Britney Spears asked a Los Angeles judge on Wednesday to prevent her father Jamie from continuing as her conservator, a role he has had for the last 12 years.
And fans and members of the #FreeBritney brigade gathered outside the downtown LA courthouse to show their support for the pop superstar.
Among the crowd was Jason Alexander, Britney’s short-lived first husband, who told fans he was there to show his support for his ex.
Jason Alexander, the short-lived first husband of Britney Spears, showed up at a #FreeBritney rally in LA Wednesday to show support for the star who wants to end her father Jamie’s conservatorship
Jason tied the knot with the Baby, One More Time hitmaker in Las Vegas in January 2004. They were both 22 at the time.
However, the marriage was annulled just 55 hours later.
Jason and Britney grew up together in Kentwood, Louisiana, and she had flown him to Vegas in a private jet to see in the New Year.
‘She just came out and asked me,’ Alexander said of the decision to get married. ‘She was like, ‘Well, let’s get married.’ And I was like, ‘Sure. You know, let’s do this.”
He told ABC News in 2012 that when her mother and managers found out, ‘everyone went crazy because there was no prenup.’
The subsequent annulment stated that the pop star ‘lacked understanding of her actions, to the extent that she was incapable of agreeing to the marriage.’
Jason tied the knot with the Baby, One More Time hitmaker in Las Vegas in January 2004. They were both 22 at the time. However, the marriage was annulled just 55 hours later
In 2008, after a very high-profile breakdown, Britney’s dad was given control of her estate and finances, something she now wants the court to end.
Jason said outside the courthouse Wednesday that the conservatorship is controlling her life and she wants it to stop.
‘She’s ready for this to be over with, it’s holding her back,’ he said.
‘It’s really sad because it’s affecting her relationship with her kids and people like me and her friends that she’d like to hang out with but she can’t.’
Jason, who says he has recently been in contact with Britney, explained: ‘She does get to do things, you know go to a vacation for a week, but it’s all supervised. It’s not like she can just go do what she wants.’
Jason joined fans outside the downtown courthouse where a hearing was being held, and said the conservatorship is controlling Britney’s life and she wants it to stop. ‘She’s ready for this to be over with, it’s holding her back,’ he said
‘It’s really sad because it’s affecting her relationship with her kids and people like me and her friends that she’d like to hang out with but she can’t,’ Jason said of her father’s control. ‘It’s all supervised. It’s not like she can just go do what she wants’
The #FreeBritney campaign has gathered momentum again recently with fans questioning some of the posts made to the star’s Instagram account. Their theory is that Britney is being held ‘hostage’ by her caretakers and her posts are faked to persuade people that she is okay
The #FreeBritney campaign has gathered momentum again recently with fans questioning some of the posts made to the star’s Instagram account, many of which appear similar and undated.
Their theory is that Britney is being held ‘hostage’ by her caretakers and that her posts are being faked to try and persuade people that she is okay.
This has led to online petitions, social media posts and protests calling for her to be ‘freed’.
Her dad Jamie described the campaign as ‘a joke’ in an interview with PageSix.com earlier this month and said the conspiracy theorists ‘don’t have a clue’.
In her court filing, the singer said she is ‘strongly opposed’ to her dad Jamie continuing as sole conservator of her estate and finances
Jamie was appointed as his daughter’s conservator in 2008 following her very public breakdown. She says a change is now needed to reflect her current lifestyle and wishes
Last year, Jamie stepped aside from the conservatorship due to ongoing health issues and after an allegedly physical altercation between him and Britney’s son Sean Preston, then 13, was made public.
Britney is clearly seeking to prevent him from taking back the reins.
Jason said that Jamie ‘is a big part of the problem’ but added that it’s the whole conservatorship that’s really the issue and believes it should be ended completely.
A principal motivation for the changes Britney is seeking appears to be her desire to no longer continue performing.
She has not performed live since October 2018 when she wrapped up the final legs of her Piece of Me Tour after concluding her Las Vegas residency on December 31, 2017.
Since then, she has been living mainly at her mansion in Thousand Oaks, north of Los Angeles, with her boyfriend Sam Asghari.
The hitmaker, pictured on stage in London in 2018, has not performed live for almost two years and has no desire ‘to perform at this time’, her court filing states
Britney has been living quietly at her mansion in Thousand Oaks, north of Los Angeles, with boyfriend Sam Asghari since her Vegas residency and tour ended
A few months after her annulled Vegas nuptials, Britney got engaged to backup dancer Kevin Federline and the two married in October 2004.
They had two sons together – Sean Preston, 14, and Jayden James, 13, but Britney filed for divorce in November 2006, two months after the birth of their youngest child.
Back in March, Jayden revealed during an Instagram Live session that he hadn’t seen his mother working on any new music.
‘I haven’t seen her do a lot of new music at all,’ he said. ‘I remember one time I asked her, ‘Mom, what happened to your music?’ and she was, like, ‘I don’t know, honey. I think I might just quit it.”
In the court documents, the singer’s attorney suggests that a change to the conservatorship reflects her desire ‘not to perform at this time.’
The lawyer added that he believes Britney’s requests are ‘in her best interests.’
The pop superstar may be gearing up for a possible legal showdown with her dad. Her attorney told the court he believes Jamie will ‘aggressively’ contest the changes requested by his client