Britney Spears is well on her way to having her conservatorship tossed out after thirteen long years. There’s still a lot to be done, and even Britney’s lawyer wants to ensure that she still has some protections in place, for her own good. No one has really spoken in depth about what the end of the conservatorship will mean for visitation with her two sons, Sean and Jayden, and whether her arrangement with Kevin Federline will be updated significantly. My guess is that Britney’s lawyer is taking one thing at a time, and right now there’s just an emphasis on ending the conservatorship, investigating Jamie Spears and setting up protections for Brit. Then after all of that is done, they’ll deal with K-Fed and the boys. For now, Kevin’s lawyer says that Britney will probably be allowed to spend more time with the boys now that Jamie is out of the picture.
Kevin Federline is happy for his ex Britney Spears amid her recent court victory. Federline’s attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story, on newsstands Friday, that since the pop star’s father Jamie was suspended from his role in her conservatorship last week, their sons, Sean Preston, 16, and Jayden James, 15, “should be able to benefit from the removal of stress from her life so that they have their mom at her best.”
A source close to Britney, 39, says that she “blames” her father as the reason why she hasn’t seen her sons — who primarily live with their dad — “as much” since August 2019, when Jamie was involved in an alleged altercation with Sean Preston and was put under a restraining order preventing him from seeing both of the boys.
“She hopes she will be able to see her boys more now,” says the source.
While Kaplan declined to comment on his client’s custody arrangement, he says that Federline, 43, is open to the idea. “If Britney wants to see the children, she’s able to see the children,” says Kaplan. “Obviously we don’t know whether the conservatorship will be continued, but as long as the boys are properly supervised and safe, and Britney is able to do that without the presence of a conservator, he’s happy.”
People’s cover story was mostly a repeat/summary of reporting we’ve already heard, but Mark Vincent Kaplan’s comments are new. K-Fed has been watching Britney’s fight to free herself and say what you will, but I believe he’s always wanted Britney to be a great mom to their sons. Now it’s just a matter of making sure that everyone (including Sean and Jayden) are safe. It’s unknown if Kaplan and K-Fed are going to have a say in whether Britney must be cleared by a mental health evaluation, which is something she’s fighting.
Meanwhile, a friend of K-Fed posted these photos of Kevin, Sean and Jayden. Sean and Jayden are so big, oh my god. They’re at the ages where they can decide how much they’ll see of their mom too.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instagram.
Omg the one on the left looks so much like Britney
And if you swipe across the Instagram pics watch the frame with the video…he’s got musical talent as well—he clearly has some piano skills.
Wow, he’s good!
My heart honestly breaks for her re: the whole custody situation. There was a brief period (about four months) during which I could only see my son one weekend a month. It was the worst time of my life. I’d just ache to see my kid. Long story short, after lies and legal stuff and literal years of fighting I have full custody. But I still have nightmares from that time. With this on top of the financial abuse I hope Britney gets the support and love she needs – and lots of time with her sons.
Sending you a virtual hug 💚. During my divorce, I always made sure that my daughter could visit with her Dad even though she was staying with me, until one day when he decided he just wasn’t going to bring her back or allow me to see her for about 3 weeks until his lawyer finally had to tell him to get his head out of his ass. She had never spent the night away from me before. It was awful. There is no hell like being kept from your own kids.
🤭 that hits home too songs! Mine did the same but for one week and I was a nonfunctional person during that time. Hugs to you!!!
I feel for you Dena Landon! My ex lied his ass off in court and destroyed my reputation. I have primary custody but I’m a wreck every weekend my son visits his dad. I’m always waiting for a phone call from the police. I don’t know your whole situation but I try to comfort myself with the thought that one day my child will understand the truth!!!
Yeah, I’ve reassessed how I feel about K-Fed. She left him because he was smoking too much weed and partying too much on her dime. She’d had two babies back-to-back and was working a LOT. She very likely had untreated post-natal depression. She had no real support system. She and K-Fed were BOTH going out and partying when the other was parenting; but she was the famous one so she was the one targeted by the press. Him going for full custody was a shitty thing to do and it seems to be what broke her mentally (along with the insane press and pap attention). I don’t believe you should do that unless the other parent is genuinely dangerous to the children. She made some errors but she wasn’t dangerous. The mythology that she threatened harm to herself and one of the boys when in the bathroom has been exposed as a massive exaggeration and basically a set-up now. I think he rode her gravy train as best he could and he also took advantage of the misogynistic narrative around her and the conservatorship to get what he wanted: full custody and as much money as possible. The boys are getting older now, the gravy train is about to end. I hope he invested well! I feel genuinely sad for Britney at how little time she’s had with her boys and how access to them was held over her head as a threat for so long – both by her father and management and by K-Fed. K-Fed might be a stable and good parent to those boys; but I just really dislike how the narrative was used against her and I think that genuinely good parents always want to foster the best possible relationship between their children and their other parent (unless that parent is dangerous or abusive).
Beautifully said.
Well gee, Hallalujah.
The moment the second born turns 18 the FreeBritney movement should arrange a universal celebration and party on the gram.
Frankly, once the whole conservatorship is settled Britney’s lawyer needs to look into the amount of money and expenses being paid for Federline via her money. Paying for a house for Federline so that her sons can have the same living standard at both parents’ houses, okay fine. But paying for major expenses Federline’s other kids? Why?
Exactly, Kevin and his wife have never worked and his kids with Victoria are being raised on Britney’s dime. Kind of gross, really. Also, without the Las Vegas residency Britney’s income will change. So Kevin’s support payments should also change … for the lesser.
I would imagine the kids he had before Britney were raised on her dime as well. I think he has 6 kids with 3 women, right?
@lucy2 Yes. And Shar Jackson was pregnant when he left her for Britney, but that’s beside the point. The man has lived off her dime ever since he laid eyes on her. Rosengart and the forensic accountant will examine every single thing to do with Britney and where her finances have gone over 13 years. There will definitely be at least one jail term and plenty of lawsuits. Tommy Hilfiger gave Britney a pair of jeans in 2001 that had belonged to Marilyn Monroe. Jaime/Lou Taylor sold them, among other things, without her permission. I hope she can recover them. I know it’s minor compared to the big picture but how DARE they?!
Yup, 6 kids, 3 women. And yeah, I think the child support money from Britney definitely helped with his child support payments for his older kids. The guy hasn’t seemed to have any sort of steady work since he met Britney, outside of a flop music single and a couple of reality TV appearances.
100%. Britney has been used by her entire family for her money, and unfortunately, I strongly suspect Federline falls into that group.
A reckoning needs to come, but it’s possible that Britney may not want to go after Federline and upset her sons. Who knows.
Federline’s kids benefitting from that wealth I don’t mind so much, since it would be impossible to segregate finances in a way that wouldn’t create issues in the way the children dealt with each other. It is gross, however, that he and his wife never work, nor do I think it likely he’s putting anywhere near as much effort into those kids from his previous relationships that weren’t bank tickets. I’m glad those boys had one stable parent, but I also don’t think he’s entirely philanthropic in his intentions.
@Veronica, it will be interesting to see if either of them (Kevin + his wife) start working again after the kids are fully grown and gone.
People forget that it was actually Kevin and his sketchy ass lawyer who started the whole ball rolling with the Britney is unstable, setting up a situation where she was hauled off the first time in the ambulance surrounded by all the police, fire department and so much frikking paparazzi as they wanted her proven an unfit mother so that he could get primary custody and the huge financial windfall that went with it.
Leaving her paying for his lifestyle including supporting him, his current wife and all of his children from 3 or 4 different mothers
He is just as implicit in what happened to Britney as the rest of them, making sure along the way that he was seen as the caring one who didn’t sell her out to the press, but he didn’t need to as child support was worth more in the long run
Her sons are now at the age where a court will listen to their own desires and preferences re: their mother. They are teenagers who can speak for themselves. I do wonder about how much negativity those boys have seen/heard (and of course, we can’t forget that Jayden dealt with Jamie hitting him).
Kevin can be a weasel, but he’s also been the the stable parent for these kids for years. I can believe he is trying to protect them and make sure they are okay. It seems like with Jamie out of their lives, they have a better chance.
Yeah, it’s funny I am completely guessing based on appearances, but Kevin looks like a not-so-great guy enjoying the mansion Britney bought…but those boys look happy and healthy and loved. 🌸
I know she’s fighting it but I hope she has a mental health evaluation or at least be accompanied by a mental health professional during the transition between the conservatorship and total freedom. Transition period are hard on mental health even when positive.
Kevin is primarily a weasel. He should not get a cookie for “stepping-up” and … raising his own kids. He should not get a gold star for refraining from being a tabloid whore. All the money paid to Kevin really belongs to those boys. I hope he has a plan for when the tap gets shut off when they are 18.
He’s a father that never made a dime to support his kids. He’s truly living off Britney’s money. The conservatorship really benefited him. When the youngest is 18 is when we’ll see him write a “tell all” book or some sh*t just to make money. Plus that house should be put in the son’s name the minute one of them turns 18. Their dad don’t deserve sh*t for doing the bare minimum.
I agree that he doesn’t deserve cookies for being a stable parent and not selling her out to the tabloids. But I also don’t think he should be villainized for accepting child support. And as far as I can see, that’s the only thing people complain about him here. What has he done that makes him a weasel? Of all the things Britney complained about in her life the last few months, I have seen zero complaints about paying child support to her children’s father. I remember Jamie complaining, but not Britney. It’s almost like she might have been happy to provide the means for her children to live a stable and happy life when she wasn’t able to provide it in her own home. I’m not an apologist for him, but in this day and age when so many men don’t care of their children, it’s weird to me that people want to turn him into a demon for accepting the means to take good care of his children. If the genders were reversed, we would be celebrating the child support payments.
@ Brandy Alexander
The problem is that he, his wife, and his kids from other relationships ALL live off of the child support payments from Britney. If Kevin had a job or his wife had a job and made some money, people would see things differently. The child support is supposed to be for the children…not to support you and your next wife as well. Same goes if genders were reversed. The child support a man pays should be for the child, not so the ex-wife can sit at home and do nothing. This causes huge issues when the children reach the age of 18 and the money stops.
@Me – It’s unrealistic to think that he’s going to separate everything out so ONLY his children with Britney have access to the things bought with the money. Is he supposed to make his wife and other children live on the street? Are they supposed to eat different food? Not be allowed to watch the same tv? I don’t even like the guy, but I just think this argument is nonsense. And the kids are almost 18 anyway. Pretty soon he’ll have to sink or swim on his own. But so far, the kids seem pretty happy & healthy with the parent they live with. And if Britney herself starts complaining, I will change my tune. But she’s has a lot of opportunities to speak for herself recently, and there’s not been one complaint about paying him child support or the way her kids are being raised in their blended family. Personally, I think her new fiancee is skeevy, and I’m way more worried about what he’s going to steel from her as soon as she has control again.
The guy wanted to get his child support payments increased to pay for private school for his kids with his second wife. He also wanted Britney to pay more in order to cover their extracurricular activities too. In what way is that reasonable?
@Sid – Can you source that? I’ve only seen that he asked for the increase based on her elevated income, I didn’t see any kind of itemization on what he planned to spend it on.
Kevin recently received an increase in child support payments. Jamie didn’t want to increase the payments so Kevin‘s lawyer started making noise about doing a financial audit of Britney‘s income. Next thing you know, Kevin gets the support payments increased. He blackmailed Jamie into paying.
He has never spoken out against the conservatorship because it was to his benefit to keep quiet and collect the money. He may be a good dad, but he is also a complicit leech.
As for Britney not complaining, she has been clamped down and shut up for the last 13 years. No one knows what she thinks because she hasn’t been allowed to speak about it.
@ Brandy Alexander
The point is he’s not financially providing for ANY of his kids. Obviously his other kids and his wife are going to benefit from Britney’s money, but Kevin and his wife should have jobs and not be solely relying on Britney’s money. Britney is stuck in a hard spot because Kevin can hold visitation over Britney’s head. She probably stays quiet because she’s afraid she won’t be able to see her kids if she speaks up. When the youngest turns 18, what is Kevin going to do then? He’ll turn to the media and write tell all books, etc. He’s just waiting until the child support ends to do so…just wait and see.
I don’t have any issue with him receiving child support, or the house they live in – he’s been the primary caregiver for many years, and their other parent is very wealthy. Of course he should get support. But he and/or his current wife should be doing something to also contribute financially to their household, as they have two other kids who are much younger, and I don’t think he’s done any kind of entertainment industry work in like 10 years. Maybe his wife works, I don’t know. But it for sure feels like he and all of his various children live off of Britney.
I agree Golly,while I’m sure he didn’t know 100% of what was going on with the Spears family, he knew something, but has kept quiet because it benefited him.
I will say, the kids do seem to have a happy and stable home, and it’s really nice to see celebrity kids who get to have privacy, aren’t pushed into being performers or models or anything, they aren’t treated like celebrities themselves, they’re just allowed to be kids.
Yeah – i can see him trying to get a public profile for himself over the next few years, he ain’t gonna give up that lifestyle without a fight. I think he’ll cash in on all the upcoming legal and public drama that’s going to happen when the conservatorship has been completely removed and the lawsuits against her former managers and family start. I expect Rosengart to come after KFed as well.
See, I don’t think he will. He’s done nothing in the last 11 years to indicate he’s seeking attention and money for his Britney connection, and I’m sure he’s had PLENTY of offers.
Regarding all these cries of “he doesn’t woooooork”- we have no idea what he does or their financial situation. Just because no one sees him going to a little accounting job each day doesn’t mean he’s filling his day with Bonbons and Days of our Lives.
Britney has never said she’s had a problem with KFed as a dad and the kids seem happy. I don’t understand why that’s not enough for people?
My ex, during the fairly brief period he actually paid child support, used to try and threaten me with an audit to make sure his money was being spent “appropriately.” The child support money went toward food, rent, clothes and school supplied. I even paid to have new brakes on my car with a child support check. Child support can be tricky to quantify. It is to provide a child with the life they would have had with the other parent and also if the parents were still together. Then how do you ratio it out if you have kids from another relationship? Do they eat different food, get different clothes, maybe have to live somewhere else you alone can afford?
The tap is going to shut off at #2’s 18th birthday (though possibly 22 if he goes to college and it’s in the agreement) so he should have a plan in place, it was obvious this was not going to be life long support. At 18 if the kids need something or want something they can get it directly from Britney without using a middle man
Just reading some of these comments imagining if the genders were switched. We wouldn’t expect the wife of a male rockstar of Britney’s wealth to work just so the kids would get her financial support.
I actually think making sure that all of the kids in the Federline household have the same lifestyle, schooling, and extracurricular activities is truly the best for all of the kid’s mental health and personal growth. Whether that should happen by upping the support to cover all the kids or if Kevin should make budgetary choices based on how much money is coming into the household under the current circumstances is a choice he and Britney will now make together. Britney’s kids can have a fancier life at her house, but at Dad’s house all the siblings need to be equal.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him receiving child support or even being a stay-at-home parent on her dime, but I do find it glaring that both he and his wife are not doing anything to prepare for what happens when that child support is no longer required. They’ve more or less taken themselves out of the steady job market now for close to a decade, which is…not the smartest move when there are two younger children who will need cared for in the long run. At the least, I’d have expected his wife to maintain her career or taken advantage of the opportunity to change careers to something higher earning.
It’s likely he’s set aside some of it to live on later since child support is tax free, but it’ll be very revealing down the road just how much of that money was being put away for them to live off rather than being used the way it was intended (to maintain a standard of living equivalent to the higher earning partner). Even then, unless they live relatively frugally, I can’t see that money lasting forever, especially in a state as pricey as California. A mortgage may be paid off, but a house still costs you in property taxes, utilities, maintenance, etc. The rest of your bills don’t go away either. Unless he’s been weasel smart about investing it, that money will run out eventually. I just hope for the sake of their younger children that they haven’t been total idiots about it.
Kelvin’s wife Victoria works as a special education teacher. People magazine did a story on them. I don’t know why people keep saying she doesn’t work.
I could have sworn there was a story a few years back about her quitting, but perhaps that was just when the children were very young and at their neediest stage. If she’s working, that’s fine. The point is simply that they aren’t receiving BALLER amount of money, and it has a date ending, so at least one needed to maintain a career.
is it just me or was the piano playing awful😕
It’s just you, the kid has talent.
I also wasn’t impressed
He’s got talent, just heavy on the pedals. If that’s entirely by ear or his own composition, it’s really good. With Brittney’s money for his upbringing, he should have been getting lessons.
Idk why some of y’all are apparently expecting some kind of Mozart-level talent here. He’s just some kid having fun and messing around on a piano. He’s playing as well as he could be expected to. Plays a hell of a lot better than me, that I know.
I think when someone has long-term mental health issues, as Britney seems to — the answer to custody isn’t always black and white. My aunt had a chronic mental illness from the time her sons were toddlers. There were times that she could effectively be a primary parent (their dad was basically out of the picture), and other times when when she needed to be hospitalized or had severe enough issues that it was not positive for her kids to be around her. And lots of times when her ability to parent was in between those two poles.
I don’t believe my cousins were ever physically in danger from their mother, but they definitely have some psychological scars of their own from their mom’s instability. My mother was one of my aunt’s guardians for many years, and my cousins lived with us periodically. My mom says it was always a struggle to make decisions about wanting my aunt and her children to be together as much as possible, but knowing that sometimes it was not in her nephews’ best interests to be with there mom at a certain point in time.
Britney’s kids are obviously older now, and can have plenty of input. And they able to get help if they see their mom in distress. But it makes sense to keep legal and practical structures in place for future periods when Britney may not be stable enough to be a custodial parent. A mental health evaluation could help assess for this. And if her previous issues were not long-term, and won’t affect her ability to parent in the future — an evaluation could also help validate that as well.
First, you’re assuming she HAS long term mental health issues. We don’t know that she does. We know that Jamie has claimed she does. There has not been any documented diagnosis made public, and Britney’s issues decades ago could easily be PPD.
Second, not all mental illnesses can be grouped together. Many parents with mental illnesses can be primary parents just fine. A lot of assumptions are being made about Spears and her mental health when we don’t have that information, and it’s inappropriate to act like we do.
Agreed, Sigmund. All we know is what Jamie and Team Con have been putting out. And that things in the past were painted with a misogynistic brush by the media. Her actions could be because of PTSD, or like you said PPD. And let’s not forget the heavy medication she was forced to take, they can impact behaviour a lot. No official diagnosis has been released to the public, and there seems to be a lack of diagnosis for the conservatorship in general.
Isn’t the guy in the middle their uncle? Doesn’t really look like Kevin.
Yes, it’s their uncle. Looks a lot like Kevin though.
I thought it was reported that guy was Kevin’s friend?
What the hell is on the coffee table?!
It seems K-Fed has been a good dad, and I’m not going to say anything about that, but he was awful to Britney. The whole custody thing and spiralling down began because of him (and I’m also sure he knew how Britney was abused but didn’t say a thing as long as he was paid).. so let’s not forget that.
My God, the boys have grown SO MUCH!
Is that weed on the table? So Britney freaks about about breathing second hand pot smoke while working because it could cost her time with her kids and KFed is just smoking it up? Did he have to get random drug and alcohol tests like Britney did or did they just reserve that for the woman was being held a virtual prisoner and treated like property to line all of their pockets?
Exactly. The usual double standard. Controlling women while men get to do whatever the hell they want.
This! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Good catch ! I wonder if he lets his sons smoke weed ? I don’t think Kevin is this perfect father that everyone thinks he is. The spotlight has always been on Britney.
Weed is legal in California for people 21 and over, no?
For a very long time I’ve been of the opinion that the best thing Britney did right during that chaotic period in her life around the early aughts (i think) was choose K-Fed to have kids with. She definitely was very eager to have kids at that time and I think she easily might have chosen someone else, and so I thank God that K-fed won out. He’s turned out to be an amazing parent, I can’t think of a single instance of mud-slinging or anything of the sort on his part. I hope Britney truly appreciates how much he is to thank for how great her kids are, and that her kids are in her life at ALL, for that matter.
Of course he’s not mudslinging. He’s not going to risk having his $$$ pipeline disrupted. He’s also never spoken up for her for the same reason.
Come on now, he’s got six kids to feed ! He can’t bite the hand that feeds him…not until the youngest of Brit’s kids turns 18 (just a few years away). I feel sorry for his other 4 kids, they will have to live a completely different life when the child support stops coming in.
People on here keep stressing how K fed hasn’t worked since he and Britney had kids but is it not possible that he is a stay-at-home dad? That could be something that he and Britney agreed on together.
Right … she can’t decide on her own birth control but she can make a deal with K-feeder that he can stay home, father as many kids as he wants and she will support them all.
A wealthy person needs to be aware that they will be on the hook for a substantial amount of child support if they have children with an un wealthy person. Britney is on the hook with KFed and she will most likely end up on the hook when she has a child with her current boyfriend. It’s her choice and we need to respect it.
His kids are 19, 17, 16, 15, 10 and 1.5. He’s been married to his current wife for 8 years. I’m fairly certain that she is a good stepmom and everyone gets along. If the boys are happy, who cares if Kevin works? In 3 years th payments most likely stop. I feel pretty confident that he’s saved some of the he money. Was he originally a gold digger? Yes, but he’s now been a full-time parent for years, and his kids with Britney having to deal with the Spears family’s issues.
Caseysmom: I agree. Britney’s never complained about child support. In court she complained about her dad, handlers and lawyers. She never complained about the financial support she is sending to her children. All she ever talks about is seeing them more. She blames the reduction in time on her dad, not KFed. Hopefully, she will get her wish soon.
If those boys go to college child support can continue until they’re 21 or they graduate from college. In addition to child support Britney may also be paying spousal support and based on the agreement, the spousal support may or may not have a termination date.
Kevin is married to another woman though, right? You can’t continue to get spousal support when you remarry.
“K-Fed has been watching Britney’s fight to free herself and say what you will, but I believe he’s always wanted Britney to be a great mom to their sons.”
Absolutely not. He helped orchestrate a lot of the mess she’s in right now for his own benefit. And the only reason he has laid low is because he benefits massively from the prison she’s in. He is a weasel, he is not a good dad just because he takes care of his own kids. He has a $financial incentive$ to do so. And if anyone knows what Britney was going through, it was him. He has never once advocated to help her – being a good dad to his kids would have been stopping the abuse he absolutely knew was happening to her. Fuck him.
Didn’t K Fed get a lump sum settlement at the time of their divorce, in addition to monthly child support payments?
How do we know that he didn’t have a good financial advisor who invested his money? Maybe the man does not need to work outside of the home.
So sad that Britney has missed so much of her kids’ childhoods because of this awful legal arrangement, which has spanned most of their lives.
So sad that Britney has missed so much of her kids’ lives because of this awful legal arrangement, sweeping away most of their childhoods. What a terrible thing for a mother to face.
How quickly people forget the dangerous state Britney was in before the 911 call was made, or that it was made precisely because she refused to hand over the kids after their scheduled time with her (every divorced parent’s nightmare).
KFed was always pretty laid back about things, but something she said to him that day on the phone scared the hell out of him. Nobody was overreacting or putting on a show in a nefarious plot. She got those alarm bells ringing herself by her own behavior, driven by her mental illness. There was real risk of suicide, and suicidal parents have a pattern of killing their children along with themselves. Would she have done it ultimately? Who knows. But the risk was definitely there based on her actions before and during.
KFed still always spoke highly of Britney, always said he hoped to get back to 50/50 custody, always let her see the kids as often as she wanted even when the judge said no visitation, as long as they were supervised by a grandparent and she didn’t drive with them. He kept them in good contact with their grandparents as well during their time with him. His pre-Britney ex (mother of his two older daughters) said that he had been a lousy boyfriend (considering how he got with Britney while she herself was pregnant) but was a good dad, that he was doing the right thing making sure both his daughters and his sons knew each other well and were family.
He needed to move for full custody at that time because Britney was too unwell to be trusted with the kids, so like it or not he did need that control until her situation changed. He did not try to keep her from her kids. He went out of his way to make sure she had contact even when she was on tour. They both went to their kids games and such at the same time, there was no unfriendliness between them and the kids benefitted greatly from that.
Britney knows all that, and this is why she has no complaints about KFed. He also keeps such a low profile for himself and the kids that you all viewing with alarm didn’t even know that his wife has a paying job. Those kids have had a remarkably private life as a result of his efforts.
And yes, if he were a woman and Britney were a man, no one would blink an eye at him staying home with the kids or getting the required financial support from his very rich ex. California judges want children in divorces to have equivalent environments at both parents’ homes and they assign support accordingly to equalize things. They don’t want one parent to be able to buy preference from their kids.
Britney started showing signs of mental illness in her late teens. It’s common for late teens/20s to be the time when mental disorders make their appearance, and I think her problems are serious and complicated. Some of it very likely is not just a matter of taking meds on time, not all disorders are treatable with drugs and when they can be, the drugs can have unhappy side effects. So there needs to be constant re-evaluation and sometimes people have to go off the drugs entirely for a while for the body to recover. This “off” period can be very difficult for some disorders such as schizophrenia. A person can start slipping into the effects of the disease while taking a break from the drug that treats it. It is always a balancing act between feeling functional enough with the drugs and avoiding more problems with the side effects.
Postpartum depression may have added to Britney’s problems, but she did not spiral downward because of KFed.
She spiraled downward because she was mentally ill, her illnesses were getting worse as she grew older, and some unrelated opportunists latched on to her and did not help her but rather kept her untreated.
Her father might be problematic now, but back then he helped her return to some semblance of a normal life, and KFed in particular helped her get time with her young children even when she was unresponsive to them. She herself has said she had good days and bad days. Sometimes she felt fine and sometimes she was out of it. She had no control over that.
This was not a plot by KFed and her dad. She could have been a cashier at KMart and still had those same problems. Really.
Mental illness is especially hard because it affects behavior and strikes at our very core idea of ourselves. All illness is ultimately physical, but we are at a very primitive stage in dealing with disorders centered in the brain, the “mental” illnesses. I don’t know her diagnosis, but I can guarantee that it’s complex just from viewing her behavior in those early days. She couldn’t just pop a pill once a day and then feel normal.