New details on Britney Spears's conservatorship, revealed!

In a National Public Radio (NPR) podcast titled Weekend Edition Sunday, host Lulu Garcia-Navarro talked to one of the writers of an article published in The New Yorker magazine, which shed new light into the controversial conservatorship battle of Britney Spears.

The said article was written by Jia Tolentino and Ronan Farrow, and host Lulu Garcia-Navarro got the chance to discuss its highlights with Jia.

Read on and learn more about new details about the conservatorship of pop icon Britney Spears and just how much control her father, Jamie Spears, really had over it.

2007 breakdown

Jia and Lulu first discussed what happened in 2007, when Britney had her very public meltdown that prompted her family to put her under conservatorship.

The New Yorker reporter first emphasized that Britney was going through a lot in her personal life then as she was in the middle of a divorce from former spouse, Kevin Federline, whom she married just six months after their first meeting and had two kids with who were born only 12 or 13 months apart.

“And so she gets divorced when she's still nursing her two-month-old second child. The more that she's not with her children, the more she sort of spirals; the more she spirals, the less likely it is that she will have access to her children in the future,” Jia narrated.

“And I think it's important to note that the two incidents that sort of cemented that era as her, quote-unquote, 'crazy era,' when she shaved her head and when she hit the paparazzo's car with an umbrella, those were directly preceded by her driving to Kevin Federline's house, followed by photographers, asking to see the children and being refused.”

New details on the controversial conservatorship of Britney Spears is revealed by The New Yorker journalist Jia Tolentino / Source: @britneyspears (IG)

Sam Lufti

Jia then talked about one of the personalities involved in the conservatorship issue is Britney's former manager, Sam Lufti. Allegedly, Sam is not on good terms with Britney's parents because they doubt his motives and fear that he was exploiting the pop superstar.

“…he swoops in to her life after Britney has fired her longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, and he sort of assumes this controlling role.

“And what Lutfi told us in an interview that - one of the things that created this conflict between him and Britney's parents, who were genuinely worried about her and worried that he was exploiting her, was that he would tell her, you want to cancel that meeting? Go ahead and cancel it. You want to buy this car on impulse? Just buy it.

“And her parents become afraid that he is just going to siphon her money off while she's in crisis - that, you know, she's going to end up underwater in debt, exploited, sort of drained of this fortune that she has built.”

Jacqueline Butcher

Another person involved in the conservatorship issue is Jacqueline Butcher, a long-time friend of the Spearses, who testified 13 years ago to create the conservatorship.

She used to be in favor of establishing the conservatorship for Britney to protect her from Sam Lufti's influence, but has now reportedly regretted that.

Jia revealed, “…she (Jacqueline) says in an interview, 'I thought we were helping, and I wasn't, and I helped a corrupt family seize all this control.'”

Jamie Spears

Jamie 's strained relationship with daughter Britney has always been an open secret. According to Jacqueline Butcher, Britney's father wasn't afraid of her getting upset with him and even criticized her appearance.

“And there is this brutal scene that Jacqueline told us about - you know, it's shortly after the conservatorship is in place, and they're all sitting in Britney's office in her house in Beverly Hills, Jia recounted. 'And Jamie turns to Britney and says, 'Baby, you're fat; we're going to get you a trainer. And within eight weeks from now, we're going to look at that TV, and they're going to be saying, Britney's back.'”

Years of abuse

One of the things highlighted in Jia and Lulu's discussion was that Britney never had the freedom to hire her own lawyer. She only had one appointed by court because she was considered “incapacitated to do so.”

“And so one of the central ways, multiple people told us, that she was manipulated or coerced or coaxed into cooperating with the conservatorship structure is that the conservatorship becomes a singular condition of being able to continue to see her children,” Jia divulged. “And that is one of the reasons that, especially from the outside, she has seemed to cooperate, or so our reporting bore out.”

On conservatorships and disability rights

Just recently a judge refused to remove Jamie from the conservatorship despite accusations of abuse. Jia was asked what's next for Britney and if she has any information about the pop icon's diagnosis

Jia admitted that it's truly none of the public or the media's business to know about Britney's diagnosis and that it “weighed heavily” on her as they were reporting about it. Nonetheless, she gave her two cents on the issue.

“But one thing that I'll say about the diagnosis thing - conservatorships, probate conservatorships of the type that Britney Spears is under, these are intended for people that cannot provide for their own food and shelter.

“These are structures for people who are elderly, dealing with severe dementia, for people with profound disabilities, for people with, you know, sort of catastrophic terminal conditions, right?

“And we spoke to disability rights attorneys who - you know, who spoke to the fact that someone might be wrestling with a mental illness, even a severe one, doesn't mean that all of their rights should be taken away in the form of the conservatorship structure.

“One pointed out that, you know, Britney could have been found holding an axe and a severed head, and she still would have had the right to hire her own attorney. And she wasn't in this case.”

#FreeBritney

Jia also spoke about how she thinks Britney has been used and abused by those closest to her for most of her life.

“Her fame and success were used against her. She was making so much money. She was so valuable that people said that makes you inherently vulnerable.

“There's a way in which she was made to pay for other people's desire to use her. And it strikes me as a genuine injustice. It is a tremendously sad story.”

Finally, Jia commended the courage and strength that the embattled pop icon exuded during her recent court testimony.

“…I was reminded listening to her of the unbelievable amount of strength that she has to be able to speak up for herself like this after what she's gone through in the last couple of decades. And you were reminded of why she's Britney Spears in the first place.”

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Take inspiration from Filipino celebrities who opened up about their mental health struggles in the gallery below.