham.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/07/brit-texts2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>A screenshot of messages between Britney Spears and her court-appointed lawyer were also shared in the since-deleted post. Image: Page Six</em></p> <p dir="ltr">Ingham went on to resign in 2021, being replaced by former federal prosecutor Mathew Rosengart.</p> <p dir="ltr">In her caption, Spears also claimed her sister, Jaimie Lynn Spears, texted her the message: “They’re not gonna let you go so why are you fighting it”.</p> <p dir="ltr">During her <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/entertainment/music/i-am-traumatised-britney-spears-speaks-out-against-dad-for-the-first-time-ever" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first-ever public court speech</a> last year, Spears claimed her father sent her to a mental health facility against her will after a disagreement over her Las Vegas residency.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My dad and anyone involved in this conservatorship – and my management, who played a huge role in punishing me when I said no – ma’am, they should be in jail,” she told the judge at the time.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-712814d6-7fff-9700-f41b-eae8f7f15fe4"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @britneyspears (Instagram)</em></p>

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“We ain’t done”: What happens now Britney Spears is free

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a landmark decision, Britney Spears has been freed from her conservatorship after almost 14 years.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Effective today, the conservatorship of the person and estate of Britney Jean Spears is hereby terminated,” Judge Brenda Penny said after the hearing on Friday.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ms Spears appeared at the hearing virtually, and later shared a clip of her fans celebrating outside the courthouse.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CWMXjAMp-aJ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CWMXjAMp-aJ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Britney Spears (@britneyspears)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The decision comes two months after her father Jamie Spears stepped down as her conservator.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The singer’s lengthy legal battle began gaining traction on social media in 2020, with a group of fans called the #FreeBritney movement being behind most of the growing attention.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Outside of their full-time jobs, fans began investigating the details of Ms Spear’s conservatorship, looking for clues on her social media pages, examining court documents, and holding demonstrations outside court hearings and concerts to raise awareness of the situation.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now that she’s free, some of her fans have begun teaming up with disability rights advocates to increase awareness of the estimated 1.3 million Americans living under conservatorships.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speaking to a small gathering of the movement near the White House in October, disability rights campaigner and lawyer Jonathan Martinis called for the movement to expand beyond freeing Britney.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We ain’t done,” he </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-14/britney-spears-shines-light-on-america-conservatorship-laws/100605612" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “And we ain’t going anywhere until Free Britney becomes Free the People.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jasmine Harris, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said Ms Spears would likely still be under the control of her conservator had she not been able to speak out in open court.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845646/britney5.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/b37d5cc810ee444ea429f0da369ee9e6" /></span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">#FreeBritney protestors celebrate outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse following Friday’s hearing. Image: Getty Images</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She also said the #FreeBritney movement has raised awareness about how these kinds of arrangements trap people with disabilities.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This affects young people with disabilities across the country. And so this deserves our sustained attention,” she told </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/nov/14/freebritney-movement-britney-spears-conservatorship" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Guardian</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Judy Mark, the cofounder and president of Disability Voices United, which worked with the movement, agreed that Ms Spears’ freedom could be attributed to the movement.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“That never would have happened a year ago,” she said. “All of this changed the day Britney Spears got on the phone and spoke to the judge about how bad things are and the only way that happened is because of the #FreeBritney movement.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ms Mark said the fight for those still under conservatorships needed to happen, while people still remembered what happened to Britney.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We realise this is a moment in time that we must take advantage of,” she said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The moment may not come again.”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Getty Images</span></em></p>

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“The court was wrong”: James Spears speaks out on conservatorship decision

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After his immediate suspension from conservatorship of his daughter, Britney Spears, Jamie Spears has since issued a statement via his attorney, Vivan Thoreen on Thursday.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Mr Spears loves his daughter Britney unconditionally,” the statement said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“For thirteen years, he has tried to do what is in her best interests, whether as a conservator or her father. THis started with agreeing to serve as her conservator when she voluntarily entered into the conservatorship. This included helping her revive her career and re-establish a relationship with her children.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“For anyone who has tried to help a family member dealing with mental health issues, they can appreciate the tremendous amount of daily worry and work this required. For Mr Spears, this also meant biting his tongue and not responding to all the false, speculative, and unsubstantiated attacks on him by certain members of the public, media, or more recently, Britney’s own attorney.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“These facts make the outcome of yesterday’s hearing all the more disappointing, and frankly, a loss for Britney.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The statement goes on to point out that Mr Spears “took the initiative” in petitioning to terminate the conservatorship and claims that the court was wrong to suspend him and replace him with “a stranger”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Judge Brenda Penny ruled that Mr Spears would no longer serve as the conservator of his daughter’s estate and immediately removed him from control of her finances.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I believe that the suspension is in the best interest of the conservatee,” Penny said. “The current situation is untenable.”</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUbMCJKsRbJ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUbMCJKsRbJ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Britney Spears (@britneyspears)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the days following the court’s decision, Ms Spears and her fiance Sam Asghari shared pictures from their celebratory trip to a tropical paradise.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A hearing has been set for November 12 to determine whether the conservatorship will be ended.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: britneyspears / Instagram</span></em></p>

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Britney Spears’ fiancé comments on new Netflix doco

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sam Asghari, Britney Spears’ fiance, has spoken out following the release of the trailer for Netflix documentary </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Britney vs Spears</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The streaming giant released the trailer one week out from it’s airing, prompting a comment from Asghari.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I hope the profit from these docs go towards fighting injustice #freebritney,” he wrote on Instagram.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spears hasn’t directly commented on the new film covering her conservatorship battle, but some have said she doesn’t endorse it.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is another unauthorised documentary without her blessing or participation,” one source told </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://pagesix.com/2021/09/22/britney-spears-netflix-doc-done-without-her-blessing/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Page Six</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Previously, the star didn’t endorse the </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">New York Times’ Framing Britney Spears</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> documentary, saying that she was “embarrassed” by it without watching it.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The new documentary comes a week after Spears and Asghari shared </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/britney-spears-announces-engagement-takes-social-media-break?fbclid=IwAR3oQk_JWMBRFwLbcrDBjA6snAVzORSFg23Xz-3AqYit05ZBDDWTd8YvJzs" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">news of their engagement</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on social media.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spears also announced she would be taking a break from social media two days later but has since returned to Instagram and Twitter.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The new documentary will debut on September 28, a day before Spears returns to court to fight for her release from her decade-long conservatorship.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the trailer, audio of Spears is heard from her testimony at the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse on June 23, where she addressed the court publicly for the first time.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I just want my life back,” she said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’ve worked my whole life.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I don’t owe these people anything.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Directed by filmmaker Erin Lee Carr, the documentary will centre around Spears’ conservatorship and question its necessity, the alleged corruption of her father, and larger issues with conservatorship.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“What was going on inside the conservatorship? And why was she still in one if she was okay?” one person said in the trailer.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though the trailer doesn’t reveal who will appear in the documentary, the clip includes voiceovers from various people, including Spears’ ex, paparazzo Adnan Ghalib, and a legal expert.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The trailer also suggests that the documentary will reveal new information leaked by someone involved in the conservatorship.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">See the trailer here.</span></p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SgFDWK_sf9c" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: @britneyspears / Instagram</span></em></p>

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Britney Spears’ father steps down as conservator

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After a long-running legal battle over Britney Spears’ conservatorship that has captured the global public’s attention, her father, Jamie, has agreed to step down as her conservator.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Spears has been the conservator of his daughter since 2008, meaning he has legally had control over her assets and financial decisions for the last 13 years.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, the singer’s lawyer said Mr Spears would now be stepping down from the role.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We are pleased that Mr Spears and his lawyer have today conceded in a filing that he must be removed,” Britney’s lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, said in a statement.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Rosengart described the decision as “a major victory for Britney Spears and another step towards justice”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to celebrity website </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">TMZ</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, though the court filing said there were no grounds for removing Mr Spears as conservator, “he does not believe that a public battle with his daughter over his continuing service as her conservator would be in her best interests”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Mr Spears intends to work with the court and his daughter’s new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator,” the court filing said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The pop star and her father have been in court several times recently, including when Ms Spears launched another legal bid to remove her father from the conservator role last month.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She has spoken out on social media about the court-appointed conservatorship, which was initially a temporary measure following a mental breakdown in 2008, calling it abusive and humiliating.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Twitter</span></em></p>

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“Should be illegal”: Aussie star makes worrying Britney claim

<p>Australian rapper Iggy Azalea has shared her experiences working with Britney Spears, as the pair teamed up for the 2015 single Pretty Girls.</p> <p>She made the statements on Twitter, saying that she supported Spears' court claims that her conservatorship is an "abusive" situation.</p> <p>“It’s basic human decency to at the very least remove a person Britney has identified as abusive from her life. This should be illegal,” she wrote.</p> <p>“During the time we worked together in 2015, I personally witnessed the same behaviour Britney detailed in regards to her father last week and I just want to back her up and tell the world that: She is not exaggeration [sic] or lying.</p> <p>“I saw her restricted from even the most bizarre and trivial things: Like how many sodas she was allowed to drink. Why is that even necessary?” Azalea continued.</p> <p>“Her father conveniently waited until literally moments before our BMAs performance when I was backstage in the dressing room and told me if I did not sign an NDA he would not allow me on stage. The way he went about getting me to sign a contract, sounded similar to the tactics Britney spoke about last week in regards to her Las Vegas show.”</p> <p>“Britney Spears should not be forced to coexist with that man when she’s made it clear it is negatively impacting her mental health.</p> <p>‘This is not right at all,’ she concluded.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreeBritney?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FreeBritney</a> <a href="https://t.co/UPg7rkq0lW">pic.twitter.com/UPg7rkq0lW</a></p> — IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) <a href="https://twitter.com/IGGYAZALEA/status/1410433707052204034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <p>The public statement comes after Azalea told fans she's trying to support Britney in a way that's "helpful and mindful".</p> <p>“Britney has said in her own words, she’s embarrassed to even share this with the world,” she wrote on June 26. “If she needed me to speak on her behalf, that message has been delivered to her.</p> <p>“I’ve done what I’m supposed to do, I’ve reached out. I’m not supposed to be mindlessly telling you all whatever was happening because half of these people are just here for entertainment not to help.”</p>

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