Los Angeles, Sep 28 (IANS): In light of allegations that Britney Spears was under surveillance with her conservators monitoring her phone and bugging her home, the pop stars attorney has filed a supplemental motion to remove and suspend her father Jamie Spears from her conservatorship.
In the new court filing, Britney's attorney Mathew Rosengart has called for the immediate suspension of Jamie Spears "no later than" the hearing on Wednesday, followed by the "prompt termination" of the conservatorship, reports variety.com.
The filing points to reporting by The New York Times, which, over the weekend, broke the news that Britney was reportedly being closely monitored by a security firm that was hired by her father without her knowledge.
The report said that her father and the singer's former business managers, Lou Taylor and Robin Greenhill of Tri Star Sports and Entertainment, ran an intense surveillance apparatus that tracked her communications, secretly capturing audio recordings from her bedroom, which included private conservations with her children.
The New York Times' latest documentary, 'Controlling Britney Spears, which debuted on September 24, highlighted these claims through an on-camera interview with Alex Vlasov, a former employee of Black Box Security, who served as the assistant to the head of the security firm, Edan Yemini.
Yemini declined to comment when the Times reached out with a detailed list of allegations, though his attorney provided the publication with a statement: "Mr. Yemini and Black Box have always conducted themselves within professional, ethical and legal bounds, and they are particularly proud of their work in keeping Ms. Spears safe for many years."
Rosengart's filing on Monday calls for an investigation of the claims, stating that Jamie Spears reportedly "engaged in horrifying and unconscionable invasions of his adult daughter's privacy".
California, where Britney's home was allegedly bugged, is a two-party consent state - meaning it could be illegal for her phone to be tracked without her consent.
In a statement obtained by Variety, Rosengart said: "Unauthorised recording or monitoring of Britney's private communications - especially attorney-client communications, which are a sacrosanct part of the legal system - represent an unconscionable and disgraceful violation of her privacy rights and a striking example of the deprivation of her civil liberties."
"Placing a listening device in Britney's bedroom would be particularly horrifying, and corroborates so much of her compelling, poignant testimony. Mr. Spears has crossed unfathomable lines," Rosengart's statement continues, referring to the star publicly addressing the court on June 23 when she told Judge Brenda Penny that her conservatorship is "abusive".
Rosengart says there is "overwhelming evidence" to remove Jamie Spears.
The filing says reasons for suspension range from "lack of financial acumen, to his bankruptcy, to his reported alcoholism, to the trauma he caused his daughter since her childhood, to the Domestic Violence Restraining Order recently issued against him".
He says the singer pleads that "regardless of when the conservatorship ends, Mr. Spears must be suspended now" .
He doubles down on his client's promise not to work until her father is removed, stating that "every day and every hour" that he remains the conservator of her estate causes Spears "anguish and pain".
"Ms. Spears will no longer be bullied or extorted, nor will she further tolerate her father's abuse, with its apparent misogynistic underpinnings," the filing added.