Judge refused Britney Spears' request to remove her father from conservatorship

Britney Spears' efforts to break free from her father's long-term grip over her life and career have run into a legal roadblock today.

Judge Brenda Penny denied the 'Toxic' singer's lawyer's attempt to remove Jamie Spears from his co-conservator position, which he has held since 2008 and from which he has overseen his daughter. In November 2020, her court-appointed lawyer Samuel Ingham III filed the petition to have Spears' father removed.

"The conservator's request to suspend James P. Spears immediately upon the appointment of Bessemer Trust Company of California as sole conservator of estate are denied without prejudice," said the June 30 document from Judge Penny.

"The conservatee's request for an order directing James P. Spears, TriStar Sports & Entertainment Group and Michale Kane, to deliver the entire conservatorship estate together with all books and records forthwith to Bessemer Trust Company of California, N.A. as sole conservator of the estate is denied without prejudice," she added.

Spears said that she wanted the conservatorship to either end entirely or change, but she and her lawyer Ingham have yet to file any request to change the conservatorship itself.

Judge Penny hinted that she would be receptive to such a filing during last week's hearing, in which Spears, her parents, and the other co-conservators all present remotely. But first, Ingham's standing and whether he will continue to represent Spears must be resolved.

The complicated scenario, and the elder Spears' role in it, has continued despite the addition of various lawyers and conservators over the past 13 years.

Throughout, the younger Spears continued to release albums, and she even had a very demanding and well-paid Las Vegas residency from 2013 until she took a "indefinite professional hiatus" in 2019. That residency came to an end in all but name, in part, due to the health of Spears' frequently estranged father, according to Spears at the time.

Britney Spears' statement on June 24 that she has been "pretending like I've been ok for the past two years" makes the hiatus more poignant.