An attorney representing Britney Spears' father, Jamie Spears, is speaking out against accusations that the patriarch is controlling his daughter through her conservatorship.
For nearly 10 years, Jamie has been in control of Britney's personal and financial affairs. The controversial conservatorship has come under question following the release of The New York Times' documentary "Framing Britney Spears, but Jamie's attorney, Vivian Thoreen, said that the 68-year-old is not the man the media has painted him as.
"I understand that every story needs a villain but people have it so wrong here," said Thoreen said during an appearance on "Good Morning America" Thursday. "This is a story about a fiercely loving, dedicated, and loyal father who rescued his daughter from a life-threatening situation," she explained. "People were harming her and exploiting her. Jamie saved Britney’s life."
Britney's conservatorship was established in 2008, shortly after the "Toxic" singer suffered a meltdown and was admitted into a psychiatric hospital. At the time Britney was raking in about $40 million a year but when Jamie stepped in as conservator, her assets were worth a mere $2.8 million and she "was in debt and facing lawsuits to the tune of millions of dollars," Thoreen explained.
"So it's under Jamie's stewardship for the past 13 years that he's been able to restore Britney's finances to where they are today to nearly $60 million," she said.
Thoreen claimed that Jamie brought Britney's finances "back from disaster," adding that his efforts made it possible for Britney's estate to take care of her and her children "for the rest of their lives," provided they are not exploited.
"Britney makes decisions all the time," she said. "If she wants to perform, if she wants to record an album, if she wants her name and likeness used, or if she just wants to live her life like a normal person, Jamie collaborates with Britney to make that happen."
Thoreen noted that, at the start of the pandemic, Britney and Jamie spent two weeks with other family members "hunkered down in Louisiana" and "spent a lot of time together," taking long drives and working in the garden.
"Britney knows that her daddy loves her, and that he will be there for her whenever and if she needs him," she said. "Just as he always has been — conservatorship or not."
Earlier this month, 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 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.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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