Britney Spears’s father says ‘no grounds whatsoever’ to challenge his conservatorship
Britney Spears’s father is fighting back against a challenge to his control of her money and affairs, saying there are “no grounds whatsoever” for removing him from the conservatorship.
In a new court document, Jamie Spears said he had “dutifully and faithfully served as the conservator of his daughter’s estate without any blemishes on his record”.
Mr Spears’s filing also claimed that Jodi Montgomery – a court-appointed professional who oversees Britney Spears’s life decisions, while her father handles her money – last month phoned him, “distraught”, seeking his help with his daughter’s mental health.
Singer Britney Spears at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in New York
In response, Ms Montgomery and her lawyer argued that Mr Spears had “misrepresented and manipulated” the call.
The filing is the latest instalment in a long-running dispute over the management of Britney’s affairs. The popstar was placed in a controversial conservatorship scheme in 2008 following some concerns about her mental health.
Concerns over the conservatorship has sparked the ‘Free Britney’ movement
Her father has largely controlled her life since then, but the singer recently said she would never perform again as long as the status continued, and has repeatedly called for his removal.
Mr Spears’s filing was a response to court papers filed they day before by Britney’s new lawyer Matthew Rosengart, which requested an emergency hearing to suspend him from the conservatorship.
The singer has alleged “forced medical treatment and therapy, improper medical care, and limitations on personal rights” under the scheme – claims which Mr Spears denies, calling them “untested”.
Mr Spears had controlled his daughter’s life decisions as well as her finances up until 2019, when Ms Montgomery took charge of those responsibilities.
Irish-language rap group Kneecap have announced a surprise London show, hours after one of their members was charged with a terror offence.
Liam O’Hanna, or Liam Og O Hannaidh, was charged with displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation, at a concert in London last November, the Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday.
Just hours later, Kneecap announced on their Instagram account that “we’re back”, adding that they would perform at the 100 Club on Oxford Street, London, on Thursday night.
The post also included a quote by former Sex Pistols vocalist John Lydon, who told ITV’s Good Morning Britain the rap trio “maybe (…) need a bloody good kneecapping” after footage of the band allegedly calling for the deaths of MPs emerged.
Kneecap performing in Belfast last year. Pic: PA
Kneecap apologised to the families of murdered MPs last month, but said footage of the incident at their concert had been “exploited and weaponised”, adding that they “never supported” Hamas or Hezbollah.
The rappers had gigs cancelled after the footage emerged and politicians pushed for Kneecap to be dropped from the Glastonbury Festival line-up, with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch calling for Kneecap to be banned.
The group from Belfast in Northern Ireland is still set to headline Wide Awake Festival in south London on Friday.
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In response to O’Hanna being charged, Kneecap said that they “deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves” and branded it “political policing” in a bid to “silence voices of compassion”.
The charge came after counter-terror police assessed a video said to be from a Kneecap concert.
In the footage, O’Hanna is allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, London, on 21 November last year.
Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command were made aware of a video circulating online on 22 April and an investigation led to the Crown Prosecution Service authorising the charge, the force said.
O’Hanna – who performs under the stage name Mo Chara – is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 18 June.
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