Britney Spears' father, Jamie Spears, claimed that the pop star was suffering from dementia when he filed paperwork for his daughter's conservatorship to gain control over her estate, according to reports.
The revelation is made in an upcoming BBC documentary about the "Toxic" singer, "The Battle for Britney," according to The Sun, which reports that Jamie Spears checked a box stating Britney was under "dementia placement or treatment" when listing reasons for her conservatorship in 2008.
"There’s only two options with that. Britney might have dementia," said journalist Mobeen Azhar. "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."
Azhar added that the second option meant that Britney did not have dementia and that 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 conservatorship was established in 2008 after Britney suffered a breakdown and was forced to enter a psychiatric ward. It was initially put into place to prevent people from taking financial advantage of Britney, but the singer has been fighting to remove her father from her conservatorship.
In February, a Los Angeles judge rejected Jamie's objections to a joint conservatorship order, meaning he will not have sole control over investing Britney’s money. Last year Britney filed a petition to have her father removed as sole conservator of her estate. Instead, the pop icon requested that a financial institution be granted power to manage her finances. The petition was denied, but Judge Brenda Penny did appoint Bessemer Trust as a co-conservator, CBS News reported.
Penny now has granted equal power to Bessemer Trust and Jamie Spears in managing Britney's affairs, ordering that the financial institution and Jamie work together on a budget and investment plan for the pop icon's estate.
Britney has not spoken personally about the conservatorship in court for more than two years, but last week her court-appointed attorney, Samuel Ingham III, said in a hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court that she had asked to speak to the court soon, and agreed with Judge Brenda Penny on a June 23 date. He did not say what she would specifically like to say.
The news comes just over a month after Britney's lawyer requested that the pop star's temporary personal conservator, Jodi Montgomery, replace her father as a permanent conservator. Montgomery temporarily took over the role from Jamie Spears after he stepped down in 2019 for health reasons. Ingham, meanwhile, last month filed a petition to have Montgomery remain as Britney's "care manager" on a permanent basis, according to Fox News.
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