Hearing could restore Britney Spears’s independence after nearly 14 years

Watch: Britney Spears wears ‘#FreeBritney’ t-shirt ahead of court hearing

Britney Spears’s conservatorship case will be back in court on Friday for a highly anticipated hearing that could restore the singer’s independence for the first time in nearly 14 years.

Los Angeles judge Brenda Penny is expected to rule on requests to end the controversial legal arrangement that has allowed a network of people to control the pop star’s finances, career and personal life since 2008.

Spears has repeatedly called for the conservatorship to be terminated. Her father, Jamie Spears, has also recently said he supports ending it, as have other parties who oversee the arrangement.

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The hearing comes one month after the judge suspended Spears’s father from the conservatorship in a major victory for the singer, who has been fighting for years to be freed from his control, alleging that he was abusive. If the judge approves full termination, it would mark an extraordinary end to an unusual arrangement that has sparked fan protests across the globe.

Fans organized to block off the street in front of the LA courthouse for a massive demonstration before the hearing, with plans for a “Freedom Party” on Friday evening if the judge ends the conservatorship.

“It’s emotional, because I feel like Britney’s prayers are finally going to be answered,” said Junior Olivas, a fan and advocate who was one of the first to demonstrate at a #FreeBritney rally three years ago.

The conservatorship has faced major upheaval since June when Spears, 39, publicly spoke about it for the first time, saying she was forced to work against her will and that her father and others controlled intimate details of her life, including her birth control, her social life and her romantic relationships.

Her testimony followed a New York Times documentary that raised questions about why the arrangement was established in the first place and why the courts considered her incapable of making basic decisions even as she continued her highly successful music career. A second documentary in September alleged that her father had hired a security team that monitored her private communications and secretly recorded her in her bedroom.

Conservatorship is a form of court-appointed guardianship that is typically established for elderly and infirm people who can no longer make decisions for themselves. But critics have argued that the process is frequently exploited, and that those involved in Spears’s arrangement have taken advantage of her, reaping millions from her estate.

Spears was placed into a conservatorship while she was suffering vicious paparazzi abuse and facing apparent mental health struggles, and for years she has been forced to pay an army of lawyers and professionals on all sides of the case.

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The case took a dramatic turn in July when Spears was allowed to hire an attorney of her own choosing for the first time. Her new lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, has since fought to dissolve the arrangement and vowed to investigate her father’s role in it. Rosengart recently requested all documents related to the alleged surveillance of Britney Spears.

Jamie Spears long defended the arrangement and argued for its continuation, but after Rosengart began investigating him and pushing for termination, he said he would support shutting it down. Jodi Montgomery, a licensed conservator responsible for Spears’s healthcare, has also signaled support for termination. Spears has said she wants the conservatorship ended without having to face further evaluations.

Before the hearing, fans expressed optimism that their demands for termination would finally be met.

“It feels really surreal, because we went so long with so little progress,” said Megan Radford, a longtime #FreeBritney organizer. “Once Mathew Rosengart came in in July, it just changed direction really fast … I knew this day would come.”

Olivas, who has been a regular presence at the courthouse for the last several years, said he hoped this was the last day he had to rally for Spears’s freedom.

“Britney’s happiness is the ultimate goal here,” he said. “Whether it’s retiring and having a family, continuing to work, traveling the world, going back to Las Vegas – it doesn’t matter as long as she’s eternally happy and she’s able to make her own decisions.”

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