Britney Spears‘ father Jamie Spears, 69, has officially been suspended from the pop star’s 13-year-long conservatorship, however he claims he tried to act “in her best interests.” The Spears family patriarch broke his silence just one day after Judge Brenda J. Penny delivered her ruling, telling HollywoodLife in a statement that the court was “wrong” to remove him. “Mr. Spears loves his daughter Britney unconditionally,” he said in a statement via his lawyers on September 30.
“For thirteen years, he has tried to do what is in her best interests, whether as a conservator or her father … For anyone who has tried to help a family member dealing with mental health issues, they can appreciate the tremendous amount of daily worry and work this required. For Mr. Spears, this also meant biting his tongue and not responding to all the false, speculative, and unsubstantiated attacks on him by certain members of the public, media, or more recently, Britney’s own attorney.”
As fans would know, Brit’s conservatorship will remain in place for now, but another court hearing will be set to consider terminating the conservatorship entirely. In the interim, Jamie will be replaced by John Zabel, a certified public accountant. In the statement, Britney’s dad added that the outcome of the hearing was “disappointing” claiming it was “a loss for Britney.”
“Respectfully, the court was wrong to suspend Mr. Spears, put a stranger in his place to manage Britney’s estate, and extend the very conservatorship that Britney begged the court to terminate earlier this summer. Again, it was Mr. Spears who took the initiative to file the petition to terminate the conservatorship when neither Britney’s former court-appointed counsel nor her new privately-retained attorney would do so. It was Mr. Spears who asked the court at yesterday’s hearing to immediately terminate the conservatorship while Britney’s own attorney argued against it.”
Jamie concluded, “Despite the suspension, Mr. Spears will continue to look out for the best interests of his daughter and work in good faith towards a positive resolution of all matters.” Meanwhile, Britney celebrated the long-awaited news on Instagram as she flew an airplane for the first time. “On cloud 9 right now,” she wrote. “First time flying a plane and first time in a prop plane!!! Geez I was scared!!!” It seems the latter half of 2021 is looking up for Britney — she also recently got engaged to her boyfriend of five years, actor Sam Asghari.