On this episode ofStuff They Don’t Want You To Know, Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown take a close look at what exactly is going on with pop legend Britney Spears. One of most famous names in pop music, Britney has rarely left the spotlight since she was very young, releasing chart-topping albums and award-winning music videos, headlining multiple world tours and a residency in Las Vegas, and making TV appearances on sitcoms and as a judge for The X Factor. Added up, her work has resulted in an estate worth over $60 million – but Britney has no control over any of it. Instead, it’s managed in a conservatorship controlled by her father, Jamie Spears. And some conspiracy theorists out there are concerned that Britney is being held hostage somehow by her father, that he’s possibly fleecing her estate, and that she’s been calling out for help in coded messages on her social media posts.
There’s no denying that Britney has exhibited some uneven behavior in the past. The conservatorship was declared in 2008; by that time, Britney had been banned from the Oscars, had lost and then regained custody of her two children four times, had attacked a paparazzo with an umbrella, had been checked into a rehab facility for psychiatric reasons, and more. A court decided that she wasn’t mentally able to make her own decisions, and the conservatorship was created, putting her father and a lawyer named Andrew M. Wallet in charge of Britney’s entire financial life. What makes this shady is that the conservatorship has gone on for an unusually long time, and her father is paid to control her finances, which doesn’t give him a lot of incentive to end the arrangement. It’s been suggested that he’s found plenty of ways to skim money off the estate on top of his $130,000 a year salary. And Britney herself has said she doesn’t want her father in charge – they’ve been estranged for years, but more than that, he doesn’t have any training in law or finance. She’s not fighting the conservatorship itself, but rather who is in control of it.
Ben and Noel agree with Britney that it would make more sense for her enormous and complex estate to be handled by someone with some training and objectivity. Why shouldn’t Britney have some say – and particularly, some trust – in the person controlling her money? And since quarantine began earlier this year, a lot of Britney’s fans have wondered if she’s sending coded messages in the videos she posts on her social media, pointing to clues in the songs she dances to and the clothes she wears. Speculation that she’s being held under duress in some way is rampant. And the only thing that’s clear is that the situation is too murky to dismiss any theory out of hand. Hear all the details about this unusual imbroglio on this episode of Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know.
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