I am traumatized,” Ms. Spears, 39, said in an emotional 23-minute address by phone that was broadcast in the courtroom and, as she insisted, to the public.
It was the first time that the world had heard Ms. Spears address in detail her struggles with the conservatorship granted to her father, James P.
“It’s embarrassing and demoralizing what I’ve been through, and that’s the main reason I didn’t say it openly,” Ms. Spears said.
“I don’t think I was heard on any level when I came to court the last time,” Ms. Spears said before recapping her previous remarks, including the claim that she had been forced to tour, undergo psychiatric evaluations and take medication in 2019.
She described being pushed into involuntary medical evaluations and rehab after she spoke up for herself in rehearsal for an upcoming Las Vegas residency that was later canceled.
Multiple times, Ms. Spears drew attention to the fact that she was able to “make a living for so many people and pay so many people,” while not controlling her own money.
For years, fans and observers had questioned how Ms. Spears has continued to qualify for a conservatorship, sometimes known as a guardianship, which is typically a last resort for people who cannot care for themselves, including those with serious disabilities or dementia.
Outside the courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, dozens of Ms. Spears’s passionate supporters, who rally under the banner of #FreeBritney, gathered in front of a neon pink step-and-repeat background to chant and give speeches about the unfairness of her predicament.
Also joining the singer’s faithful were older participants who saw Ms. Spears’s case as bringing attention to a conservatorship system in need of reform.
In 2016, Ms. Spears told a court investigator assigned to her case that she wanted the conservatorship to end as soon as possible, according to the records reported by The Times.
On Wednesday, Ms. Spears invoked her father’s authority, calling him “the one who approved all of it,” and recounted being intimidated and punished by him and her management team.
Mr. Ingham, who said as the hearing began that he was unaware of what Ms. Spears would say, also seemed stunned.
“Since she has made the remarks that she was able to make on the public record today, she believes that it would be advisable for proceedings to be sealed going forward,” Mr. Ingham said.
Although she said she preferred to put her faith in God, Ms. Spears noted that she was not opposed to treatment if it remained private.
How we treated her was disgusting.” ”Britney had to navigate being told who she could be and what she could do.” ”People became fascinated with her sort of unraveling.” ”She accepted the conservatorship was going to happen, but she didn‘t want her father to be her conservator.