It looks like Britney Spears’ emotional testimony against her conservatorship has inspired others in California, who are stuck in similar legal arrangements, to fight back!
During her passionate speech in court on Wednesday, the 39-year-old pop sensation spoke out about the abuse she suffered while trapped in her controversial conservatorship for 13 years. The singer specifically detailed several traumatizing situations she had been subjected to over the years, including being forced to take strong mood stabilizers like lithium and keep an IUD. Spears told the judge:
“I’ve lied and told the whole world ‘I’m OK, and I’m happy.’ It’s a lie. I thought I just maybe if I said that enough maybe I might become happy because I’ve been in denial. I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized. You know, fake it till you make it. But now I’m telling you the truth, OK? I’m not happy. I can’t sleep. I’m so angry it’s insane. And I’m depressed. I cry every day.”
Related: Britney Spears Flies To Hawaii With Sam Asghari After Emotional Court Hearing
And while begging the judge to end her conservatorship without further psychological evaluation, Spears made it clear how incredibly dangerous the legal action can be:
“I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive and that we can sit here all day and say oh, conservatorships are here to help people. But ma’am, there is a thousand conservatorships that are abusive as well.”
She has a point!
Now, California assemblyman Evan Low, who has pushed for legislation aiming to change the conservatorship system, revealed to TMZ how people are swarming his office to tackle their own conservatorship dilemmas — all thanks to the power of Britney. He reportedly told the outlet that “citizens reaching out said they were afraid to share their own conservatorship horror stories until Britney spoke out, and they feel her testimony helps to legitimize their claims and concerns.”
And a lot of the stories shared with the politician unfortunately had similar issues that were touched on in court earlier this week. TMZ reported that one woman allegedly explained to Low how her mother sadly committed suicide after her conservator allegedly kept her in isolation and stole her finances.
Wow… Just horrible!
Following Spears’ testimony, Low tweeted out how truly “disturbing” her account had been but had also been “just one example of how California’s conservatorship system is broken. That’s why I introduced #AB1194 to create comprehensive reforms.” Take a look a the message (below):
The #BritneySpears testimony was so disturbing — but it's just one example of how California's conservatorship system is broken. That's why I introduced #AB1194 to create comprehensive reforms.
Thank you, @TheMadBrand, for allowing me to discuss. ????https://t.co/1g4P1qivPU
— Evan Low (@Evan_Low) June 25, 2021
In case you didn’t know, Low introduced a bill to reform the rules surrounding conservatorships in March following the release of the Framing Britney Spears documentary. His proposal introduced new requirements forcing an appointed conservator who is not a licensed professional to undergo 10 hours of training in financial abuse. If signed into law, untrained conservators like Jamie Spears would also have to register into the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau.
And if a conservator got caught exploiting a person’s estate, the person may have their license suspended or revoked, as well as pay a $50,000 fee to the conservatees.
It’s seemingly a step in the right direction that might be beneficial to Britney’s ongoing legal case. Everyone will have to wait and see what happens with the bill, but we can imagine with the energy of the #FreeBritney movement that it’ll be push in the right direction soon.
Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments (below)!
[Image via C.Smith/WENN, MEGA/WENN]
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