After 13 years, Britney Spears’ conservatorship has finally come to an end. At a hearing that lasted less than 30 minutes Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny granted the pop star’s petition to have the arrangement terminated.
Penny’s order follows a September hearing in which she suspended Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, from having control over her roughly $60 million estate. In Jamie Spears’ place, Penny appointed a certified public accountant.
Through his legal team, Jamie Spears consistently maintained that he’d done nothing wrong and had no financial motive for continuing the conservatorship. In a Nov. 1 filing, he insisted he has nothing to hide and would “unconditionally cooperate in transferring all files regarding the estate to Britney’s counsel without delay.”
Calls for Spears to be released from control of the conservatorship, which had been in place since 2008, had been growing since early summer when Spears gave emotional testimony at a hearing where she said, “I’ve lied and told the whole world I’m OK and I’m happy. It’s a lie.” She then added, “I’ve been in denial. I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized. Fake it ’til you make it, but now I’m telling you the truth, OK? I’m not happy. I can’t sleep. I’m depressed. I cry every day.”
Spears also claimed that her father was keeping her from marrying her long-time boyfriend (now fiancé) Sam Ashgari, and had forced her to take birth control to prevent her from having more children:
I was told right now in the conservatorship, I’m not able to get married or have a baby. I have an I[U]D inside of myself right now so I don’t get pregnant. I wanted to take the IUD out so I could start trying to have another baby, but this so-called team won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out because they don’t want me to have children, any more children.
Two weeks after this testimony, Penny allowed Spears to choose her own attorney.
Spears’ selection, former prosecutor Mathew Rosengart, had little experience in probate law but had a reputation for being a fierce advocate of his clients. He moved so aggressively to initiate investigations into alleged abuse by Jamie Spears and waged war so effectively in the press, many of the singer’s fans began calling him by the nickname “RosenGod.”
Before the hearing, Ashgari posted a video of Spears on Instagram wearing a #FreeBritney t-shirt. In a now-deleted post earlier this week, Spears herself said, “This week is gonna be very interesting for me! I haven’t prayed for something more in my life.”
CNN reports that though the conservatorship has come to an end, the fallout will go on:
Even if Spears is granted her request to end the conservatorship, her attorney, Mathew Rosengart, has said her legal battle will continue. Rosengart filed a 110-page petition last month requesting to depose the elder Spears, as well as asking for discovery related to alleged surveillance of his client. This is a direct result of The New York Times’ report that the Grammy winner’s father illegally placed recording devices in her bedroom without her consent.