Advertisement
UK markets close in 2 hours 58 minutes
  • FTSE 100

    7,860.44
    +12.45 (+0.16%)
     
  • FTSE 250

    19,382.51
    +42.37 (+0.22%)
     
  • AIM

    744.05
    +0.93 (+0.13%)
     
  • GBP/EUR

    1.1676
    +0.0009 (+0.08%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2455
    -0.0001 (-0.01%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    49,886.52
    -242.30 (-0.48%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,022.21
    -29.20 (-0.58%)
     
  • DOW

    37,753.31
    -45.66 (-0.12%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    82.24
    -0.45 (-0.54%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,396.20
    +7.80 (+0.33%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    38,079.70
    +117.90 (+0.31%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,385.87
    +134.03 (+0.82%)
     
  • DAX

    17,757.99
    -12.03 (-0.07%)
     
  • CAC 40

    8,001.93
    +20.42 (+0.26%)
     

Britney Spears Felt Her Conservatorship Was an 'Oppressive and Controlling Tool Against Her' in 2016: Report

New details are emerging surrounding Britney Spears' thoughts on her conservatorship at least at one point five years ago.

On Tuesday, The New York Times released a report citing sealed court documents from 2016 in which the newspaper quoted from records, transcripts and reports from conversations between Spears and a probate investigator in her case. The documents - which the outlet said provide only a "snapshot" of Spears' "sentiments and situation" - were meant to remain confidential.

"She articulated she feels the conservatorship has become an oppressive and controlling tool against her," a court investigator wrote in 2016, adding that Spears reportedly believed the system had "too much control."

"She is 'sick of being taken advantage of' and she said she is the one working and earning her money but everyone around her is on her payroll," the investigator added then.

ADVERTISEMENT

According to the Times, Jamie - who is reportedly currently living in an RV in Kentwood, Louisiana - earns about $16,000 per month as her conservator, along with a court-approved percentage commission from his daughter's business deals. (In 2014, he reportedly was granted 1.5 percent of gross revenues from her Las Vegas residency.)

RELATED VIDEO: Britney Spears' Lawyer Asks Court to Appoint Jodi Montgomery as Her Permanent Conservator

Also in the documents obtained by the Times, Spears reportedly said her father Jamie Spears - who is in charge of her conservatorship and whom she recently stated she is "afraid" of - was "obsessed" with her and wanted to control everything about her.

The singer alleged she was unable to make friends, was limited to a $2,000 weekly allowance and was not allowed to spend her own money to make cosmetic changes to her home without her father's permission, the Times reported.

In the same year Spears spoke to the probate investigator - who is tasked with presenting unbiased information to the court - the singer met her current boyfriend, Sam Asghari, on the set of her "Slumber Party" music video. Earlier this year, Asghari told PEOPLE exclusively he is "looking forward to a normal, amazing future together" with his girlfriend.

According to the Times, the probate investigator concluded that the conservatorship was necessary "based on her complex finances, susceptibility to undue influence and 'intermittent' drug issues" after speaking with Spears, her doctors and her conservators.

Steve Granitz/WireImage; Shutterstock Britney Spears and Jamie Spears

RELATED: Britney Spears' Lawyer Asks Court to Appoint Jodi Montgomery as Her Permanent Conservator

In a statement to PEOPLE earlier this year, Vivian Lee Thoreen, Jamie Spears' attorney, said that Spears could file a petition to terminate her conservatorship but never has.

"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," Thoreen told PEOPLE at the time. "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."

RELATED: Britney Spears Tells Fans She's 'Okay' and 'Extremely Happy': 'I'm Totally Fine'

RELATED: Britney Spears' Lawyer Asks Court to Appoint Jodi Montgomery as Her Permanent Conservator

The Times' report comes as Spears is expected to address the court "directly" on Wednesday during a hearing regarding the status of her conservatorship.

Listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day for more on Britney Spears speaking out about her conservatorship starting at the 3:45 mark.

Last summer, she made it known though that she is "strongly opposed" to having her father, Jamie - who stepped down from his role of overseeing her conservatorship in 2019 after more than a decade in the role - return as the sole conservator of her affairs and finances.

Spears said she "strongly prefers" that Jodi Montgomery, the licensed conservator who took over Jamie's post in 2019, "continue in that role as [she] has done for nearly a year," according to court documents.

During a public hearing last November, Judge Brenda Penny declined Spears' request to suspend Jamie from his role. At the time, Spears' attorney Samuel Ingham told the judge that Spears "is afraid of her father," adding that the singer - who has been on an indefinite work hiatus since January 2019 - "will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career."

RELATED: Britney Spears Says She Has 'No Idea' If She'll 'Ever Take the Stage Again': 'I'm Having Fun Right Now'

In recent social media posts, Spears has appeared light-hearted, telling fans who've asked if she's okay that, "I'm totally fine. I'm extremely happy, I have a beautiful home, beautiful children. I'm taking a break right now because I'm enjoying myself."

Posting to Instagram again last week, Spears addressed whether she'll "take the stage again."

"I have no idea," she responded. "I'm having fun right now. I'm in a transition in my life and I'm enjoying myself, so that's it."