A Los Angeles judge has suspended Britney Spears\u2019 father Jamie Spears as her conservator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After months of trying to remove Jamie Spears as her controlling guardian, the singer got her way during a court hearing on Wednesday (US time), when Judge Brenda Penny agreed he should step down from his position as the overseer of his daughter’s fortune and career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The judge heard arguments from the attorneys representing the pop star and her father, and then said she thought it was in the \u201cbest interest\u201d of Britney to remove Jamie from the legal arrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After hearing arguments Judge Penny said the situation is \u201cuntenable\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe current situation is untenable,\u201d Judge Penny said during the hearing, \u201cIt reflects a toxic environment which requires the suspension of James Spears.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
A formal termination is expected to take place in the coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Britney testified against her father in June, and also urged the judge to end his reign as her conservator, insisting he and other family members should be jailed for the way she has been treated over the past 13 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this month, Jamie accepted his time as his daughter’s conservator was up and agreed to discuss his departure at the hearing, as his alleged actions became the subject of a string of damning documentaries, one of which suggested he may have bugged his daughter’s bedroom and allegedly wiretapped her private phone conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to the court hearing on Wednesday, Britney’s new lawyer, Matthew Rosengart, urged Judge Penny to replace Jamie immediately, writing: “Mr. Spears\u2019 desperation to avoid suspension is self-evident and self-serving. He wants to escape justice and accountability (but will not) and he will evidently do or say anything to avoid it. He knows that when he is suspended he must turn over the conservatorship files, including purported attorney-client privileged documents (communications with his lawyers), to the new temporary conservator.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rosengart and Britney also revealed they had already chosen his replacement – accountant John Zabel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jamie’s lawyer suggested he was unqualified to oversee such a complex estate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adding drama to the proceedings inside Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, Britney’s co-conservator, Jodi Montgomery, who has handled the singer\u2019s personal and medical affairs since 2019, pulled her request for round-the-clock protection after claiming she had received death threats. Montgomery filed a notice of withdrawal, stating the 24-hour service – which cost $50,000 a month – is “no longer needed at this time” just before the hearing began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Staff at the security firm hired to keep Britney and her handlers safe have been accused of planting surveillance devices in the singer’s bedroom in a new New York Times docu-series, Controlling Britney Spears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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