Britney Spears’ lawyer has filed a supplemental petition to immediately remove Jamie Spears from his daughter’s conservatorship, claiming he is trying to “barter” his exit from the arrangement in exchange for about $2million in payments.
Earlier this month, Jamie Spears announced in a court filing that he intends “to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator” and effectively step down from his highly scrutinised role of co-conservator.
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A petition was first filed on July 26 by Britney’s lawyer Matthew Rosengart to remove Jamie as co-conservator and replace him with forensic accountant Jason Rubin.
Rosengart filed a supplemental petition on Tuesday (August 31) in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that as part of the “orderly transition”, Jamie is negotiating $2million worth of payments in exchange for his removal, Deadline reported. According to the petition, the payments are meant to go towards attorneys’ fees incurred by Jamie, with a “substantial payment” required towards “certain third parties”.
“Regardless of the past, Mr. Spears and his counsel are now on notice: the status quo is no longer tolerable, and Britney Spears will not be extorted,” reads the petition, which Deadline has uploaded here.
“Mr. Spears’s blatant attempt to barter suspension and removal in exchange for approximately $2 million in payments, on top of the millions already reaped from Ms. Spears’s estate by Mr. Spears and his associates, is a non-starter.
“The only honorable, decent, and humane course of action is for Mr. Spears to resign now, provide all necessary information to evaluate his accounting, and, if matters cannot be resolve consensually, to try to defend his accounting,” the petition continues.
Jamie’s suspension and removal from the conservatorship “does not require Mr. Spears to admit fault or wrongdoing”, the petition states.
“Rather, although Mr. Spears has for more than a decade evidently engaged in abusive and bullying conduct while also elevating his own personal and financial interests above those of his daughter, these issues of misconduct are not, at this time on this Petition, before the Court,” it reads.
Rosengart quotes testimony by Britney’s personal conservator Jodi Montgomery, made on July 22, in which she said that “it would be best for Ms. Spears’ well-being and mental health that her father stop acting” as conservator, with his removal critical to Britney’s “emotional health and well-being”.
Rosenberg told Deadline that the petition is only “about the best interests of [Britney Spears], which as a matter of law, mandate [Jamie’s] removal,” he said, comparing it to a “hostage” situation.
“Even putting aside the legal issues requiring his prompt removal, if he loves his daughter, Mr. Spears should resign now, today, before he is suspended,” he continued. “It would be the correct and decent thing to do.”
Jamie’s representatives have in the past denied allegations made by Britney about how she is treated while under conservatorship.
The singer called the conservatorship “abusive” in a landmark hearing in June, claiming that she was forbidden from having more children, getting married, or taking out her IUD. Jamie’s lawyers responded in a court filing that Jamie “is simply not involved in any decisions related to Ms. Spears’s personal care or medical or reproductive issues”.
Following the hearing, Jamie’s counsel also called for an investigation into the singer’s statements, writing that “it is critical that the Court confirm whether or not Ms. Spears’s testimony was accurate in order to determine what corrective actions, if any, need to be taken.”
The next court hearing is still scheduled for September 29, despite Rosengart filing a request to push it forward to August.
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