Britney Spears’ brother says she’s ‘always’ wanted to get out of her conservatorship

World Premiere Of Sony Pictures' 'Once Upon a Time In Hollywood'

With Kanye West’s latest manic episode, there were (and are) a lot of conversations about what can be done when someone has a mental illness and they won’t accept help. The difference between how Kanye is treated now versus how Britney Spears has been treated and continues to be treated is pretty striking. In defense of the double standard… when Britney’s conservatorship began, she was seen (rightly, I believe) as a danger to herself and others, whereas Kanye is mostly just saying and tweeting offensive sh-t. But more than ten years after Britney’s big breakdown, she’s still under a pretty strict conservatorship which saw her father control her medical treatment, her finances, her sons and everything to do with her business and home life. Jamie Spears is no longer the conservator (he stepped down last fall), but the terms of Britney’s conservatorship still remain strict. Now Britney’s brother Bryan has some stuff to say (in an interview last week with the As NOT Seen on TV Podcast)

Britney’s conservatorship: “She’s been in this thing for quite some time now. Obviously there was a need for it in the beginning… Now they’ve made some changes and all we can do is hope for the best,” Bryan said, adding that the conservatorship has “been a great thing for our family, to this point, and [we] keep hoping for the best.”

On Jamie Spears: Speaking about their father Jamie, Bryan said the patriarch, who suffered a life-threatening colon rupture in late 2018, has “done the best he could, given the situation he was put in,” and recalled how “we’ve had to work together as a family to keep it all going. One person might be on stage and doing this, but it’s a sacrifice from everybody. Everyone is putting in, to some degree, a little bit to keep everything going.”

He talks to Britney a lot: “She’s always wanted to get out of it. It’s very frustrating to have. Whether someone’s coming in peace to help or coming in with an attitude, having someone constantly tell you to do something has got to be frustrating. She’s wanted to get out of it for quite some time.” Describing his sibling’s independence as a child star, Bryan said she’s “been surrounded by a team of people since she was 15. So at what level does everyone walk away or at what level does that get reduced?”

Still, he doesn’t think she should live alone:
“I know what she wants but at the end of the day, what is the reality of that? What is the practicality of that? So are you going to call and make reservations for yourself today? I’m sure it’s going to be an adjustment. Let’s say it does get let go and she’s on her own — everyday task stuff is probably … it’s a great challenge, but it’s probably going to be. Like driving. She’s the worst driver in the world — I’m not lying. I mean bless her heart, she really is not a really good driver and she hasn’t had to do that.”

[From People]

Yeah, I think what he’s saying is probably true. Britney has been trying to get out of the conservatorship for a while, and her family wants to see the terms eased, but they worry that too much freedom will end badly for Britney. She has the money for those mundane tasks, the driving and the running of a household, but it’s just a matter of, “will Britney be able to manage a staff?” And there’s always a concern of bad influences and bad people coming into her life. Who knows. I could see the conservatorship being eased over the next few years, but my guess is that the Spears family actually does want some level of protection over her.

Britney Spears shops at Camarillo Premium outlets

Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid.

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27 Responses to “Britney Spears’ brother says she’s ‘always’ wanted to get out of her conservatorship”

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  1. Sunny315 says:

    Free Britney! Did anyone see her cryptic posts? I didn’t believe she was asking for help, but there are too many coincidences. A user commented on IG “wear yellow if you need help” she wears yellow. SHe captions a photo 611, and someone asked if it was 911 and she liked the comment. A user also told her to wear white or pink if she needed help, and she did. I feel terrible for her and wish her the best and hope she can get out of it. I heard they even control what she orders at Starbucks.

    • Anonymous says:

      I heard Santa is real, from credible sources! That doesn’t make it true.

      Conspiracy theories like this are dangerous and damaging for the people they involve. Do you think she reads every single comment telling her what color to wear? It’s bound to happen by coincidence sometimes. And if she was being controlled as much as you’re claiming, why is she still allowed to have control of her social media?

    • Mary says:

      Any of us could be subject to bad influences. That has nothing to do with mental illness. How is she different from any other ditzy rich person who can’t handle their own finances or running of their household and has to hire others to do it? She has been under this conservatorship for far too long, all to the benefit of others.

      • Atti says:

        Mary you sound like you dont know much about Brit. She is very different from any rich ditzy woman. They dont approve conservatorships for people who are simply reckless with their money. This was set in place by a judge, doctors and psychologists.

      • Yvette says:

        @Mary … I think the real reason Britney wants out of her conservatorship is so she can stop taking her meds. That was her father’s primary job–to make sure Britney took her meds every day. Unfortunately, a lot of bi-polar people feel just fine on their medication and therefore don’t see why they need to take it. She probably never really got back on a regular med schedule after the birth of her second son and her break-up/divorce from Kevin Federline. And we all remember what happened after that.

        In my opinion, her mother was a co-dependent enabler, who ignored the fact Britney was out of control for whatever reason. I’ve also always thought that instead of putting that poor child back on the stage, her family should have ‘retired’ her from that stressful life. Just looking at her dead eyes makes me sad for her. Briney will proably always need some form of conservatorship. That role might just fall on her ex-husband, if her immediate family–aside from her father–are relunctant to do so.

        In comparing Britney and Kayne West, his mother was the one person able to keep Kayne on his bi-polar meds. Her passing (if I recall correctly, after a liposuction treatment before an awards show) blew up his world and removed the one constant source of reason and control from his life. Moreover, I think we can all tell when he decides he’s just fine and doesn’t need his meds. And Kim? For better or for worse … you knew your husband was bi-polar when you married him.

      • Mary says:

        Forgive me if I am misremembering but I seem to recall that much of Britney’s crisis was caused by illicit drugs combined with her mental illness. I am assuming that she no longer has that problem and has every reason in the world, her kids, to try to stay clean, sober and healthy. Yes, she was put under a conservatorship because she was a danger to herself and likely others. That has passed. How is it that they can keep the conservatorship when she is no longer a threat.

        I just think it is a shame that this woman has never been given an opportunity to try to live as a responsible adult. She has always been under someone else’s thumb. That alone would make me crazy.

    • Atti says:

      I’m sorry but this is the kind of stuff that Qanon people say. “I dont really believe this shit but look at THIS and THIS and THIS”. Its bullcrap, and none if her followers buisness

      She was put under the conservatorship because she has a severe mental illness. She is clearly doing OK now, but only because her family rallied to care for her. If they put her on her own too fast she could stop taking her meds and it could be very dangerous for her.

    • Buttons2122 says:

      Sunny, I agree with you.

  2. Amber says:

    I believe the conservatorship exists at least in part to keep Britney performing (and therefore earning money). COVID19 has thrown a wrench into that but I believe that’s one of the reasons why it’s persisted for the last twelve years. To keep her earning a fortune to which she has very little access or control.
    It makes sense for Britney to have a driver and to have support staff. I believe she probably does need it. The problem with the conservatorship is she has to ask for permission to basically do anything. She has to ask to be driven to Starbucks. Wouldn’t it be great if she had at least enough freedom to pop into the chauffeured SUV and say “take me to Starbucks, Dennis!” without having to ask anybody else. Even if she still requires high levels of support, giving her some of her agency back will, I believe, be a good thing for her. In children, the ability to make meaningful choices increases their self-esteem, even if it’s a choice that you, the adult, have engineered. Britney’s not a child, but she’s been treated like a child for years, with almost no meaningful choices offered to her. That probably only reinforces feelings of helplessness. This is just my conjecture, though. We don’t know the full details. I just want her to be ok.

  3. Sam the Pink says:

    I do believe she wants out of it. She’s a woman in her 30s with 2 children and she has the legal status of a child. I can imagine it sucks.

    My concern is that it is incredibly rare for conservatorships to go on this long. That tells me one of two things. Either Britney is incredibly ill and genuinely incapable of living independently or there is a financial motive. If the first is true, then I have to question why she is still performing and recording. It feels exploitative. Let her retire! She has more than enough wealth to live the rest of her life. Let her get out of LA and lead a peaceful, non-stressed life. If she is as ill as they claim, I can’t image her current lifestyle is that good for her.

    • Laura says:

      I understand where you’re coming from, but I remember a lot of her bad decisions/bad episodes, she was ‘on break’ from performing. She always seemed to really love what she did, so I wonder if the combination of doing what she loves and having a purposeful routine might be best for her personally.

  4. Astrid says:

    I have my tinfoil hat on right now….and I’m feeling cynical. I think her conservatorship is all about making money for lots of other people. It seems odd to me that she was in such a fragile state and wasn’t able to take care of her kids but still expected to perform in Vegas for years? Seems like a movie script or a Scientology thing.

  5. Mtec says:

    Okay but doing away with her conservatorship doesn’t mean she has to be completely independent, it just means she gets a choice in her life.

    She still has enough money to have a full time driver, cook, nanny, cleaners, shopper, agent, manager, assistant to help with her schedule, financial manager, lawyer etc.

    The only difference is she would have autonomy over these choices. The problem isn’t if she can be a good driver or of she knows how to make appointments or not, or more bs like that. It’s if they’re saying she should/shouldn’t have that autonomy, then that’s the problem that should be reassessed.

  6. EMc says:

    There has to be a way to do this methodically and in increments while still assessing her capacity to handle what she’s been given, and her ability to take on more. If it turns out she can’t handle it, then act accordingly. But never even trying to give her some personal freedom seems absurd and abusive.

  7. Lolo86lf says:

    I refuse to believe that Britney has to ask for permission to go to Starbucks. What sounds more reasonable is that she has to ask for permission to spend large amounts of money or to buy expensive gifts such as fine jewelry or a fancy car for her boyfriend for instance. I’m pretty sure she can spend money on herself with no limit. The purpose of the conservatorship is to prevent others from taking advantage of her financially.

  8. Arpeggi says:

    I’m sure she’s frustrated by the conservatorship… But then again, my aunt still doesn’t understand why she was hospitalized against her will for 3 months 2 years ago while she was undergoing a manic episode; in her head, she was doing totally fine (she wasn’t, she became basically homeless). That’s the problem with those diseases, you reach a point where your vision of reality becomes completely distorted, and it some cases, it reaches a point where you become a danger to yourself and others. If Britney’s been under a conservatorship for so long, there has to be good reasons for it; it’d be awesome if she could handle a bit more freedom but she has a chronic condition and she likely never be fully autonomous; if it wasn’t the case, the conservatorship would have ended already.

  9. Ed says:

    I will say no

  10. Hyrule Castle says:

    Perhaps the conservatorship keeps her from being hospitalized.
    Like, she’s rich and famous and people don’t want another Frances Farmer situation, so they keep her tightly wrapped instead of hospitalization.

  11. molly says:

    Based on watching her instagram alone, there’s no way this woman is mature enough to run her own multi-million dollar personal and professional life. She’s not sending coded signals begging for help. She’s wearing the same khaki shorts from 1999, terrible extensions, day-old eye makeup to take the millionth picture that looks exactly the same to post it 12 times.

    • greenmonster says:

      Exactly! There is nothing to decode, no hidden messages – THIS is Britney. I think, what we can see right now is Britney being bored (because there is no music to record or show to work on) and that is not good for her mental health.

      The “wear yellow/green/blue/black/pink if you need help” from a lot of her followers is beyond disturbing. There isn’t any colour left to wear without sending a hidden message. On top of that it seems like Britney’s followers can’t even agree on if she is running her Instagram or not – there are fans who claim she is not allowed to run her own Insta or read the comment section… so how is she able to send hidden messages people are asking for? Her fans come up with the wildest theories, but can’t wrap their heads around the possibility that she has a mental illness and needs some serious help?!?

  12. matahari33 says:

    Have you guys seen her Instagram??? It’s bad!!

  13. Cycle says:

    I think she is still doing poorly mentally and that’s how it’s continued as long as it has. The judge or judges have access to a lot more stuff than anyone else has, including psychologist’s reports. The family members aren’t scamming or benefiting from this like Lohan or whomever; the dad got paid like 100K a year when he was still doing it and he’d always wanted to go back to catering. Remember she married that childhood friend in Las Vegas with no prenup and they got it annulled quickly. I think she’s still mentally and emotionally immature and the only way for her to keep performing, which she does love, is for this to continue. People commenting on her ig being bad, you are all correct.

  14. Joanna says:

    I don’t believe Britney is capable of managing her own life. I work at a bank and we have employees who are in charge of rich people’s money, for example, like a trust fund kid. The kid has to go to them and get permission for big expenses. So Britney could simply have a money manager like that if it was just about the money. The fact that the court has ordered the conservatorship and kept it shows it is needed. And it would not be easy for her father to steal from her as some seem to think he is doing. People appointed as a trustee for a trust, for example, can’t take money whenever they want. They have to have legal paperwork for a trust account to be set up at bank. They have to account for the money they spend out of the account and that’s just for a trust account. A conservatorship would be appointed by the court and held to even stricter standards. With regular auditing of how the money is used. I believe Britney has major mental illness issues and the people around her just keep it private from the public, as it should be.

    I wonder about her boyfriend Sam. He seems to care about her and be protective of her like he really cares about her. So I’m curious what her issues are that are severe enough to warrant a conservatorship but do not keep him from dating her. It’s not really any of my business though..

  15. jferber says:

    Let me ask this: is there any male pop star under conservatorship by his mother? It’s so damn patriarchal, no matter what her mental issues. Had Kanye’s mom still been alive, would it ever have been a question of her getting a conservatorship over him? And hell, he NEEDS it, running a presidential campaign on a manic phase, much crazier than Britney cutting off her hair in a video. People think of a man’s dignity, manhood, pride, etc. Not so for a woman. There’s got to be a better way than being chained to daddy for life. Got to be.