14 DAY TRIAL // In 2007, Britney Spears came very close to losing custody of her 2 children with ex Kevin Federline and everything else she had worked for until then. Following her heavily-mediated meltdown, her family even feared she might end up dead, so they asked for her to be put under a conservatorship.
A judge granted 2 conservatorships in January 2008: one for her person, which meant she would no longer be able to make personal decisions, and one for Britney Spears the business. Jamie Spears, her father, has been named conservator and he’s been handling business ever since, together with a team of doctors, lawyers and counselors.
Conservatorship is going too well to change
Jamie might continue as conservator for the rest of Britney’s life, according to a new report by TMZ. Sources close to the situation say that Britney has been thriving, both as regards her private life and her business, so there’s really no desire to end either conservatorship, from neither party.
“Britney - who at her worst was on the verge of losing permanent custody of her kids - is now by any standard a great parent. Jamie and Britney's doctors have stabilized her to the point she can successfully work and maintain a personal life,” the report says.
She’s also back to being a successful pop star, recording music, selling merchandise and even landing her own Las Vegas residency, which has been a hit.
The Britney Spears of 2007 wasn’t able to do everyday chores without some kind of drama, but the Britney of today was able to handle the pressure of doing several major shows a night for months in a row, while being a good mother to her kids, spending time with a boyfriend, and keeping healthy.
As far as the conservatorship on her person goes, she even gets “substantial day-to-day freedom” to make some of the decisions herself, the report notes. That probably doesn’t include major decisions, but she’s better off than she was some years ago in this respect too.
To put it simply, this is a situation that’s working just fine for Britney and everyone involved agrees. There’s the risk that she might not be able to handle it all if the conservatorship ends, which would translate into a relapse in old, destructive patterns of behavior, so why try to fix or change something that ain’t broke?
The cautionary tale of the little girl who became too famous for her own good
In many ways, even if Britney is now relatively ok, her story is a cautionary tale of the disastrous consequences of fame.
She became too famous too soon and it ended up doing her more harm than good, especially when she surrounded herself with people that saw in her not a person but a means to an end - and that end was making money.
Sure, she’s better now, but the fact that she’s still being pushed into performing when she might not want to, that she’s being placed in a bubble so that the Britney SpearsTM machine keeps spinning, is sad.
Britney Spears doesn’t do interviews and she’s shielded from the media completely. Her live shows are a far cry from her younger years, because the spark is gone and she’s not the performer who could make excuses for lip-syncing by mentioning her impeccable dance routines. Fans will cite an older knee injury for that, but it’s more than this.
Whenever she does a red carpet, Britney Spears always has that “deer in the headlights” look on her face, as if she wants it over with so she can be alone.
She is a multi-million entertainer and businesswoman who can’t even buy a car she likes without asking for permission from her father and a bunch of strangers.