This article is a continuation of “Britney Spears is Overprotected” from the March 2021 issue of “The Blue and Gold.”

   “I’m not here to be anyone’s slave,” pop icon Britney Spears spoke in her shocking testimony to California judge Brenda Penny in June 2021.

   Spears has been trapped in a court-ordered conservatorship for the past thirteen years. The conservatorship over Spears was put into place by her father, Jamie, after her overpublicized 2007 lifestyle. By definition, a conservatorship is a judge-appointed guardian who handles someone’s financial or personal affairs due to disability or limitations.

   On Sept. 29, 2021, Mr. Spears was suspended from his role as her conservator following reports of him abusing his power, but Spears’ conservatorship is still in place. Replacing Mr. Spears is John Zabel, an accountant from California.

   While Spears isn’t completely free yet, her father must turn in all documents regarding the conservatorship to Zabel. With this move, Zabel and Spears’ new lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, will be able to uncover more of the truth behind the conservatorship. This is a small win for Spears.

   Spears’ conservatorship is predicted to be terminated sometime in the fall, between Sept. 29 and Nov. 12, 2021. If this occurs, Spears will celebrate her 40th birthday as a free woman.

   Since the New York Times’ documentary “Framing Britney Spears” released earlier this year, three more documentaries – a sequel, “Controlling Britney Spears;” CNN’s “Toxic: Britney Spears’ Battle for Freedom” and Netflix’s “Britney vs. Spears” – have brought attention to the hard truth of Spears’s life under the conservatorship.

   During Spears’s shocking testimony, the pop princess revealed that she was told, “If I didn’t do any of my meetings… I wouldn’t be able to see my kids or my boyfriend.” In January 2019, Spears suddenly cancelled her second Las Vegas residency, “Domination,” after being deemed hard to work with. At the time, it was reported that it was cancelled due to an illness Mr. Spears had.

   Although Jamie Spears is considered the most at fault, Spears went on to say that her “whole family did nothing” regarding the situation. Spears is the sister of Bryan and Jamie Lynn, who is known best as the title character of Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101.” Her mother is named Lynne.

   Along with ongoing protests against the conservatorship, fans started a movement called #FreeBritney. The trend first gained recognition back in 2009 on the popular fansite BreatheHeavy.

   “I was outraged that Britney had to endure yet another year of her rights being violated,” BreatheHeavy founder Jordan Miller said, regarding the first time he wrote “Free Britney,” after Spears’s “temporary” arrangement was extended into 2009.

   Although it may seem like tabloid gossip, the #FreeBritney movement has “brought America together,” as stated in CNN’s “Toxic” documentary. Spears has been invited to speak in front of Congress by Florida Representative Matt Gaetz and impacted laws in California regarding conservatee’s choosing their own lawyers.

   On Oct. 1, 2021, Calif. Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB-1194, allowing all conservatees the right to choose their own attorney starting on January 1, 2022, a privilege Spears was denied when her conservatorship was first put into place.

   Ever since the bombshell testimony, parts of Spears’ life have changed for the better and can do things she wasn’t allowed to do in the past. Recently, Spears has been seen driving her car around and got engaged to her boyfriend of five years, fitness trainer Sam Asghari. Legality wise, Spears has chosen a new lawyer, Rosengart, to represent her in this case.

   In 2001, Spears performed her song “I’m a Slave 4 U” on MTV with a live snake. In 2008, the snake draped around her shoulders became the people closest to her.

   Spears’s full court testimony from June 2021 can be found on YouTube.