 I just, I love her so much and I just, I feel that if you're an adult you should be able to live your life and not be controlled. After I've lied and told the whole world I'm okay and I'm happy, it's a lie. I am traumatized. She's making money for everybody and when you're making money for everybody they don't want it to end. This doesn't typically sound like someone who would need a conservatorship or doesn't. No, it doesn't. I'm not here to be anyone's slave. Death to all of them. Self autonomy, control and free will are concepts that seem to always be clashing with society, structure and law. My mom told me once whenever there's a system in place there will always be people who will find a way to exploit that system. Enter conservatorships. Lately you've probably heard of the Free Brittany movement and Brittany's chilling testimony of how horribly she's been treated under her conservatorship. And this made me think, why do conservatorships exist and how many people are being hurt and scammed by them? So let's talk about it. Today we are covering the serious topic of conservatorships and the many, many problems with conservatorships. As well as the Free Brittany movement and the chilling details of Brittany's conservatorship with her dad Jamie Spears. Before we get into this topic I want to put out a few disclaimers. The first one being I am not a mental health expert nor am I a lawyer. And much of the information I'm going to be sharing today is through the extensive research I've been doing on conservatorships and the coverage of Brittany Spears' conservatorship. I'll be linking all of my resources down in the description below so that you can check them out and read them in full for yourself. And for various research I'll be showing snippets up on the screen so you can see where I'm gathering information from. I also want to put a trigger warning because this video is dealing with the serious topic of mental health and conservatorships this video might be upsetting for some. So before covering all the problematic aspects of conservatorships it's important to know what are conservatorships? A conservatorship is an arrangement where someone acts as another person's financial overseer. Usually that person is elderly, nearing the end of life and has become incapacitated in some way. Incapacitated meaning they can't make financial decisions anymore and are unable to take care of their ongoing financial obligations. So usually conservatorships are used for older adults who may be dealing with serious issues like dementia which leaves them vulnerable to being scammed or taken advantage of by others. So a conservatorship would make sense because instead of leaving that elderly person completely vulnerable with no help or assistance, someone close to them or a professional is able to come in and keep track of their finances and assets so they're not scammed or they don't make a decision not in the right headspace that can severely affect their life and others. There's also guardianship which is similar to conservatorship but involves the care of a person's self including their medical care. While guardianship is managing the self or the person, conservatorship is strictly limited to the management of a financial estate. Though the exact structure of conservatorships can vary from state to state in the US. So first off with that definition there's kind of already a lot of questions. If conservatorships are meant for older adults, why are younger people especially celebrities being put into conservatorships? On top of that, since the sole purpose of a conservatorship is to manage someone's finances and estate, hopefully you can see how easily this system can be abused. Even if it's purpose is to help those who are incapacitated not get conned, the conservator can easily be a con artist themselves looking to take advantage of an older adult's finances. There's been many cases of this happening. There is even a Netflix movie about this issue called I Care A Lot that was supposed to give a look inside the shocking legal guardianship industry. There's tons of guardianship programs that take advantage of the elderly and take control of their finances only to scam and con them. A lot of times in conservatorships and guardianships, people can also be taken advantage of by their own family members, which creates this opportunity where a family member can go after another family member's wealth through establishing a conservatorship. One of the most common types of conservatorship abuse is from family members. Because a family member appointed as a conservator may have close knowledge of the conservatee's affairs and are often natural choices for playing the role of conservator, unfortunately these same circumstances make it extremely easy for family members to steal from the conservatee, as is the case right now with Britney Spears. Considering my family has lived off my conservatorship for 13 years, I won't be surprised if one of them has something to say. We don't think this should end. We have to help her, especially if I get my fair servant turned and exposing what they did to me. Britney Spears has been in a conservatorship since 2008, but not much was known to the public. A lot kept hidden. That is until recently. Recently, more and more details regarding Britney Spears' conservatorship have come to light, and the information that has surfaced is chilling and disturbing. Important names to know in this storyline is first off Britney Spears, a pop star and icon who was heavily scrutinized by the public. Jamie Spears, Britney Spears' father, Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney Spears' younger sister, and Lynn, Britney Spears' mother. And yeah, that might get a little confusing. Britney Spears became a celebrity and an icon at a very, very young age, and soon after the public tore into Britney Spears for seemingly every little thing that they could find on her. They didn't like the way she dressed, they didn't like the way she acted, and much of Britney Spears' fame coincided with the rise of tablet culture and sensationalized news stories. And a lot of these tabloids chose Britney Spears as their main target. In 2008, Britney Spears had a very public reaction to all of this scrutiny, which caused her to be put on an involuntary psychiatric hold. And because of this, since 2008, Britney Spears has not been in control of her own finances or even her own life. After the events that transpired in 2008, Jamie, Britney Spears' father, petitioned a Los Angeles court to name him and the attorney Andrew Wallet, that's an interesting last name considering the circumstances, as conservators over Britney's person, a.k.a. a guardianship of sorts, where they're controlling her personal life, as well as her $60 million fortune. This was all at first supposed to be temporary, but then it became permanent in October of 2008. So was this conservatorship needed? Was Britney Spears truly an incapacitated person? Because remember, the legal definition of a conservatorship is that it becomes necessary when a person becomes incapacitated and has no ability to keep care of themselves and their finances. Well, what's most bizarre to me about this entire story is the conservatorship was supposedly established over Britney's well-being. But yet right after, literally right after the conservatorship was appointed, Britney went back to working. She filmed a documentary and released Circus in November of 2008. And remember, the conservatorship was permanently established in October of 2008. So one month later. And of course, I'm not familiar with all the extensive inner workings of conservatorships, but it doesn't make any logical sense if Britney Spears was so incapacitated that she could not take care of herself and her finances due to her mental health and had to give over sole control to her father and the Wallet attorney. And how was she able to go back to work so quickly? I shouldn't be in a conservatorship if I can work and provide money and work for myself and pay other people. It makes no sense. The laws need to change. From an outside perspective, it seems to be very clear that Jamie, now being in control of Britney Spears' finances, wanted her to produce as much money as possible. That's just my opinion though. A corrupt conservator is capable of utterly ruining an estate as often happens. If the conservatee doesn't have friends or family in close proximity, in other words, no one's watching what's going on, the conservator can claim expenses that didn't even occur. The conservator and his or her attorney are also paid fees which come out of the conservatee's estate. Thus, some conservators will and do inflate their time when record keeping. After I got a phone call from my dad saying, they're planning to send you to a small home in Beverly Hills to do a small rehab program that we're going to make up for you. You're going to pay $60,000 a month for this. I cried on the phone for an hour and he loved every minute of it. Conservatorship abuse can be monstrous and the court will not necessarily notice it by themselves. If the conservator follows the law as it's written, they're not likely to do anything and action isn't always taken. Be wary if there are sudden limitations on contact or personal access to your loved one. A crooked conservator won't want family members to know what they're up to and often arrange for the conservatee's isolation to prevent interference. If I didn't do any of my meetings and work from 8 to 6 at night, which is 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, no days off, I wouldn't be able to see my kids or my boyfriend. I never had a say in my schedule. They always told me I had to do this. Watch the people involved with the conservatee's case. New attorneys, caregivers, accountants, or helpers are often colluding with the abusing conservator who pays them out of the vulnerable conservatee's estate. I don't think how the state of California can have all this written in the court documents from the time I showed up and do absolutely nothing. Just hire with my money another person to keep and keep my dad on board. A lot of these warning signs were there for years when it comes to the case of Britney Spears. A lot of people who had worked with Britney Spears within the last few years had talked about how Britney Spears wasn't allowed to communicate with people, use any phones, or have any friends. I have a friend that I used to do AA meetings with. I did AA for two years. I met a bunch of women there and I'm not able to see my friends that live 8 minutes away from me, which I find extremely strange. According to Newsweek, under this conservatorship, Britney had to ask her father permission for every single major decision she makes from business to health to voting and marriage. According to the New York Times, even Britney Spears' tiniest purchases were tracked. And according to Britney Spears' recent testimonies that were open to the public, Britney Spears was forced to have an IUD, even though she wanted to have more children, which is horrific information. I want to have the real deal. I want to be able to get married and have a baby. I was told right now in the conservatorship I'm not able to get married or have a baby. I have an ID inside of myself right now, so I don't get pregnant. I wanted to take the ID out so I could start trying to have another baby, but this so-called team won't let me go to the doctor to take it out because they don't want me to have children, any more children. Britney Spears was also forced to perform while sick within a 104-degree fever. Britney Spears had to take lithium without her consent and performed concerts against her will. My therapist sat me down in a room and said he had a million phone calls about how I was not cooperating in rehearsals and I haven't been taking my medication. All of this was a false. He immediately, the next day, put me on lithium out of nowhere. And lithium is a very, very strong and completely different medication compared to what I was used to. But he put me on that and I felt drunk. I really couldn't even take up for myself. I interviewed Britney in 2006 in New Orleans. She was helping victims of Katrina, taking them shopping. She was a vibrant young woman. Then in 2008, December of 2008, at her birthday party, I interviewed her again. In my opinion, she was heavily medicated. And that was a red flag to us that this woman was so heavily medicated but was still trotted out in front of the cameras. And I was really, really surprised at that. And now hearing these statements from Britney, it almost confirms what I thought. And once again, I'm not a medical expert but I'm telling you what it looked like to me when I saw her that night in 2008. She told the court, the last time I spoke to you, you made me feel like I was dead. Like I didn't matter. Like nothing had been done to me. Like you thought I was lying. I'm telling you again because I'm not lying. I want to feel heard and I'm telling you this again so maybe you can understand the depth and the degree and the damage that they did to me. The last time I spoke to you, keeping my dad in the loop made me feel like I was dead. Like I didn't matter. Like nothing had been done to me. Like you thought I was lying or something. I'm not lying. I want to feel heard and I'm telling you this again so maybe you can understand the depth and the degree and the damage that they did to me back then. I want changes and I want changes going forward. I deserve changes. I just want my life back and it's been 13 years and it's enough. There's been a lot of shady characters involved in the Britney Spears conservatorship but two I have to talk about are Britney's former lawyer and manager. Britney Spears claimed in her conservatorship hearing that management would aid in really harsh punishments under her conservatorship. Ma'am my dad and anyone involved in this conservatorship and my management who played a huge role in punishing at me when I said no ma'am they should be in jail. Larry Rudolph Britney's manager since the mid 90s resigned right after Britney Spears' conservatorship hearing claiming he hadn't talked to Britney Spears in two and a half years and has no involvement with the conservatorship but according to Britney that's not exactly the case and it kind of seems like the conservatorship was an excuse for management to be very very harsh and forceful with Britney. Samuel Ingham Britney Spears' attorney appointed by the conservatorship and who has been her lawyer since 2008 at the very start of the conservatorship also asked the day after the manager resigned to be dismissed as Britney's lawyer. I haven't really had the opportunity by my own self to actually handpick my own lawyer by myself and I would like to be able to do that. So many legal experts have publicly criticized Ingham's horrible handling of the case. The main points being that he didn't tell Britney Spears that she could petition to end the conservatorship at any time and didn't seem to know how to even end the conservatorship himself. We're joined now by Sarah Wentz a corporate attorney who specializes in conservatorship. What's your sense of whether a woman who spoke for half an hour with some anguish about what she's going through whether that woman should be under conservatorship at this point? I did listen to it and it was heartbreaking to hear and the most difficult thing for me was why they're at this juncture in this hearing because if her lawyer knew going into this that this is what her statement was going to be in my opinion they should have been there on a petition to terminate and not there to talk about changing out the conservatorship. There was some alarming statements in what I read yesterday about the judge trying to explain to her lawyer how he moves forward with the petition to terminate and that's pretty scary as a lawyer that he didn't already understand what he needed to do to get there. To me this seems like intentional naivety because Ingham was paid more than $500,000 a year out of Britney Spears' estate to be her lawyer and remember that was something that the conservatorship appointed him as so maybe there's a huge reason he didn't want to help her and the conservatorship. He was basically being paid to not do his job at all. I think it's really telling that both the manager and lawyer resigned so quickly after the hearing and basically both ran for the hills. This was not the first time that Britney Spears spoke out against what was happening to her and tried to get people to help her get out of this situation. In fact as early as 2014 Britney Spears was trying to get out of this conservatorship but it really seems like just no one cared and no one listened and no one took what she had to say seriously at all. When a conservaty tries to advocate for themselves and speak up about the abuse they may be experiencing it can be extremely hard for them to be taken seriously and removing a conservator can be an extremely long process all the while they continue to have a hold on your entire life. In 2014 Britney Spears cited a long list of grievances against her father and why she thought her father should be removed and no longer be her conservator. This list included his drinking, control, taking cuts from her earnings and limiting her to an allowance. She said in court that he punished her mistakes with very harsh consequences adding a lot of fear to the conservatorship. Then in 2019 finally cracks within the conservatorship began to show Wallet resigned from his role in the conservatorship saying substantial detriment, irreparable harm, and immediate danger will result to the conservaty and her estate if the relief requested herein is not granted on an ex-part basis. And once Wallet left, Jamie Spears gained sole control of everything. Britney's mom Lynn filed a request to be involved with the conservatorship and both of Britney's parents attended a court hearing on July 22nd of 2020 to hash out who gets to control what of their daughter's lives? It's just so bizarre to me. But the details of this hearing are unknown because the judge granted Jamie's request to keep the case sealed from the public. Time and time again, Jamie has used the sealing procedure to keep this battle hidden from the public and to keep Britney silent. But in September of 2019, Jamie Spears was temporarily relieved of his personal conservatorship following an alleged altercation with Britney's 13-year-old son. This put Britney's care manager Jodie Montgomery in charge of her care until August 22nd of 2020. But Jamie still maintained control of Britney's finances. Of course. On top of all of that, strangely, court documents obtained by ET show that Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney Spears' younger sister, was named trustee of Britney's trust, which was established in 2004, four years before the conservatorship began. Jamie Lynn was appointed this position by her father, Jamie, and the attorney, Andrew Wallet, in 2018. This makes her responsible for distributing Britney's fortune to the trustees in the event of Britney's death. Her sister has the sole control and ability to distribute the fortune in Britney's trust to the trustees in the event that Britney passes away. Alarm bells? Just me? Kind of alarm bells. Even sketchier, in the court documents, Jamie Lynn requested funds be transferred to a blocked account. Upon her sister's death, a blocked account with Fidelity Financial Management Services. But of course, once Jamie Lynn started receiving backlash about the situation and her complacency in her sister's situation, she just has nothing to gain either way. I don't care if she wants to run away to Rainforest and have a zillion babies in the middle of nowhere or if she wants to come back and dominate the world the way she has so many times before. Because I have nothing to gain or lose either way. This situation does not affect me either way. That was Jamie Lynn's response to the chilling testimonies of Britney Spears' experience in her abusive conservatorship. Is that she has nothing to gain either way. I've made a very conscious choice in my life to only participate in her life as her sister as a hand to those boys. So what does Britney Spears' team have to say about her testimony? According to the New Yorker, Britney Spears' team who are defenders of the conservatorship are telling the same exact story of why the conservatorship exists as told years and years ago. That Spears is being manipulated by a man with an interest in controlling her fortune and that there's a grave medical diagnosis behind the arrangement that the public has no right to know. Of course, the public does not know the full story but this whole narrative doesn't make any sense to me. First off, because conservatorships are so extreme as I mentioned earlier in this video, they're only meant for people who are fully incapacitated and cannot take care of themselves. The fact that Britney Spears was so coherent in her hearing tells me and a lot of others including legal experts in conservatorships that she is not a person who should be under one. When you listen to that statement that she made this doesn't really sound like a woman who's not in control of her thinking or can control making decisions. That's exactly right. This doesn't typically sound like someone who would need a conservatorship or does it? No, it doesn't. These types of conservatorships are typically used for people who don't have the ability to manage their finances, never had that or had something like Alzheimer's or dementia and aren't going to regain their faculties. This is not a normal situation in any way, shape, or form and I think it's heartbreaking the things that she's alleging if these are true. I think we're going to hear a lot more about what happens with these conservators and the role that they played in her lives. So even if she needs help for a medical condition why aren't different options being explored that give her more freedom? On top of that this whole narrative of a man controlling her is very concerning to me considering Britney herself has said time and time again that her father is the one controlling her and that her father is the person who is manipulating her and doing horrible things to her. The control he had over someone as powerful as me as he loved the control to her, his own daughter 100,000% he loved it. On top of that her team talking about someone being after her fortune is really ironic to me considering they are the ones who have continually profited off of this conservatorship through Britney's estate consistently paying them. At this point Britney Spears is the face of a multi-million dollar empire. Her team has discovered extensive ways to profit off of her image and commodify every aspect of her brand. If you think about it since 2008 Britney has put out four albums gone on four world tours. Her last world tour one of the most lucrative in history. She had a four-year Vegas residency. She has the fragrance that brings in money. Her brother claimed that it has made more than a hundred billion dollars worldwide. But when you think about all that that means that she is earning so much money for so many people. And under this conservatorship her father has said he's increased her net worth from 2.8 million to 60 million dollars. In other words she's making money for everybody and when you're making money for everybody they don't want it to end. And worst of all under the conservatorship this has been without her say or any of her own creative control. Imagine being a pop icon and not getting any say about how your brand is handled. She paid everyone's bills and yet was forced to do what everyone said which kept her working and working and working and paying everyone else. I don't owe these people anything especially me the one that has roofed and fed tons of people on tour on the road. I truly cannot imagine Britney's strength and having the courage to come forward and speak publicly about her experiences. This case is major and will shed so much light on the dangers of conservatorships and the massive loopholes that allow people to take advantage of others and take away all of their rights meanwhile scamming them. 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 a thousand conservatorships that are abusive as well. Britney Spears has made it very clear that it's embarrassing that this dark part of her life has been hashed out so publicly and that people see her as a victim of sorts. It's embarrassing and immoralizing what I've been through and that's the main reason. I've never said it openly and mainly I didn't want to say it openly because I honestly don't think anyone would believe me. So I think the most respectful thing that we can all do to help is to see Britney as a powerful warrior who is fighting so many obstacles and coming out on top. It's helping raise awareness of this massive problem and for that we should only see her incredible strength. Just through Britney Spears sharing her experience she will help so many people and that's incredible. But I also think it's important to keep in mind the Britney Spears case highlights a reality many disabled people face with choices and decisions taken out of their hands for their own good. So it's deeply troubling and also a disability rights issue including the part on reproductive rights. As heroic as it is for Britney Spears to share her story and what she went through in this conservatorship it's also important to give Britney Spears space and not expect her to relive or rehash all of her traumas. We need to create space for her to define what's happened to her and if the conservatorship gets changed or revoked for the public, the media and the people in her life to let her move on and not be defined by what happened to her. Though Spears's conservatorship has gained the most publicity in recent years Britney Spears is not the only celebrity who has been placed under a conservatorship. Amanda Bynes has also been placed under a conservatorship. Bynes has been open about her bipolar diagnosis and information about her addiction came out to the public. So her mom Lynn was granted the right to become her conservator and Bynes was no longer allowed to make decisions without her mother's permission. Bynes even took to Instagram to ask for help because she felt she was no longer in need of a conservatorship. But despite her pleas her conservatorship was extended to 2020 and it seems now in present day Bynes has gained back control of her finances but her mom is still placed as a guardian who controls her personal life. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys was also placed under a conservatorship in the 1990s. Dr. Eugene Landy was a popular therapist to the stars in the 1960s. He worked with artists like Alice Cooper Rob Steiger and The Beach Boys Brian Wilson. In 1975, Wilson's first wife Marilyn hired Landy to tackle the drug abuse, weight gain and strange behavior of the reclusive Beach Boy. But it's believed today that Landy misdiagnosed Wilson as a paranoid schizophrenic. Then he began aggressively over medicating Wilson and his mental health took a turn. Then Landy's treatment of the singer ultimately became an abusive relationship where Wilson's every move was controlled. In May of 1990, Wilson's relatives asked the Superior Court to appoint a conservator for Wilson and Landy has not been allowed to communicate with Wilson since 1992. Joni Mitchell, the singer songwriter, had a conservator after suffering a brain aneurysm. In 2015, Joni Mitchell collapsed in her home from a brain aneurysm. She was rushed to UCLA Medical Center where she was initially deemed unresponsive. Because of this, Leslie Morris, a long time friend of the songwriter, began a conservatorship petition. Eagle's bass player, Randy Meisner was placed under a voluntary conservatorship due to the loss of his wife, his diagnosed bipolar disorder and a traumatic brain injury and substance abuse. According to the book The Con Game A Failure of Trust by P. S. Layhem, a business professor at Diablo Valley College in the San Francisco Bay Area, America's guardianship system is an open invitation to potential abuse. Roughly 1.5 million adults are under guardianship according to a 2013 AARP estimate. In many cases, Layhem says conservators or guardians steal from, neglect or physically abuse the people they're supposed to assist. A 2010 Government Accountability Office guardianship review of 20 cases found that guardians stole or otherwise obtained 5.4 million dollars in assets from 158 incapacitated victims many of whom were senior citizens. Apart from older adults, others who are taken advantage of in conservatorships are those with disabilities. There's a great TikTok that goes in depth about this so I thought I would play the TikTok and react and this is by at Liz Plank on TikTok. Welcome to the disability revolution we are so glad you're here. Do you think it's wild that she couldn't remove her IUD? Well, it is still currently completely legal to sterilize women with disabilities under law. Do you think it's bananas that Brittany couldn't even see her children? Well, it's not uncommon at all. In fact, mothers with disabilities face removal rates up to 40 to 80 percent. I can't believe she couldn't even see her own boyfriend. This happens all the time. It is very common for families of people with disabilities to control their relationships for them. That's why many people with disabilities can't actually marry because they can lose their benefits and their health care. It's also completely legal to electro shock children if they have a disability. So yes, free Brittany. But let's also free everybody else and let's follow the lead of the disability rights movement who has been shouting and fighting against these injustices for decades. Overall, conservatorships are a huge concern, not just for celebrities, but for everyone. Sometimes conservatorships may be necessary, but they also seem to create a system where someone's entire finances and life savings are placed entirely in another person's hands. And it's soul crushing to think how that would feel to be someone like Brittany Spears and have your rights and self autonomy completely taken away. So all of this uncovered huge and major issues, and hopefully will lead more to participating in the Disabled Rights Movement. Overall, I hope that more work can be done, and I also hope that Brittany Spears knows how incredibly inspirational she is and what a difference she's making in spreading awareness. And that's all for today. It was a little bit more of a heavier topic, but something I felt was extremely important to talk about, especially regarding the general major issues with conservatorships and how the Free Brittany Movement has really shed light on all of that. I hope you guys are all doing well and I will see you in the next video. Bye.