Britney Spears’ father Jamie gives first interview in a decade
Britney Spears‘ father Jamie has given his first interview in a decade, in which he insisted that his daughter might not be alive today if it hadn’t been for the conservatorship she was placed under for 13 years.
The conservatorship was terminated in November 2021, which has brought Spears control of her her estimated $60million (£45million) estate and the freedom to make her own medical and personal decisions for the first time since 2008. The high-profile case started a viral movement, #FreeBritney, in which fans clamoured for her to be freed from the conservatorship.
Jamie Spears said very little in response to #FreeBritney, but now, he has spoken about the situation for the first time in a decade with the Mail On Sunday.
“Not everybody’s going to agree with me,” he said. “It’s been one hell of a time. But I love my daughter with all my heart and soul. Where would Britney be right now without that conservatorship? And I don’t know if she’d be alive. I don’t.
“For protecting her, and also protecting the kids, conservatorship was a great tool. Without it, I don’t think she would have got the kids back.”
Spears currently has no contact with his eldest daughter or her children. ‘I miss my two boys really, really bad,” he said. “I do. You know, we were very, very close. They were around that age where you could start having a good time with them.
“But they were developing a mind of their own. God makes things happen for a reason. I don’t know what that reason is but it’s been a tough three years without them. The family’s a mess. All we can do is keep praying.”
Spears claimed that his daughter was “broke” when the conservatorship took effect, although she was reportedly worth about $50million (£41million) at the time. “She had no money whatsoever. The conservatorship set a resource where she could get back financially. And, you know, we worked – and she worked – and she got herself straight up financially.”
He also spoke about the legal battle in which his daughter fought to end the conservatorship. She told the court in July 2021 that she wanted to press conservatorship abuse charges against her father, saying she had no control over her schedule nor what she could eat and that she was forbidden from getting married, having more children or having her IUD removed.
“All I can say is that most people don’t have a clue what the truth is,” he said. “Her lawyer doesn’t have a clue what the truth is. The media has not heard the truth. They’ve heard the allegations from Britney.
“I don’t mind taking that beating because I know it’s not true, and because I don’t want to start something else. For my daughter to end up going further down the hole than she had been.”
Spears said he didn’t regret implementing the conservatorship, but refused to say whether he thought it went on for too long. “You can answer [that question] yourself. Just look at how things are now.”
Britney Spears has said it is unlikely that she’ll ever perform live again after past experiences left her “traumatised”. She last performed live in 2017.
The post Britney Spears’ father Jamie gives first interview in a decade appeared first on NME.
Emma Wilkes
NME
