“This conservatory does me much more harm than good. I deserve to have a life I’ve worked all my life, ”she said. “I feel pulled together, I feel bullied, I feel left out and alone. I’m sick of feeling alone. I deserve to have the same rights as everyone else. ”Spears read for over 20 minutes a letter about the trauma she allegedly faced from her conservatory before Judge Brenda Penny.
Her main argument was based on the fact that if she could work and support herself and others, she shouldn’t need a conservatory position. “I shouldn’t be in a conservatory when I can work. The laws need to be changed, ”she said. “I really believe these conservatories are abusive. I don’t have the feeling that I can lead a full life. “
According to Spears, in addition to being able to remove her IUD, Spears was forced to perform at shows and take medication she didn’t want in a mental health facility, including lithium.
“Lithium is a very, very strong and completely different drug than what I’ve been on before. If you take too much, you can become mentally impaired and stay longer than five months,” Spears said. “I felt drunk. I couldn’t even stand up for myself. I couldn’t even talk to my mom or dad about anything. I told them I was scared and six different nurses came to my house to see me to be monitored while I was taking this drug that I initially refused to take. “
Linking her situation to that of the sex trade, Spears found that she worked seven days a week with no access to her credit card, cash, or passport. Additionally, Spears shared the depth to which her choices didn’t matter through an example of how she commented on a performance and objected to the choreography. “I’m not here to be anyone’s slave. I can say no to a dance step. “
“I need your help,” she pleaded with the judge. “I don’t want to sit in a room for hours during the day like they used to do with me. They made it worse for me. “
According to The New York Times‘Spears’ father was recognized as a conservatory in 2008 after concerns about her mental health and possible substance abuse emerged. While Spears expressed consistent concern about her father’s abuse and reluctance to hold him responsible for her conservatory leadership, she was ignored.
Judges allegedly responsible for hearing arguments in her case dismissed her father’s story of violence, including an injunction issued against him by Spear’s ex-husband, Kevin Federline. But while her father’s history of violence and substance abuse was ignored, for decades Spears was made as if her personal, professional, and anatomical decisions were made by someone else, including her father, whom she did not want to interact with.
In her testimony on Wednesday, Spears spoke of this double standard and previous claims from a judge that she would “develop a healthy relationship with a therapist and return clean drug tests for a year” if she wanted courts to even consider an end to her conservatory.
“The last time I spoke to you, I felt dead like I didn’t care. Like you thought I was lying I’m not lying so that you might understand the depth and degree I deserve change, ”Spears said. “I just want my life back. It’s been 13 years and enough.”
According to court records received from The New York TimesSpears’ testimony this week follows a request to speak to her directly with the judge. Previously, Spears had raised issues with her father’s role in the Conservatory community at least seven years ago, and even requested a full termination of the Conservatory class, but her lawyer hadn’t requested.
“It’s embarrassing and demoralizing what I’ve been through, and that’s the main reason I didn’t say it openly,” Ms. Spears said. “I didn’t think anyone would believe me.” Spears said she didn’t know she could file a motion to terminate the agreement. “I’m sorry for my ignorance,” she said, “but I didn’t know that.”
In response to Britney’s testimony, her father’s attorney Vivian Thoreen told CNN, “He’s sorry that his daughter is suffering and in so much pain. Mr. Spears loves his daughter and he misses her very much. “
The issue has sparked outrage across the country over the problems faced by people with disabilities and those in need of conservatoire. While it is unfortunate that it has taken so long to attract public attention, there is hope that reform may be possible. Not only did Spears know that she could move to terminate her conservatory, but was primarily represented by attorneys chosen by her conservatory group on all matters under the law.
Campaigns in support of Spears have spread nationwide under the hashtag #FreeBritney, but it’s not just about them – their situation only sheds light on the bigger problems of the restoration as a whole.
“It is incredibly disturbing to hear the trauma Britney Spears went through – including the appalling news that she could not remove her own IUD,” Planned Parenthood said in a statement. “We are in solidarity with Britney and all women exposed to reproductive coercion. Your reproductive health is yours – and no one should make decisions about it for you. Everyone should have the opportunity to make their own decisions about their bodies and to be physically active. “Autonomy.”
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