Britney wins battle father removed as singer’s guardian
New Delhi: Singer Britney Spears’ father was removed from his controversial role as his daughter’s guardian on Wednesday by a Los Angeles judge, ending a long and bitter legal battle by the singing queen.
At a contentious three-hour hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny removed Jamie Spears from oversight of his daughter’s $60 million estate and set a November date to discuss whether to terminate the entire arrangement.
“Mr Spears is ordered to turn over all the conservatorship assets,” said Penny.
Britney Spears’ father has controlled her life for the past 13 years, under a controversial legal arrangement that the 39-year-old US singer has slammed as “abusive” and that her lawyers had demanded be scrapped.
This move came after a years-long campaign that played out in public, and after the emergence in the last week of two new powerful documentaries that contained allegations Jamie Spears had bugged his daughter’s phone calls.
A number of supporters had gathered outside a Los Angeles court ahead of the hearing, many carrying colorful signs with slogans such as “Jail Jamie” and the ubiquitous “Free Britney” plea that has been taken up around the world by her supporters on social media.