Britney Spears celebrates as father is suspended from conservatorship after 13 years

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Britney Spears is celebrating after her father Jamie has been suspended as the conservator of her $60m (£44.6m) estate.

Following a hearing on Wednesday (29 September), a Los Angeles judge ruled that the 39-year-old’s father will be immediately suspended as her conservator after stating that the arrangement was no longer in the pop star’s best interests.

Moments after the news broke, Spears and her fiancé Sam Asghari celebrated on Instagram.

“On cloud 9 right now,” Spears captioned a video of her flying a prop plane.

Asghari posted a photograph of a lioness, accompanied by the caption: “The power of the lioness!!!!! #freebritney.”

Spears has been under conservatorship for 13 years since she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in 2008.

Her father, Jamie Spears, was replaced as his daughter’s conservator by professional conservator Jodi Montgomery in 2019. Jamie cited health reasons for his temporary removal from managing her personal life. He still oversaw her finances.

During a court hearing in June, the “Toxic” singer broke her silence over the conservatorship and declared that it had left her “traumatised” as she called for an investigation and jailing of those people who had overseen it.

At that hearing, she claimed that she had been drugged and forced to work against her will during the conservatorship and prevented from removing a birth control device.

A former security company employee has also claimed that the singer was closely monitored at her home, with secret audio tapings allegedly recorded in her bedroom and material taken from her phone. The allegations were raised by Spears’s lawyer at Wednesday’s hearing (29 September).

“We learned Mr Spears did something unfathomable. He instructed [a] security team, paid for by my client, to place a listening device in Britney’s bedroom,” Matthew Rosengart told the court.

In response, Jamie’s lawyer, Vivian Thoreen, said: “It’s not evidence, it’s rhetoric.”

A number of other celebs and fans also took to social media to celebrate Spears’s victory.

Singer Cher wrote on Twitter: “Thank god. I’ve talked and prayed about this for 4 YEARS. i’m more than thrilled for her. Bless our super #Free Britney.”

American singer Bette Midler wrote: “#BritneySpears is free. Congratulations to everyone who helped bring this about, especially Britney, who, after 13 years in the wilderness, never gave up until she was finally heard.”

The judge is still yet to decide if Spears’s conservatorship will be terminated. A ruling is expected to be made this autumn.