Britney Spears claims she’s being extorted by her dad Jamie as he allegedly tries to place “preconditions” on his exit from her “exhausting and terrifying” conservatorship.
In a fiery filing Tuesday afternoon, Spears’ new lawyer Mathew Rosengart accused Jamie of attempting to “drag his feet” and “cling” to power until he extracts $2 million in payments to his lawyers, himself and others – and gets another chance to “rehabilitate his image.”
According to the filing, Jamie wants an explicit promise his daughter’s estate will cover his $1.36 million legal bill racked up between October and June before he steps down.
He also wants some extra cash for himself and an assurance Britney will take care of the “exorbitant” $500,000 flat fee to Tri-Star Sports & Entertainment that he “unilaterally” approved after she went on hiatus, the paperwork says.
“Mr. Spears has no right to condition his departure on improper and extortionate demands for payment or blanket immunity. Instead, the only honorable, decent, and humane course of action is for Mr. Spears to resign now, provide all necessary information to evaluate his accounting, and, if matters cannot be resolved consensually, to try to defend his accounting,” Rosengart wrote in the nine-page filing.
“Mr. Spears and his counsel are now on notice: the status quo is no longer tolerable,” he warned. “Britney Spears will not be extorted.”
Beyond blasting his client’s father for the alleged shakedown, Rosengart also called Jamie’s Aug. 12 court filing announcing his planned resignation a “shameful” exercise in finger-pointing, saying it “improperly” discussed the pop star’s “mental health issues” and included a “mean-spirited” attack on her mom, Lynne Spears.
“That Mr. Spears would use this solemn occasion to pick one more fight with his ex-wife, the mother of his daughter, speaks volumes,” Rosengart said.
“Mr. Spears must resign or be suspended no later than September 29,” the lawyer said, referring to the next scheduled court hearing in the case.
It was during dramatic court hearings in June and July that Britney, 39, detailed her grievances with her dad and the court-ordered conservatorship that has controlled nearly every aspect of her life since she was involuntarily hospitalized in 2008.
In her startling statement to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny on June 23, Spears claimed the “abusive” conservatorship subjected her to overly aggressive medical care, severely limited her ability to see friends and barred her from removing an IUD birth control device.
“Not even Mr. Spears denies that this conservatorship is, in fact, exhausting and terrifying to Ms. Spears,” Rosengart argued in his Tuesday filing.
