Britney Spears Has Been Trying To End 'Oppressive, Controlling' Conservatorship For Years: Report

As Britney Spears prepares to address the court Wednesday, new details regarding the strict terms of her conservatorship have emerged.

The 39-year-old singer quietly pushed for years to end her conservatorship, The New York Times reported, citing confidential court records. According to the report, Spears expressed "serious opposition" to her father Jamie Spears and her conservatorship's terms as early as 2016.

Spears believed the conservatorship had "too much control" over aspects of her life, including whom she can date and what color cabinets she can have in her kitchen, the report said.

The pop star told a probate investigator — whose role is to present unbiased information to the court — in 2016 that she was "sick of being taken advantage of" and felt she was "the one working and earning her money but everyone around her is on her payroll," the New York Times reported.

Spears also informed the investigator that she wanted the conservatorship terminated as soon as possible and said she believed her father was "obsessed" with controlling her life. "She articulated she feels the conservatorship has become an oppressive and controlling tool against her," the investigator wrote in the same year.

Spears alleged that she couldn't make friends and was given $2,000 as a weekly allowance at the time, according to the report. Further, she told the investigator that her security, who accompanied her at all times, and her assistant dictated when she was allowed to use her credit card.

Spears also told the investigator that she was subjected to drug tests multiple times a week and suffered "very harsh" consequences for any mistakes, the report said. However, the court investigator concluded that the conservatorship was necessary because of her "complex finances, susceptibility to undue influence and 'intermittent' drug issues," the report said.

The new court documents also showed that Spears allegedly questioned her father's fitness for the role and expressed her wish to terminate the conservatorship in 2014. Her lawyer, Samuel Ingham, said in a transcript cited in the report that Spears spoke to him about "changing her lifestyle and retiring" but believed the conservatorship would prevent that from happening.

Spears' father was named conservator of her person and co-conservator of her estate alongside attorney Andrew Wallet in 2008 following her public breakdown in 2007. Wallet stepped down as estate manager in October 2020 and was replaced by financial firm Bessemer Trust, Page Six reported.

Her father and others involved in the conservatorship stressed that it rescued her when she was down and benefited her. They also said she could terminate it if she wants to. Jamie has not commented on the issue citing pending court hearings.

“Any time Britney wants to end her conservatorship, she can ask her lawyer to file a petition to terminate it; she has always had this right but in 13 years has never exercised it,” Vivian Lee Thoreen, a lawyer for Mr. Spears, said in a statement to People earlier this year. “Britney knows that her Daddy loves her, and that he will be there for her whenever and if she needs him, just as he always has been — conservatorship or not.”

During a public hearing in November 2020, Ingham told the judge that Spears "is afraid of her father."

Jamie remains co-conservator of Spears' money, but licensed fiduciary Jodi Montgomery began overseeing her personal affairs in 2019. Last year, the "Toxic" singer requested to drop her dad from the conservatorship and make Montgomery her permanent conservator.

Spears is expected to address the court "directly" Wednesday during a hearing regarding the status of her conservatorship.