After nearly 14 years, the controversial conservatorship that Britney Spears has been under was terminated on Friday, Nov. 12.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny dissolved the legal arrangement. Up until Friday's hearing Spears’ attorney, Matthew Rosengart, her parents and the court appointees who controlled the conservatorship all publicly supported the move.
“The court finds the conservatorship of Britney Jean Spears is no longer required," Penny said. "Effective the conservatorship of Britney Jean Spears person and estate are is terminated."
Britney Spears did not appear in person or virtually.
The termination comes almost two months after Penny ruled to suspend James “Jamie” Spears as his daughter’s conservator.
“The situation is not tenable. ... The situation is toxic,” Penny said at the time. “I believe suspension is in the best interest of the conservator.”
Earlier that month, Jamie Spears filed a petition to end the controversial conservatorship, one that became the focal point of the #FreeBritney movement. His petition came after intense media scrutiny, as well as the 39-year-old pop star filing a request in March for him to resign as conservator and be replaced with a professional conservator.
After the news broke Friday afternoon, Spears shared a video to Instagram of people celebrating outside the courthouse in Los Angeles.
“Good God I love my fans so much it’s crazy,” she wrote. “I think I’m gonna cry the rest of the day !!!! Best day ever … praise the Lord … can I get an Amen 🙏🏼☀️🙌🏼 ???? #FreedBritney“
Despite the conservatorship coming to a close on Friday, there are still legal battles on the horizon for all parties involved. Spears attorney has vowed to pursue an investigation of James Spears’ handling of the conservatorship and said he planned to take a “top-to-bottom look” at his actions. The elder Spears has denied all allegations of misconduct while serving as his daughter’s conservator, saying he has only acted in Britney Spears’ best interest.
A pivotal turning point for the "Toxic" singer's case was her emotional testimony given back in March 2021. During that hearing, she fiercely addressed the court, pleading with Penny to dissolve the legal arrangement that made others in charge of all her personal and financial decisions.
“I’ve been in shock,” she said. “I am traumatized, You know, fake it till you make it, but now I’m telling you the truth. OK. I’m not happy. I can’t sleep. I’m so angry, it’s insane and I’m depressed. I cry every day and the reason I’m telling you this is because I don’t know how the state of California can have all this written in the court documents from the time I showed up and do absolutely nothing.”
“I’ve worked since I was 17 years old; you have to understand how thin that is for me. Every morning, I get up to know I can’t go on somewhere unless I meet people I don’t know every week in our office, identical to the one where the therapist was very abusive to me,” she added. “I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive and that we can sit here all day and say, ‘Oh, conservatorships are here to help people. But ma’am, there’s 1,000 conservatorships that are abusive as well. I don’t feel like I can live a full life; I don’t. I don’t owe them to go see a man I don’t know and share my problems.”
In recent weeks, Spears has been especially vocal on her social media platform, seemingly more in control of it than she has been in recent years.
On Friday leading up to the hearing, her fiance, Sam Asghari, shared a video of her in a t-shirt with the hashtag #FreeBritney.