Britney Spears’ father ‘claimed she had dementia’ in ‘sinister’ conservatorship documents
Jamie Spears, Britney’s dad, has reportedly had a leg amputated. (Chris Farina/Corbis via Getty Images)
The embattled father of Britney Spears claimed that the pop princess has dementia more than a decade ago, a television documentary has alleged.
As Jamie Spears, 68, sought to warrant control over the 39-year-old’s finances and personal wellbeing, he listed dementia as the justification.
He allegedly ticked a box on court filings that stated “dementia placement or treatment” as a reason why the conservatorship must be approved.
In 2008, Spears was placed under the complex legal arrangement, sometimes known as a guardianship, following a high-profile mental health crisis.
The claim was made in the upcoming BBC documentary on Spears’ life, The Battle for Britney: Fans, Cash and a Conservatorship.
Journalist Mobeen Azhar, who is helming the investigation and obtained the alleged documents, told The Sun: “There’s only two options with that.
“Britney might have dementia. Now I’m not a doctor but if that’s the case, then the world isn’t aware of that.
“But the other option is actually more sinister.
Britney Spears’ father, Jamie Spears leaves the Los Angeles County Superior courthouse on March 10, 2008. (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
“That’s the idea that she doesn’t have dementia but the conservatorship team have suggested that she has because they want to push the conservatorship through.
“And if that’s the case, then that’s terrifying.”
The bombshell claim comes ahead of a hearing which Spears, for the first time since she first launched a bid to substantially change her conservatorship, will address the courts.
“The conservatee has requested that I seek from the court a status hearing at which she can address the court directly,” Samuel Ingham, Spears’ court-appointed lawyer, told the probate court last week.
The move signalled one of the biggest shifts in Spears’ typically held-back approach to her 13-year-long conservatorship.
While judges struck down her bid to block Jamie from being in charge of her career and assets, she has since mounted a case to get back control of her personal life.
Judges extended the arrangement last year, but Britney scored a small win in tweaking the way Jamie exerts power over her estate. He must now share the money-management position with Bessemer Trust, a wealth management company.
A conservatorship is typically reserved for the infirm, elderly and disabled – and disability rights campaigners have long criticised the arrangement as deeply restricting a person’s agency.
PinkNews has contacted Jamie Spears for comment.
