Britney Spears will finally speak to the court in her conservatorship case

Britney Spears may finally have her voice heard on the issue of her conservatorship. Though the pop star has often declined to comment publicly on the matter, Spears will take the stand on June 23 to address the court on her own behalf.

The court-approved conservatorship has been in effect since 2008 (that’s 13 years for those counting at home), with her father, Jamie Spears, as primary conservator. The arrangement’s purpose was to keep Spears (and her assets) safe, following a series of psychiatric hospitalizations stemming from her 2007 public breakdown.

Earlier this week, Samuela D. Ingham III, the court-appointed lawyer who represents the musician, requested that she be allowed a hearing soon.

“The conservatee has requested that I seek from the court a status hearing at which she can address the court directly,” Ingham reportedly asked the judge overseeing the case.  He also requested the hearing be scheduled on an “expedited basis,” with a thirty-day window. Judge Brenda Penny approved his request and bumped the date up from July 23rd to a new date in June.

The “Baby One More Time” singer hopes to secure changes in the long-standing arrangement, ones that will likely give her more financial freedom and control over her own decision-making abilities, though no official reason has yet been given.

If Spears does testify, it will mark the first time she has done so since seeking substantial changes to her conservatorship, most notably the resignation of her father as the primary figure in control. The elder Spears stepped down from the role in 2019 and since then, Britney’s personal caretaker Jodi Montgomery took over the responsibilities.  This past April, she was made the permanent conservator, though Spears’ father remains co-conservator and still possesses a degree of control over his daughter’s situation.

In response to Spears’ ongoing personal battles, a #FreeBritney movement has emerged among her fans. Its platform is simple: To free Britney from her years-long conservatorship out of great concern for her health and wellbeing. Many fans question the need for the arrangement and are concerned about the toll her restrictive personal life is taking on Spears’ mental and physical health, as well as her finances.

This past February, FX, and Hulu premiered the New York Times documentary, Framing Britney Spears that depicted her rise to fame, her breakdown, the implementation of the conservatorship, and the #FreeBritney movement that followed. In the wake of its release, multiple celebrities spoke up in support of Spears. The film also provided more sense behind the conservatorship’s reasoning and hope that viewers gain an understanding from it.

While Spears reportedly hasn’t seen the full documentary, she said she felt “embarrassed by the light that they put me in.”  She claimed that the media always has been judgemental of her and that it takes a lot of strength to be vulnerable and trust the universe with her true self.

According to Vivian Lee Thoreen, a layer for Spears’ father, he would be happy to see the conservatorship end if those are his daughter’s wishes.

“[Jamie] would love nothing more than to see Britney not need a conservatorship,” Thoreen told CNN in March. “Whether or not there is an end to the conservatorship really depends on Britney. If she wants to end her conservatorship, she can file a petition to end it.”

What do you think?  Should Britney Spears be freed from her conservatorship?  Sound off in the comments section.