conservatorship
Britney Spears has settled an outstanding legal dispute with her father that arose following the termination of the pop star’s 13-year conservatorship in 2021, Billboard has confirmed. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
“It has been our honor and privilege to represent, protect, and defend Britney Spears,” said Spears’ attorney, Mathew Rosengart, in a statement sent to Billboard. “Although the conservatorship was terminated in November, 2021, her wish for freedom is now truly complete. As she desired, her freedom now includes that she will no longer need to attend or be involved with court or entangled with legal proceedings in this matter.”
A legal scuffle ensued in the wake of the conservatorship’s dissolution in November 2021, when Rosengart vowed to investigate alleged misconduct by Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, during the years he served as his daughter’s conservator — including claims that he took millions from her estate, tried to control her with drugs and denied her the freedom to remove a birth control device.
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Conflict also arose over Jamie’s request in December 2021 that Britney’s estate continue paying his legal fees, arguing that the conservatorship’s termination did not end his ongoing “fiduciary obligations” and that he could face “personal bankruptcy and ruin” if his request was turned down. Rosengart responded by calling the request “not only legally meritless, but an abomination.”
Britney was placed in a conservatorship controlled by her father in 2008 following a string of public breakdowns. The legal arrangement came under scrutiny beginning in 2019, when a pair of documentaries and a movement dubbed #FreeBritney launched by the superstar’s fans went viral, ultimately leading Britney to speak out on her own behalf in public court testimony.
Attorneys for Jamie Spears did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.
You can read Rosengart’s full statement below.
It has been our honor and privilege to represent, protect, and defend Britney Spears.
Although the conservatorship was terminated in November, 2021, her wish for freedom is now truly complete. As she desired, her freedom now includes that she will no longer need to attend or be involved with court or entangled with legal proceedings in this matter.
Britney Spears won when the court suspended her father, and Britney Spears won when her fundamental rights and civil liberties were restored.
Since obtaining her freedom in late 2021, Britney Spears has achieved remarkable success on several fronts, including her August, 2022 collaboration with Sir Elton John on the smash hit Hold Me Closer (which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart and became her 24th top-ten single), followed by her landmark book deal with Simon & Schuster for her memoir The Woman in Me, an immediate NY Times #1 bestseller, which received universal, breathtaking praise and would not have been possible during the conservatorship.
We repeat our gratification for being in a position to help restore the civil rights and liberties of Britney Spears and the honor and privilege it has been to serve and protect Ms. Spears and obtain her goals in resolving various legal matters pursuant to her thoughtful and wise instruction and requests, which once again are to her credit.
A judge on Monday rejected Cher’s request that her adult son be put into a court conservatorship controlling his money.
The Oscar- and Grammy-winning singer and actor had argued in a petition that 47-year-old Elijah Blue Allman’s large payments from the trust of his late father, rocker Gregg Allman, are putting him in danger because of his struggles with mental health and substance abuse.
But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jessica A. Uzcategui was not convinced that a conservatorship was urgently needed and declined the petition, though she will still consider a larger, long-term conservatorship at a hearing in March.
Cher observed the hearing remotely. She appeared on a large screen in the courtroom throughout, but did not take part in the arguments.
Allman was in the courtroom with his his attorneys, who acknowledged his previous struggles but argued that he is in a good place now, attending meetings, getting treatment and reconciling with his previously estranged wife.
“We are thrilled that the court saw that he does not need a temporary conservatorship,” Allman’s lawyer said as he stood alongside him outside the courthouse. “He’s got a lot of support, he’s doing great.”
Cher’s attorneys argued that the support Allman was getting was from people who tell him what he wants to hear and downplay the size of his problems. They said his current apparent sobriety and mental health were illusory. They said he suffers from bipolar disorder, has been recently homeless, and that having large amounts of money might lead to access to drugs that could endanger his life.
Blue and his attorneys have consistently argued since the petition was first filed in December that none of this is true.
Uzcategui had already signaled at a hearing on January 5 that she wasn’t inclined to establish a conservatorship, delaying the decision until Monday because documents had not been shared in time with Allman’s attorneys.
Cher’s attorneys said that she was not necessarily seeking any direct control over Allman’s money, and would be happy to have a court-appointed fiduciary manage his finances. They did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the judge’s decision.
Court conservatorships, known as guardianships in some states, have come under far greater scrutiny in recent years after a temporary conservatorship imposed on Britney Spears in 2008 would end up leaving her without control of her money and major life affairs for nearly 14 years.
A judge on Friday declined to immediately put Cher’s son into the legal conservatorship that she is seeking and he is opposing, but the court will take up the issue again within weeks. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jessica A. Uzcategui ruled that Cher’s attorneys had not given Elijah Blue Allman and his lawyers the necessary documents […]
Cher has filed for temporary legal conservatorship of her 47-year-old son Elijah Blue Allman, according to a petition filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by Billboard.
In the petition, the “Believe” singer cites her son’s ongoing substance abuse battle, which he’s spoken about in the past. She seeks to be the sole conservator of Allman’s estate, arguing that he “is currently unable to manage his assets due to severe mental health and substance abuse issues.”
“Elijah is entitled to regular distributions from the Trust, but given his ongoing mental health and substance abuse issues, petitioner [Cher] is concerned that any funds distributed to Elijah will be immediately spent on drugs, leaving Elijah with no assets to provide for himself and putting Elijah’s life at risk,” according to the documents. “Elijah is currently unable to manage his finances and the distribution of funds directly to Elijah would not be in his best interests.”
Allman is the son of Cher and former husband, the late Gregg Allman, one of the founding members of the Grammy-winning Allman Brothers Band. Allman and Cher were married from 1975 to 1979, and Elijah Blue is their only child together. Allman died in 2017 after a battle with liver cancer.
Like his parents, Elijah Blue Allman also made a career for himself in the music industry. He was the lead singer of the industrial metal band Deadsy. The rockers charted a pair of LPs on the Billboard 200: 2002’s Commencement (No. 100) and 2006’s Phantasmagore (No. 176).
In October, Cher addressed claims made last year by Elijah Blue’s estranged wife, Marieangela King, in divorce documents, which alleged that the pop icon had sent four men to kidnap Allman from a New York City hotel room, telling People magazine, “That rumor is not true.”
Cher’s legal moves come just two years after she took to X (formerly Twitter) to celebrate the end of Britney Spears‘ high-profile conservatorship. “Thank God, I’ve talked [and prayed] about this [for] years,” she wrote. “I’m more than thrilled [for] her!! Bless our [superstar]. #FreeBritney.” Spears’ 13-year conservatorship came to an end on Nov. 12, 2021, after a passionate grassroots movement gained steam online to end the arrangement that gave her dad, James Spears, control of her personal and professional lives.
According to the court documents, a hearing has been scheduled for March 6, 2024. Billboard has reached out to representatives for Cher and legal representation for Elijah Blue Allman for further comment.
Last week, Cher returned to the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in nearly 22 years. “DJ Play a Christmas Song,” the breakout hit from her first Christmas album, entered the tally at No. 94, marking her first appearance on the ranking since “Song for the Lonely” topped out at No. 85 in 2002. A few weeks prior, “DJ Play a Christmas Song” helped Cher become the first soloist in history to earn a new No. 1 on a Billboard songs chart in each of the seven decades from the 1960s through the 2020s (excluding the Bubbling Under Hot 100). “DJ” topped Dance/Electronic Song Sales on the chart dated Dec. 2, 2023.
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