Pop star Britney Spears called 911 the night before her dramatic testimony last month in her ongoing court battle over the restrictive conservatorship she’s lived under for 13 years.
Ventura County, California, authorities sealed the records of the call, but a person close to Spears said that she called to report herself as a victim of conservatorship abuse — the very claims she made the following day in court, according to an article in The New Yorker written by Ronan Farrow and Tolentino.
The article says county authorities cited an ongoing investigation in sealing the records, but the call apparently worried those who run the conservatorship, and therefore, Spears’s entire life. According to Farrow and Tolentino, “members of Spears’s team,” deeply concerned about what she might say in court, “began texting one another frantically.”
One of their first moves on June 23 when court began was to asked Judge Brenda Penny to clear the courtroom before Spears spoke and seal the transcript of her testimony. Spears herself objected.
“Somebody’s done a good job at exploiting my life,” she said. “I feel like it should be an open-court hearing — they should listen and hear what I have to say.”
Then, in explosive testimony that lasted more than 20 minutes, Spears detailed how her life has been since her father, Jamie Spears, became head of the conservatorship. He has since stepped away from running the personal side of the framework but still handles all of her business dealings — when she tours, when she records, and what she says on social media.
“I’ve lied and told the whole world I’m OK and I’m happy,” Spears said, as CrimeOnline previously reported. “If I said that enough, maybe I’d become happy. … I’m in shock. I’m traumatized. … I’m so angry it’s insane.”
And, she said, she wanted to revoke the entire conservatorship.
Spears has not yet filed paperwork making that request, but Penny just this week denied a previous filing to remove Jamie Spears as conservator, for now.
The star had plenty to say about her father during her testimony.
“The people who did this to me should not get away,” she said, addressing Penny. “Ma’am, 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.”
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[Featured image: FILE – Britney Spears on July 22, 2019. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)]
