Sources: people.com/music/britney-spears-conservatorship-extended-until-august-due-to-coronavirus-outbreak/ kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oblpetygnLDIf2w.html www.tmz.com/2020/07/23/britney-spears-conservatorship-hearing-torpedoed-by-public/ twitter.com/sonlightfoot/status/1230811769997856768?s=20 theblast.com/136364/freebritney-handwritten-letter-from-britney-spears-resurfaces-sh theblast.com/c/britney-spears-kevin-federline-restraining-order-jaime-child-abuse theblast.com/c/britney-spears-father-jamie-under-investigation-child-abuse www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/britney-spears-is-exploring-ending-her-conservatorship/ theblast.com/139235/britney-spears-dropped-over-1-million-on-conservatorship-legal-f www.nytimes.com/2019/05/17/arts/music/britney-spears-conservatorship-mental-health.html

The fact she isn't allowed to talk about her conservatorship should be all people need to know to realize there's something deeply wrong here

“She’s the worst driver” so are half the people on the road, Bryan, that has nothing to do with conservatorship

The fact that she A) can’t speak about the conservatorship, B) can’t do interviews that aren’t pre-scripted and C) can’t hire her own lawyer scream that there’s something very fishy and very illegal going on behind the scenes, and it’s utterly disgusting

The baby on her lap situation was when Britney was leaving a shopping centre, with no security. Her car was surrounded by paparazzi and she was alone with her baby. She fleed the situation by holding her baby on her lap. It’s not as if she was out for a leisurely cruise. She was harassed by dozens of men surrounding her with cameras. She had to act quickly for the safety and well-being of herself and her child. That’s important to include when reciting the incident.

She can’t even tell anyone what’s happening because she can be sent to jail.... that should not be a thing. Also the fact that she can’t hire a lawyer.... that’s absurd!

It is rather strange to me that a serial killer has the right to choose their own lawyer while britney can't.

BRITNEY CANT EVEN VOTE?! what the hell! My grandfather with Alzheimer’s voted in the 2016 presidential election

Funny story: I'm blind and so can't drive, yet somehow I still manage to retain my basic human rights

I'm 38, just like Britney, and my son was taken from me because of my then undiagnosed autism. I've been trying to get him back for 9 years now, but the diagnosis which was supposed to (and did to an extent) help me get better is now standing between me and my child. Anything I say in my defense can be waved away with "oh she doesn't know what she's saying, poor dear". This is disregarding how I'm pretty much single-handedly taking care of my mother who is sick with cancer, how I have always handled myself in every single other aspect of life, and how my son cries with grief every single time I'm forced to send him back to his carers after his home visits. So. Free Britney. And give all of us a more hopeful future.

Wait, if she had early onset dementia, at that age, she should be incapacitated now. I smell something fishy... That diagnosis needs to be contested and she needs to have her rights restored immediately.

So Britney has supposedly has had ~early onset dementia~ since her twenties without having any break in her work schedule??? That's absolutely ridiculous. #FreeBritney

She literally has a gag order ...she cant talk about her abuse

It’s sick that her dad using her disability to have her money. It’s seems like a working scheme, which is terrifying.

"Her estate is hugely wealthy and very complicated to manage." So is that of many wealthy people. That's why financial advisors exist. You don't need a legal guardian to calculate the income from national tours and albums sales and movies. You need an accountant.

My wife admires you greatly. She is blind in right eye and losing her hearing. As a gay disabled woman she thinks you are amazing and you are a great inspiration to her.

Jessica's barely concealed rage when she turns to the other camera and goes, "...by middle-aged men!" is a big honest to God mood.

I've always found it sketchy the men who live off her money can tell the court she's not capable of taking care of her own money. Seems like a conflict of interest at the very least.

“Well, we weren’t able to hear wether this person deserves rights, better default to continuing to restrict those rights.” Yikes.

The world is so quick to jump on the "women are crazy" assumption it's sick that people still enforce these misogynistic views

WTF She’s not even allowed to look at her bank statements without fearing that her dad will put her in a mental institution....

Britney Spears treats her children with such respect because she doesn't want her children to experience what she did and she can't even see her children.

"It doesn't mean I need to be under a conservatorship. It just means I need to be empowered to help myself." Well said!!!!!

This sounds dangerously like ownership over a person. Being able to say who they see, what happens with their money, their time, their property, ect, is wholly ownership. Britney, or anyone, shouldn't be punished as such for poor mental health- especially when that mental health is made poor because of this messed up system we live in.

Not having her own lawyer is my one big flapping red flag. It should be 100% illegal for a person in this circumstance to not have either their own counsel or a fully independent lawyer or advocate appointed by the Court.

My dad was more sick than she currently is and has more rights. My mom is in charge of a lot of things for him but he still has a lot of autonomy. Passing out in the middle of the store and being in a fog 24/7 for 8 years and still has more rights than Britney.

The fact that Britney's father is able to get away with this even under scrutiny and backlash, is genuinely scary for all disabled people living in the US, and just for all people in general.

Given that disabled people are 2-4 times more likely to be abused, and a disturbing amount of that is from family or guardians, the thought that abusers can literally set it up so that it's illegal for the victim to escape them in any way is so deeply terrifying.

This whole thing is disgusting. I personally don’t listen to Britney’s music, but what she has been through has been nothing short of hell. Poor thing is a puppet.

What I don't understand is that under a conservatorship her Dad can actually take a salary. This should be ABSOLUTELY illegal. It puts any person in danger of being exploited. All the proceeds that she earns should be put into a trust for her and all proceeds should be used for her medical care. The person in control of her assets should not make a dime of her. This rings of how in the past husbands could have their wives committed to steal their inheritance.

I don't get how a man with a criminal record is allowed to care for a vulnerable person? This would (hopefully) never happen if she was say, being cared for by a nurse, why is family different?

She was a child star. Her father has made money off of her since she was 4 years old and then when she has a breakdown that's the man they choose as her guardian?! Her kids will be adults soon, hopefully they can at least get the guardianship. We don't know her mental state maybe she does need someone to take care of her finances but that someone should not be the one person who has made her a celebrity before puberty.

Britney's dad belongs in prison, tbh.

That family has made money off of Britney for her entire life. That's what this guardianship is all about.

Clearly this is comparable to someone with depression being punished for a suicide attempt. You never, ever, EVER punish someone for having a mental illness or disability.

it's the fact that her own children has a restraining order against him, he gets a pay check for this, and that Britney's mother said that the conservatory that makes me very uncomfortable. How can the court allow this and I had no idea that this is what is going on in my own country.

In Denmark, people with a mental diagnosis can not be officially 'cured / healthy', and struggle to: adopt a child, become a pilot, fireman, police officer, sailor, or au-pair. People literally loose rights if they choose to seek help and get diagnosed.

She was a pageant and show kid to make money for her poor parents. She has always been a cash cow IMHO. Also, her original soulful deeper voice was amazing. Would be great if she could find it again. I love Britney and still rooting for her

this conservatorship mumbo jumbo feels an awful like victorian era womans rights to manage their own estate and must have some sort of male guardian to open a bank account, manage property etc. its crazy!

As someone who has experienced psychosis first hand, Britney's story and struggle is one that has always struck me to my core. The notion that a family member could just decide to remove my autonomy and exploit poor mental health laws is terrifying. Especially since they're the reason I am so fucked up to begin with! Thank you, I'm so happy to have found this channel.

Remember in "the girl with the dragon tattoo" where Lizbeth basically had conservatorship placed on her and we were all appalled? This is that in real life!

My biodad threatened to do this when I accepted a marriage proposal from a guy who -- GASP -- hadn't asked his permission first. So glad my in-laws (who I now see and refer to as my adoptive parents) stepped in and stood up for me. I would not have survived this kind of situation. Would not.

This kind of ultimate power over someone's life in guardianship is a blatant human ownership to me. It's like being in prison for having disability. Having no freedom is horrible.

Remembering the video of that guy cry-screaming 'Leave Britney alone!' really hits differently now we see where things have ended up.

Using this critetia, Kanye should be under conservatorship.

The fact that there isn’t a registry of people under guardianship says everything

If she does have "early onset dementia" she shouldn't have been "allowed" to go on tour or release albums. She should have carers and rights that every other human being should have.

I'm not a guardian, but I work at a group home for people with neuropsychiatric and developmental disabilities, and my job is to communicate with their guardians about their economy, dentist appointments, hair dresser appointments, doctors appointments, medicine etc. My job is to do all that - and more - so that our klients can live a happy and fulfilling life and be as indepentent as possible. Denying someone their basic human rights and locking them away for months, just for buying a hamburger, ain't it.

My cousin, who is a 23 year old man, is severely mentally disabled and there is not much he can do for himself outside of what a toddler is capable of. His mother is his caretaker and makes all important decisions for him but he still, somehow, has more rights than a 30 year old woman who is fully capable of making her own choices! My cousin doesn't even need a conservatorship, I don't think anyone does, honestly.

Many US states will let a 15 year-old drive on their own with nothing more than a written exam and a 1-hour driving lesson. Even if Britney hasn't driven in 12 years, she could take driving lessons, maybe even take her driving license again. Teenagers haven't driven EVER and they are still trusted behind a wheel.

Honestly it’s ableist but it’s also very misogynistic. If any similarly able bodied famous man were put into someone else’s control like this the courts wouldn’t hesitate to free him. This makes you realize how easy it is for even powerful women to be seen as “incompetent” for even the suggestion of mental impairment, meanwhile a comparable man would be (and often is) seen as “eccentric”.

I wonder about Amanda Bynes too. She's reportedly being released from conservatorship this month. That girl has been through a ton.

During the documentary released in Feburary, the lawyer who Britney attempted to use during the beginning of the conservatorship said that during their meetings before the case Britney said she'd accept the temporary conservatorship as long as it wasn't her father controling it, practically begged for it not to be her father controlling it back then. They were not told til they got to the court date that she was not allowed to choose her own lawyer even pre-conservatorship which is also so suspicious

But where is the psychologist/neurologist/doctor that has to say what is the extent of her disability and what help she needs?? No judge or relative should do that! It's insane.

The US is not one country, it's 50 countries in a trenchcoat. That's why our laws vary from state to state

The lyrics to “Toxic” are now hitting me quite differently...

If she’s “well enough” to perform giant performances, she “well enough” to live her own life unimpeded.

Absolutely we must save Britney, even if she has a disability she's still human and deserves rights like any other person, her father is abusing her for doing this

I feel like conservatorship would exacerbate a mental health problem, not ease it. Like, you want to put person with mental health problems even more on edge? Take away their freedoms.

I just watched the New York Times documentary on this topic and I just wanted to say while I do not condone driving with a baby on her lap, she was chased into the car by paparazzi who were banging on her windows. She just wanted to get away from them.

I may not care much about Britney, but this sounds absolutely horrifying- worse than any horror film.

"by middle aged men" loved that part so much

I genuinely feel bad for Britney I went through a similar thing where I had a major breakdown where I was unable to look after myself temporarily. I had spent all my money, owed the bank money, was dangerous to myself, etc. My parents took control of my bank and other elements of my life BUT the difference to what's going on with Britney is that my parents steadily gave me control back as I got better. When I was in recovery they started by allowing me to manage my own food, then going out, steadily increasing my allowance until I had complete control over my bank again. That's how the system is meant to work but it's true that far too many times that it's easy for people to corrupt for their own gain. I was really lucky my parents wanted the best for me and to support me to get better. But I genuinely worry for others who are now in a more stable place but can't get control of their lives back because of legal loopholes.

The fact that she can go on tour should in and of itself prove she doesn't need a conservatorship, let alone one this severe

I feel like Britney is our generation's Rosemary Kennedy.

I’m horrified and furious about this situation. If she’s able to earn millions every year, she’s capable of paying a good accountant to manage it and spending it as she damn well chooses. She’s been held captive and exploited in plain sight for so long now.

This does not surprise me in the slightest. In a country that legalised slavery the fact that you can legally make someone sub-human is not at all shocking. And yes, all prisoners are legally considered slaves.

If I was judged based solely on my worst meltdown I'd come out looking pretty bad. At one point after going through periods of heavy disassociation and anxiety attacks basically any time I left my house I thought it would be a good choice to set my hair on fire ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ luckily I did not, but my fiance had to talk me out from under the kitchen table where I was hunkered down convinced my childhood abuser had somehow tracked me down. Two years later and I haven't had an episode in like a year and a half and I went through group therapy and am with a therapist I like a lot. If I was to be judged on the whole of these last two years that breakdown, while awful, was only one part of my life and the progress I've made since then. I think Britney has been used as a cash-cow by her father since she was a child and that man will do anything possible to keep her from having autonomy over her life.

The internet owes an apology to that "leave Britney alone" guy

I feel that there's also a gender issue here. Many (MANY) male artists have had huge breakdowns and they weren't treated like children because of that. But, of course, women must always behave properly, lest they be considered 'crazy' or 'unstable' (sorry for using these words). P.S. Of course this is a complex issue, but I felt that gender may also be a factor taking part in it. By no means do I think being 'unstable' is inherently bad, nor do I believe the only reason for this is Britney being a woman.

"She can't drive." In the age of Uber and Lyft and Via and a million other such services. (I also don't drive. I live in New York. So I don't have to. lol)

This is sad and scary to me as a person in general, but even more so as a person with a mental illness. I've always been terrified of having a breakdown so bad I'm no longer allowed to have my own autonomy. The chances of that happening to me are probably not that high, but just imagining what Brittney goes through is awful.

What I find so crazy is that in many states Brittany would have never even been considered for a "Conservatorship". I've worked a lot with adults with disabilities in Pennsylvania where I live and there is almost never a Guardianship granted, the criteria are simply too high you literally have to be labelled as "incapacitated." Additionally the person must be given preference in choosing the guardian (they also can't stand to benefit from a will so it's rarely a family member) It also can't be a "business" only non-profits and individuals are usually granted them. (Obviously law and reality are different) But most importantly it just like almost never happens. More likely than not people are placed in a Power of Attorney position. It's appalling to hear about the vast number if situations across the US and the widespread abuse.

Britney's situation breaks my heart.she is so abused just because of mental health problems that just need assistance not this total removal of her rights as a person. It also terrifies me,that here we have a huge public figure treated like this, so what chance do any other people have. The system is so badly stacked against people with disabilities and mental health problems. Especially mental health seems to remove your basic rights potentially forever.

As an attorney in the states, I just wanted to say in most states a conservatorship deals with the financial assets of a person and a guardianship deals with the person. Although a conservatorship can be extremely limiting as it robs the person of financial resources, it cannot force unwanted medical care or imprisonment on a person the way a guardianship has the power to do. A conservator can financially blackmail a person in unwanted situations. Often time a conservatorship is much easier to obtain. In my practice I have seen some real abuses of the conservatorship law. Thanks for making this video!

Also, after the judge issued the investigation, Britney’s doctor was first up to give his report. He died days before he was set to deliver it to the courts. Since his sudden death, there has been no update on any other findings..... amuck.

I highly recommend watching the "Guardians, Inc" episode of Dirty Money on Netflix. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see the level of organised exploitation being facilitated by the corrupt and broken guardianship / conservatorship system.

OMG Im autistic with depression and anxiety and this sounds terrifying to me. Because of my experiences with ptsd and no one believing me when I say I can't do stuff I intend to make the law change, and finding out that they can have the power to take all my ability just to say that is terrifying, let alone my chances of actually getting people to listen, believe me, and then actually change it. Thank you for talking about this. I didn't know about it (and though I'm really scared now) it's good that I know. We love you Jessica!

God I do not envy Britney at all. Regardless of what her mental health is like at a baseline, going through the things she did would take a massive toll on anybody. One of my worst fears is losing agency and control over my own decisions, so my heart absolutely goes out to her. She’s effectively a prisoner in her own home, with a conservator who clearly doesn’t have her interests at heart. I’m very glad you brought this up, Jessica. Mental health is such an important subject, and while she’s obviously a celebrity, she’s still human. She still has to struggle with mental health issues like the rest of us, and it’s unfair that she’s mocked and demonised as she has been. #FreeBritney

I always wondered how, if she’s able to hold down a job, have this amazing career, do a residency in Vegas...why is she still under this conservatorship? I’m not saying for sure there’s shady business, but all the money people are making off of her, the courts should take it into account and seriously consider whether or not they are infringing upon her basic human rights.

I super lucked out when I had my “mental break,” in that the psych hospital I was at was run super ethically and had doctors and staff that were kind, empathetic and not condescending. I felt way more humanized in the hospital than I did in my life leading up to everything falling apart, and I decided to stay longer because of how much progress I was making. I felt so much more emotionally safe there than in the care of friends and family at the time. I have literally never heard of anyone else having a similarly positive experience. As for weird legal shenanigans, my dad was recently redoing his will and trust, and realized in the paperwork it said his children could not inherit if they are disabled. It just said disabled, no clarification of severity or category. I have a significant physical disability, but in every way I am capable of handling my own affairs. Needless to say he was horrified and immediately had that corrected. I mention this because I expect this language is standard in all wills and trusts. He never would have requested that language himself. When you or a family member are producing this kind of document, make sure they have carefully read and removed all such language. I can’t imagine what would have happened if he had died before fixing this. I could have literally lost my home.

Why is this decided by a judge and not a doctor? 🤔 Or at least with oversight of an actual doctor.

This sounds like the most bizarre thing-like all of those rules are so weird

This was a great video. During the time of the publicity of Britney's breakdown, I was sayiing over and over again that she needs help and it's awful to mock her at this time, and literally no one responded positively to it. Everyone just laughed or joked about it. I was genuinely worried about her. Child stars often struggle and I'm not particularly a fan of hers but she is a human. Anyone who has read/seen the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series knows about legal guardianship - it can be a joke. Free Britney is as important as Free Kesha.

If Brittany was not a money making machine, I wonder if her father would be in the slightest bit interested.

I can't imagine how many disabled people aren't speaking up due to this kind of treatment.

This reminds me of the Eugene Landy situation with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. He took advantage of Brian’s mental health struggles and abused his finances and over medicated Brian.

Her song "I'm a slave for you" is getting new meanings now, not sexy ones

I have to say: thank you so much. You promote empathy like no one I ever saw. Having an invisible condition, I always search for people that have similar issues but they mostly depress me and make me wanna jump from a bridge. And you say things that bring awareness of vulnerability by being vulnerable. You are a ray of sunshine. Thank you

Potential trigger warning: I've always been worried for Britney. This poor girl has had people controlling her life since she was a child and her 2007 "break down" is a prime example of what Hollywood/celeb status can do to someone. It kind of reminds me of Michael Jackson and how everybody controlled his life as well. I don't think she's make it out alive.. She won't die a natural death.

TW: trauma connected with medical personnel A few years ago I worked for an abusive man who liked to scream at me for "not doing my job" or not doing it properly, especially when I was reading a book or doing crosswords during the time when there were no clients. I was never very healthy in the mental health department. The year prior I was hospitalised for a suicide attempt, so I still had some leftover problems to work through. I am very prone to dissociation, so when I finally broke and went into a non-responsive, the worst dissociative episode of my life because he screamed at me one too many times the ambulance was called. When they arrived, they treated me like an animal. Mocked me, searched me for drugs, accused me of doing this for attention, openly laughed at me when I couldn't respond. Berated me during the drive to the hospital. I'm not scared of medical workers in general, but ambulance staff always terrifies me and since that moment when I had an emergency I never called an ambulance, preferring to call a cab or ask a friend. They genuinely cause me to have a panic attack.

Her situation combined with the clearly lacking record keeping of guardianship cases already made me think this was an easy system for people to manipulate but this video with the examples you’ve collected really showed me how possible abuse is within it. The amount of things people can be potentially institutionalized for cuts so far into human rights and autonomy, it should be unacceptable. She can’t even look at how _HER_ money is being spent

This is horrifying. We must save her.

Sadly, this happens to disabled people in the U.S. who are able to be independent, with just a little help. Conservatorships have so much corruption, and they seem to be causing more harm than good.

I just can’t deal with the fact that they’re using this power over here to stop her from being with her children

I don’t know if anyone has ever seen the VH1 series “Behind the Music”. Their episode about Britney was heartbreaking to watch. From day one she has been her parents meal ticket. They were in constant financial trouble when Britney and her siblings were young. The second her parents realized she had talent she was their instant paycheck. Her parents worked as her managers to make sure they always got their 10%. After her mental issues in 2008 it seems her mom backed off a little bit, trying to get her child help and so on. But her father oh, to this day he still wants his money. Jamie wants the control and the cash and that’s it. That’s why she’s still working. So the money is coming in to benefit the people around Britney. Not Britney herself.

She's also white. So the fact that she has class privilege, white privilege, cultural notoriety (and thus fans), and she's still in this situation? Absolutely terrifying.

It's funny, I've never thought about my bipolar disorder as a disability, even though it has limited my life a lot for years, and I depend on aids (medication in my case) to live functionally. Makes sense It's actually good to put it in that light, because it emphasize how this is not me being lazy and coming up with excuses, but something real

Britney's struggle is something I relate to on a personal level. While my experience was nowhere near as cripplingly limited, I know what it feels like to be restricted by a conservatorship. When I was a child, I was statemented, which basically means I was under a child psychologist and monitored periodically as they tried to figure out what was going on with my mental health. It was very laid back and relaxed monitoring, not clinical, and it didn't really affect my life until much later. After 11 years, from the age of 5 to the age of 16, my monitoring ended with inconclusive results and, as a result, no extra steps were taken. I didn't find out that my mother's guardianship of me stretched past my 18th birthday, as I was a legal adult and supposed to be in control of my own finances. Against my own wishes, my mother had full control over grants and scholarship awards and bursaries linked with my education, my bank account and my legal rights. As a result, I was unable to make any decisions myself and I never saw any of my money. What made it worse was that nobody ever made me aware of any of this and it wasn't until I was made redundant from my job when I was 19 and ended up having to sign up for government support that I learned just how much power my mother had over my life. I wasn't legally allowed to talk to the Department of Work and Pensions directly, as my mother was listed as appointee. I brought this to her attention and she was pretty much forced to admit that I had been under a conservatorship and that she hadn't wanted that knowledge to affect my life and had opted not to tell me anything. All of the money I had brought in from my bursaries and grants had been redirected to my mother's personal account and had been spent on educational necessities, which I had never known before because I hadn't been the one signing up for them. I was lucky in the fact that, after I was properly diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder the following year and was stabilised properly with therapy and medication, I was allowed by my mother to have the conservatorship ended and we had to meet with solicitors and go to court to prove me capable of running my own life. I had my conservatorship officially closed just before my 21st birthday. One thing that has always annoyed me about the British government though is how slow they are to pick up on changes because, even now when I have to speak to the DWP, they will occasionally ask me if my appointee" is available to speak to them on my behalf and I have to e-mail a new copy of the letter pertaining to the results of my conservatorship dissolution as proof that I am in control of my own person and need no assistance. 😖

This is absolutely horrible! I had no idea she was in this situation.