Britney Spears’ father is shooting back after Deputy Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., And House Oversight Committee member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, have come together to call for an end to what they call their “questionable” tutelage over the pop star.
Jamie Spears has been the target of the #FreeBritney movement since renewed attention was given to the singer after the release of the documentary “Framing Britney Spears”. Currently, guardianship gives Jamie control of the star’s property. However, she recently started taking legal action to claim the agency over her life.
The pair of lawmakers joined forces and published a letter requesting a hearing to “review and examine the situation of Americans unjustly imprisoned in guardianship” and, specifically, highlight the Spears case.
However, in a statement provided to Fox News, Jamie’s lawyer, Vivian Thoreen, said lawmakers are misinterpreting the situation. She notes that Britney’s legal team has been part of the decision-making process around her tutelage for years. She also says that a third party professional also has a say when it comes to some aspects of guardianship.
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“Britney’s Heritage Guardianship was co-administered by a private professional trustee and her father until early 2019,” said Thoreen in a statement. “At that time, Britney requested in court documents that her father be the sole conservator of her property. Her Guardianship of the Person is not administered by her father, but by a private professional trustee.”
Britney Spears’ father was her legal guardian for years.
(Chris Farina / Corbis via Getty Images)
In response to Gaetz and Jordan calling Jamie’s motives “questionable” in their letter, Thoreen paints a portrait of a loving father.
“Jamie Spears has diligently and professionally fulfilled his duties as one of Britney’s conservatives, and his love for his daughter and dedication to protecting her is clearly evident to the court.”
She adds: “Whenever Britney wants to end her guardianship, she can ask her lawyer to file a petition to end it; she always had that right, but in 13 years she never exercised it. Britney knows that her father loves her, and that he will be there for her when and if she needs him, just as he has always been – in guardianship or not. ”
In their letter, Gaetz and Jordan highlight the case of Spears as one of the many supposedly unfair and harmful nefarious tutors in the country that they believe need to be examined through a hearing.
“If the guardianship process can uproot the agency of a woman who was at the height of her life and one of the most powerful pop stars in the world, imagine what it can do to people who are less powerful and have less voice,” he wrote Gaetz in his statement.
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In a statement to Fox News on Tuesday, Gaetz said he believed Spears would be a “great witness” and would bring a lot to the table if she testified.
Britney Spears ‘father, Jamie Spears’ lawyer, responded to a call from lawmakers to a guardianship hearing.
(VALERIE MACON / AFP via Getty Images)
“I think Britney would be a great witness … and she would probably have a lot to say on the subject,” said Gaetz.
The letter was sent by the two congressmen to the president of the House Judiciary Committee, Jerrold Nadler, DN.Y., and described the committee’s responsibility as “safeguarding the rights guaranteed to Americans by the United States Constitution.”
Thoreen’s comments, however, echo those she made during an appearance on “Good Morning America” in February, in which she highlighted Jamie ‘s need to take over his daughter’ s business and personal decisions when guardianship was established by first time.
“This is the story of an extremely loving, dedicated and loyal father who rescued his daughter from a life-threatening situation,” she explained at the time. “People were harming and exploiting her. Jamie saved Britney’s life.”
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According to Thoreen, when Jamie took over his famous daughter’s finances, she would have only $ 2.8 million in the bank, despite earning tens of millions every year for more than a decade. Thoreen shared that, with Jamie’s guidance, Spears’s earnings have grown since then and she now has about $ 60 million in assets.
Britney Spears hopes to end her father’s guardianship.
(Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for The Intimate Britney Spears)
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Spears released several albums, had a successful residency in Las Vegas and worked as a judge on “America’s Got Talent”.
“Britney’s assets were clearly being poorly managed,” Thoreen told the channel. “She was being exploited by some people around her.
Houston Keene of Fox News contributed to this report.