“With five No. 1 singles, six No. 1 albums, and 150 million records sold worldwide, Britney is ranked by Billboard as the eighth-biggest artist of the first decade of this century; since being placed in the conservatorship, she’s completed four world tours, recorded four albums, and, from December 2013 through December 2017, performed 248 sold-out shows of her concert series, Britney: Piece of Me, at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.”
— Inside the Battle for Britney Spears, Los Angeles Magazine
View the timeline below for an abbreviated look at Britney’s conservatorship. To learn more, check out the timeline in its entirety with sources.
2006
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Britney gives birth to Jayden James less than one year after giving birth to Sean Preston.
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Britney files for divorce from Kevin Federline just six weeks after Jayden’s birth.
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Kevin files for sole custody of the children.
2007
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Britney’s beloved Aunt Sandra passes away after a long battle with ovarian cancer.
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Britney shaves her head and attacks a paparazzo’s car with an umbrella.
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Britney’s parents, manager, and other members of her team feel she needs “to check in somewhere and just chill.” Britney becomes livid with her mother for “forcing” her into rehab and refuses to speak to her for seven months.
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Britney allegedly sends an email to her lawyer regarding a woman named Lou Taylor. The email implies that Britney is scared of the woman, whom she calls a “crazy lady” and a “stalker.”
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Britney’s divorce is finalized. She and Kevin agree to split custody of their two sons.
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Britney performs “Gimme More” at the MTV Video Music Awards. Her performance is ridiculed by most mainstream media outlets and the general public.
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Britney loses custody of her sons, though the order does not state why nor how long she will be denied custody.
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Britney’s fifth album, “Blackout,” is released.
2008
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Britney is placed under a 5150 hold at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Though she is expected to stay for a 72-hour mental evaluation, the doctors determine that she is well enough to be released less than 24 hours later.
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Kevin is granted full custody of Preston and Jayden.
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Britney is “apprehended” and placed under a second 5150 hold, this time at UCLA Medical Center.
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Britney is placed under a temporary conservatorship at the age of 26.
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She is not given five days’ advance notice as required by law.
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Among the filings, her father completes paperwork citing she suffers from a “dementia-related illness.”
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Britney attempts to hire a lawyer to fight the conservatorship but is deemed incapable of hiring her own counsel. Instead, she is granted a court-appointed attorney.
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Britney tries to hire a second attorney who is eventually prohibited from representing her.
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Just one month after being deemed incapable, Britney goes back to work.
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Lynne Spears releases a book that describes Lou Taylor’s involvement in establishing the conservatorship.
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In the midst of her return to work, Britney’s temporary conservatorship is quietly made permanent.
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The MTV documentary For The Record airs and Britney says that her life is “too in control.”
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Britney’s sixth album, “Circus,” is released and a world tour is announced.
2009
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Britney allegedly obtains a burner phone and makes a call to a lawyer. In the voicemail message, she mentions eliminating the conservatorship and claims that her father is threatening to take her children away.
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Britney’s father attempts to shut down a fansite which had been critical of the conservatorship.
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Britney embarks on the “Circus” tour, which lasts for 9 months and 97 shows.
2010
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It’s reported that Lou Taylor attempted to put Lindsay Lohan under a conservatorship.
2011
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Brand Sense, the company in charge of licensing Britney’s perfume, sues Jamie Spears and Lou Taylor for fraud and deceit.
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Britney’s seventh album, “Femme Fatale,” is released.
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Britney’s charity organization, The Britney Spears Foundation, goes bankrupt, but not before sending $50,000 to Mercy Ministries, an organization with strong ties to Lou Taylor and her husband.
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Britney embarks on the “Femme Fatale” tour, which lasts for 6 months and 79 shows.
2012
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Britney appears as one of four judges on The X Factor.
2013
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Britney’s eighth album, “Britney Jean,” is released.
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The Britney: Piece of Me residency begins in Las Vegas.
2014
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Britney’s father asks the court for compensation from Britney’s Las Vegas residency, in addition to the allowance and rent allotment that he already receives as her conservator.
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“Britney: Piece of Me” residency continues.
2015
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“Britney: Piece of Me” residency continues.
2016
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Money Nation estimates Britney’s worth at $267 million, though conservatorship filings suggest she is worth $56 million.
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Britney’s ninth album, “Glory,” is released.
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During a taped interview for The Jonathan Ross Show, Britney reportedly mentions the conservatorship. The comments do not air with the rest of the interview.
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“Britney: Piece of Me” residency continues.
2017
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Britney performs 11 shows throughout Asia.
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“Britney: Piece of Me” residency ends after 4 years and 248 shows.
2018
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Britney tours the U.S. and Europe, performing 31 shows across both continents.
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It’s announced that Britney will start a second Las Vegas residency called “Domination” in 2019.
2019
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Britney abruptly cancels her new residency, “Domination,” just one month before it’s scheduled to start.
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The co-conservator of Britney’s estate, Andrew Wallet, asks to resign immediately.
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After 3 months of inactivity on Instagram, Britney posts about taking “a little ‘me time’” shortly before it’s reported that she checked into a mental health facility.
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Two weeks later, the podcast Britney’s Gram receives a voicemail from a paralegal connected to the conservatorship. He says that Britney has been at the facility since January and that she was forced there against her will.
The #FreeBritney movement gains momentum.
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Britney and her mother attend a court hearing and the judge orders an evaluation of the conservatorship.
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A handwritten letter from 2008/2009 surfaces, in which Britney allegedly claims to have been silenced and threatened by her father.
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Both Jamie Spears and Lou Taylor file defamation lawsuits against fans who spoke out about the conservatorship.
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Britney’s sons are granted a restraining order against their grandfather, Jamie, after an alleged altercation with 13-year-old Preston. Shortly thereafter, Jamie steps down as the conservator of Britney’s person but remains the sole conservator of her estate.
2020
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Britney’s 13-year-old son Jayden goes on Instagram live and speaks negatively of his grandfather.
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A TikTok video about Britney’s conservatorship goes viral.
The #FreeBritney movement gains even more traction.
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Britney’s brother, Bryan, appears on a podcast and says that she’s “always wanted out” of the conservatorship.
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Jamie Spears calls the #FreeBritney movement a conspiracy theory and a joke. He denies that he or anyone else is skimming money off the top of Britney’s estate.
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Britney’s court-appointed attorney, Samuel Ingham, asks to allow “association of trial counsel.” He anticipates needing expert litigators to help remove Jamie from the conservatorship, as is Britney’s wish.
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Sam Ingham asks to appoint Bessemer Trust Company to serve as conservator of Britney’s estate. Lynne’s lawyers second the petition.
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Sam Ingham files a court document against Jamie and states that Britney “welcomes and appreciates the informed support of her many fans.”
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Sam Ingham’s request to hire additional attorneys is approved by Judge Penny.
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Jamie Spears hires his own litigators and asks for permission to pay them through Britney’s estate. The request is temporarily granted.
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Lou Taylor resigns as Britney’s business manager without prior notice.
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According to a court document, Britney wishes to have Bessemer Trust Company of California serve as sole conservator of her estate, and to remove her father completely.
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Judge Penny appoints Bessemer Trust Company co-conservator alongside Jamie. She does not suspend him as requested in Ingham’s previous filing.
2021
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Attorneys for Jamie Spears file objections to the appointment of Bessemer Trust Company and ask that Samuel Ingham make modifications to his original petition.
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Samuel Ingham asks for the objections to be overruled.
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The NY Times releases its documentary, Framing Britney Spears. It’s the first mainstream look into Britney’s conservatorship and the #FreeBritney movement.
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Judge Penny overrules the objections made by Jamie’s attorneys.
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Vivian Thoreen, an attorney for Jamie Spears, appears on Good Morning America and CNN.
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Samuel Ingham files a petition to appoint Jodi Montgomery as permanent conservator of Britney’s person. She has been serving in the role on a temporary basis since Jamie Spears stepped down in September 2019.
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Lynne Spears “vehemently objects” paying Holland & Knight—Vivian Thoreen’s law firm—for “the national media tour that Mr. Spears’ counsel has embarked upon.”
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The BBC releases its documentary, The Battle for Britney.
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The New York Times publishes an exposé entitled Britney Spears Quietly Pushed For Years To End Her Conservatorship.
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Britney addresses the court for the first time in two years. She details the abuse she’s suffered at the hands of her management team, her doctors, her court-appointed attorney, and her entire family. Listen to the leaked court audio here.
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The New Yorker publishes an exposé entitled Britney Spears’s Conservatorship Nightmare.