In his first interview in greater than a decade, Jamie Spears defends putting daughter Britney Spears under the 13-year conservatorship that fueled the #FreeBritney motion, calling it a “great tool” that protected the pop star and her two kids, Sean Preston, 17, and Jayden, 16.
The Mail on Sunday has printed a rare interview with the Spears patriarch, 70, his first because the conservatorship ended in November of 2021. Speaking to interviewer Daphne Barak, Spears defended his actions, however declined to reply definitively whether or not the conservatorship, which started in 2008, lasted too lengthy.
“Not everybody’s going to agree with me,” he informed Barak. “It’s been one hell of a time. But I love my daughter with all my heart and soul. Where would Britney be right now without that conservatorship? And I don’t know if she’d be alive. I don’t.
“For defending her, and likewise defending the children, conservatorship was an incredible software. Without it, I do not suppose she would have gotten the children again,” he added.
But as recently as September, the “Stronger” singer has spoken of being estranged from her two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline, all of whom have criticized her social media activity. The pop star, who recently celebrated her 41st birthday, is also estranged from dad Jamie, who is described as living with his younger daughter, former Zoey 101 star Jamie Lynn Spears, in rural Louisiana. Though Britney has lashed out at her sibling on social media — at one point calling her a “scum particular person” — she recently posted a message praising 31-year-old Jamie Lynn for her appearance on the Fox reality show Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. Jamie, who is described as having suffered health setbacks in recent years, says he too has lost touch with Britney’s boys, though at one point he claims they “had been my closest grandkids.”
“I miss my two boys actually, actually dangerous,” he says. “I do. You know, we had been very, very shut. They had been round that age the place you possibly can begin having an excellent time with them. But they had been creating a thoughts of their very own. God makes issues occur for a cause. I do not know what that cause is nevertheless it’s been a tricky three years with out them. The household’s a multitude. All we will do is maintain praying.”
Spears added that he generally thinks “the boys are used as a pawn,” but said it’s up to their father, Federline, to decide if he can see his grandsons. “The boys should be snug,” he noted.
Britney has described her father as abusive and controlling. But throughout the lengthy interview, the retired Spears maintains that he had his daughter’s best interests at heart. The conservatorship, he claimed, allowed her to have 50% physical, if not legal, custody of her sons, though either he or Federline were present during her visits with her children.
“We may take the children to Europe,” Spears said. “They did not miss time with their mom. They did not miss time with their father. Not many individuals knew that. The foremost objective was to get Britney again together with her children in a snug relationship. We did every thing in the world with them.”
He also claimed that his superstar daughter “was broke” at the time the conservatorship was established.
“She had no cash in any way,” Spears said. “The conservatorship set a useful resource the place she may get again financially. And, you understand, we labored — and he or she labored — and he or she bought herself straight up financially. … The conservatorship allowed the funds to be higher.”
Spears also insisted that his intervention had “made a distinction” that benefitted his daughter, despite her testimony disputing this.
“My understanding of a conservatorship is to assist somebody regain their life and return again to society, and to have the ability to dwell usually,” he said. “I wish to say that I made a distinction. There had been a couple of folks behind me that basically helped convey it to a degree the place we may assist her.”
The public, he claimed, have the wrong idea about what the conservatorship involved.
“All I can say is that most individuals do not have a clue what the reality is,” he continued. “Her lawyer would not have a clue what the reality is. The media has not heard the reality. They’ve heard the allegations from Britney.
“I don’t mind taking that beating because I know it’s not true, and because I don’t want to start something else. For my daughter to end up going further down the hole than she had been,” he stated.
Though Spears and Federline are actually again in contact regardless of the latter man submitting a 2019 restraining order (now lapsed) towards his former father-in-law. Federline additionally accused Spears of battery, alleging that Jamie broke down a locked door and “violently shook” Sean Preston. Spears stepped down as his daughter’s conservator following the incident, citing well being issues.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Spears expressed hope that his household may resolve their points with one another.
“Each individual has got lots of work to do,” he stated. “I don’t know if some of them want to do the work or not. It’s going to be a tough thing, but that’s the goal. Like I say, family’s not in good shape right now. That’s all I can say.
“It’s higher — however we have lots of work to do.”
Britney and her group have but to answer Spears’s interview.
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