Latest on Britney Spears: ‘I Helped a Corrupt Family Seize All This Control’ — A Family Friend Came Forward
In the latest news on Britney Spears, a former friend of the family came forward with immense regret over helping the Spears’ family secure a conservatorship. Lynne Spears, Britney’s mother, detailed how James “Jamie” Parnell Spears obtained the conservatorship in her memoir, Through the Storm. In the book, Lynne explained Jacqueline “Jackie” Butcher’s involvement in securing the conservatorship. In recent days Butcher spoke to reporters and explained how the 2008 conservatorship came to be, keeping one of the best-selling music artists of all time under lock and key.
How did Britney Spears’ conservatorship start?
In Lynne Spears’ memoir, she detailed how the family wanted to remove Britney from Sam Lutfi’s clutches in 2007 and early 2008. In early January 2008, Britney allegedly refused to give up her son, Jayden James Federline. The baby (born in 2006) was sleeping on her as she walked around her bathroom, but it was time for both boys to go to their father’s house. According to Lutfi, Federline’s lawyers called the police. The police, fire trucks, ambulances, media helicopters, and the paparazzi surrounded Spears’ home in a short time. Britney’s doctor admitted her involuntarily to Cedars-Sinai hospital under a “5150” — an emergency psychiatric hold.
After the hold, Britney’s father, James “Jamie” Parnell Spears, spoke to his lawyers about getting a conservatorship over his daughter. A few weeks after the custody issue, Britney and Lutfi got into a fight. When her mother came to help, Lynne and Lutfi screamed and yelled at each other. Two days later, on Jan. 30, 2008, Britney’s doctor called in another “5150.” That’s when Jamie went forward in obtaining the conservatorship over his daughter. Since Jackie Butcher was with Lynne when everything happened to Britney, Jackie spoke to the court to help the family secure the conservatorship. Jackie thought she was helping save Britney from Lutfi. However, 13 years later, she regrets her involvement.
A family friend expresses regret over the conservatorship
Jacqueline Butcher felt tricked into helping Jamie Spears secure a conservatorship over Britney. After the second “5150,” Lynne Spears asked Butcher to speak to Jamie’s attorney, Geraldine Wyle. Britney’s mother said she was too tired to give all of the information. Lynne requested that Butcher talk to the lawyer. They spoke for over an hour, and Butcher recounted the details of the previous few days.
“At the time, I thought we were helping,” she told The New Yorker. “And I wasn’t, and I helped a corrupt family seize all this control.”
Butcher admitted that after her phone call, the conservatorship proceedings went very fast. The following day, Butcher recalled that they went to Judge Reva Goetz, who then granted the conservatorship.
“I didn’t know how a conservatorship worked,” Butcher said in June 2021. “It was supposed to be temporary.”
Where is Britney Spears’ mother?
In The New Yorker article, Britney Spears’ fans found out why the pop star’s mother wasn’t part of the conservatorship, but her father was. Lynne told Butcher that she would rather Britney resent her father than her mother when everything ended. However, the conservatorship never ended — 13 years later, it continues. Where is Britney Spears’ mother, Lynne, now? The outlet had a brief phone conversation with Lynne in June 2021; however, she did not answer any detailed questions. Instead, she spoke quietly and told the reporters she might have to hang up quickly if her family caught her.
“I got mixed feelings about everything,” Lynne told the outlet. “I don’t know what to think. It’s a lot of pain, a lot of worry. I’m good. I’m good at deflecting.”
According to documents obtained by The Blast, Britney’s mom filed legal documents on July 13, 2020, on behalf of the star. Britney’s mother wants to have a role in her daughter’s finances, “specifically the trust which holds most of Britney’s multi-million dollar assets.” It sounds like Lynne is trying to fight the conservatorship for her daughter. However, we won’t know the full story until Britney comes forward to explain it.
