I saved Britney’s life – she could have died without conservatorship, says her dad Jamie Spears
BRITNEY Spears’s father last night defended the controversial legal order that sparked worldwide outrage — insisting she could have died without it.
Speaking exclusively for the first time about the 13-year conservatorship, which controlled almost every aspect of the troubled US pop superstar’s life, Jamie Spears claims he is far from the monster fans have painted him to be.
In his first interview in more than a decade, Jamie, speaking ahead of a book by Britney's ex-husband Kevin Federline about fatherhood in the midst of public drama, said: “My God, where would she be without that conservatorship now? I ain’t gonna paint you no pretty pictures.
"That conservatorship was one hell of a time, and without it I don’t know if she would be alive now.”
Jamie, 70, has endured cruel slurs that claimed he wanted power over Britney, 41, to line his own pockets and micro-manage her career.
Even though he says all decisions under the order were taken jointly with a “group of very good people”, her fans saw him as a controlling puppet-master.
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In fact, he told me, everything he did was in the interests of the daughter he still adores — and even now he is desperate to mend their broken relationship.
“I love my daughter with all my heart and soul,” he says, his voice trembling with emotion. “This situation between us is just terrible.”
He also backed a recent claim by her ex-husband Kevin Federline that the court order did not destroy her relationship with her sons Preston, 17, and Jayden, 16 — it made it possible for her to rebuild it.
Speaking to The Sun on Sunday one year after a Los Angeles judge finally set his daughter free, he said: “I don’t believe she would’ve got the kids back without the conservatorship.”
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During most of those 13 years, Jamie shared custody with the boys’ father Kevin, 44, and says they worked together to make sure they saw their mother whenever possible.
They started with one-hour visits on Sunday afternoons, and taking it slowly, under the rules of the court order, helped a lot, he says.
“They didn’t miss no time with their mother. They didn’t miss no time with their father,” Jamie adds.
“My main purpose was to get Britney back with her kids in a comfortable relationship.
“And the conservatorship, like I said, gave Kevin a sense of peace and protection. The judge’s rules (which required Jamie to supervise Britney’s access time with her sons) were a great tool.
"They allowed us to help the kids, but also to protect Britney too. Had the conservatorship not been there, she would never have got her boys back.”
He also insists he and Britney had “good times under the conservatorship” and claims it gave her two sons a sense of normality.
Jamie, who lives in a trailer on the outskirts of Britney’s home town of Kentwood, Louisiana, said: “We could all help get the boys to and from the doctors, they didn’t ever go to school one day without lunch. The conservatorship also made sure that the boys never left that house without security.”
The court arrangements also helped Britney rebuild her finances, Jamie claims.
She was estimated to have been worth around $50million (£41million) in 2008, at the time of the conservatorship. However, Jamie says that had all but gone.
“She was broke,” he says. “She had no money whatsoever. The conservatorship set a resource where she could get back financially. And, you know, we worked — and she worked — and she got herself straight up financially.”
Since the order ended last November, there has been growing concern from some about the erratic behaviour of the singer, who married model Sam Asghari, 28, in June this year.
Last month she claimed on Instagram that during the conservatorship “it felt like my dad was trying to kill me”, before deleting her account.
But on Tuesday she was back on social media, sharing a video of herself dancing topless.
Wearing nothing but a tiny pair of red bikini bottoms, she writhed around in the shower to LL Cool J’s Doin’ It, claiming “expressing my freedom has never felt better”.
She has struggled to maintain a good relationship with her sons, who have admitted to me they find her sexy posts “embarrassing”.
The boys refused to attend her wedding and have not seen her for months, despite living with their father just a few miles from her £10million Los Angeles mansion.
They spoke to me about the problems of being Britney’s boys for an ITV News and 60 Minutes special in September.
Jayden insisted there was “no hate”, but admitted it would not be easy to mend the current rift.
He said: “When she gets better I really want to see her again.”
The boys told me it made them sad to see Jamie vilified for trying to protect them and their mother.
But their comments enraged Britney. She branded her sons “hateful” and accused them of “abandoning me”. While the boys spoke with love for their “Grandpa Jamie”, Jayden questioned whether the conservatorship went on for too long.
When I ask Jamie for his reaction to this, he fires back at me: “Did YOU see her behaviour for the last year of her conservatorship?”
When I admit I didn’t, he replies: “Well, that answers your question,” but refuses to elaborate. Jamie, speaking ahead of a book by Kevin, is clearly careful not to say too much about the legal arrangement.
Britney’s legal team wants to grill Jamie under oath about alleged mismanagement.
Despite the war of words, Jamie is determined not to bite back at his daughter or the die-hard fans who are still keen to paint him as the bad guy. “I know it’s all lies,” he says, “and I am being careful not to do or say anything that might affect her mental health.”
Jamie has not seen the boys since 2019, when Kevin took out a restraining order following claims of an altercation with one of them.
But he is willing to bide his time, not fight for a reunion, because “I don’t want them used as pawns”.
Jamie says: “My No1 goal is to fix my broken family and get them all on good terms again.”
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He added: “The family’s a mess. All we can do is keep praying.”
- Daphne Barak is a documentary filmmaker who has interviewed Nelson Mandela, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Her best-selling book Saving Amy is being adapted into a scripted eight part TV series by Halcyon Studio.
‘Britney is bright and I feel for her’
My view, by Daphne Barak
LOOKING at her social media posts, you could be forgiven for dismissing Britney Spears.
There are the naked selfies, the rambling posts and bizarre fashion shows – but this superstar is far more savvy than she seems.
She has long argued that members of her own family do not always act with her own interests at heart.
And after spending six months immersed in the family, holding in-depth discussions with Britney’s closest relatives, I can understand why she thinks so.
In fact, I believe that Britney is very bright. I have huge empathy for her and everything she’s been through.
The Spears saga reminds me of the time I spent with the troubled Winehouse family for my documentary and book Saving Amy not long before her tragic death ten years ago.
Many thought that in her vulnerable state she hadn’t got a clue – but she did. Amy was very smart and aware of everything that went on around her.
It’s the same way with Britney.
Alongside senior producer Erbil Gunasti, I have filmed with Britney’s ex-husband Kevin Federline, wife Victoria and the two boys Kevin had with Britney, Preston and Jayden. I truly believe they have done their best.
It hasn’t been easy for the boys growing up in the limelight and having to deal with the ongoing Spears drama.
But Kevin and Victoria deserve credit for the safe haven they have created.
For the documentary, I also interviewed Britney’s brother Bryan and spoke with her mother Lynne.
In my interview with Jamie – some of which is printed here today – he was honest with me when he admitted the family was a “mess”.
There are valid questions to be asked. Have some members of the Spears clan been overly keen to exploit Britney for their own professional or financial gain?
There is a long way to go to mend the broken bonds of this family – but I truly hope she can first heal relationships with the two sons she very much loves.