As of September 7th, Britney Spears’ father – James Spears – has ended the thirteen-year-long conservatorship that oversaw the singer’s life decisions and finances. Now that Britney is free, what does this mean for the global superstar?

Conservatorships are usually put in place for adults who are not capable of making their own decisions – like an elderly person with dementia, or someone who suffers from mental instability. Spears’ conservatorship was put in place after her divorce from Kevin Federline, the outcome of their separation causing her to lose custody of both her kids. This was during the time when she infamously shaved her head and hit a car with an umbrella. By 2008, she was admitted to the hospital twice for psychiatric evaluation, and this is when the two conservatorships were put in place. One of these gave her father control over her life decisions, and the other gave him complete control over her finances and estate. The agreement was supposed to be temporary while she was seeking help for her mental health, but this has been on-going for thirteen years. Now that she wishes for it to end, it has come to light that perhaps she didn’t agree to this in the first place. 

Records obtained by the New York Times show that her father had control over things as trivial as to who the star was allowed to date, and the enforcement of birth control so that she couldn’t have anymore kids. Once the potential abuse of the conservatorship became public, people all over the world showed their support of Spears with the hashtag, #FreeBritney. Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian posted on social media to advocate for her, posting on an Instagram Story: “So I finally watched the Britney Spears documentary this week and it made me feel a lot of empathy for her[.] No matter how public someone’s life may seem, no one deserves to be treated with such cruelty or judgement for entertainment.” Fellow former child star Miley Cyrus even opened her pre-Super Bowl LV performance in 2021 with the words: “We love Britney!”

After the release of the FX/Hulu documentary Framing Britney Spears -along with an outpouring of support for the star across social media – her father finally filed to end the controlling conservatorship. Despite receiving lots of hate from Spears’ supporters during the controversy, he still claims that he has acted only in his daughter’s best interest (AP News). Britney Spears’ attorney has said that this case “represents another legal victory for Britney Spears — a massive one — as well as vindication for Ms. Spears.” 

Other good things have been happening for her besides the conservatorship ending. On September 12th, Spears announced her engagement to her boyfriend, Sam Asghari. The couple has been together for 4 years, the two of them meeting on the set of one of Spears’ music videos. Britney claims that the 27-year-old actor-fitness enthusiast has been her “emotional rock” throughout their relationship. When Spears was able to speak out about the #FreeBritney movement, she claims that she wanted to get married and have more kids. Now that she is finally free to once again control her life and money, she’s let the public know that she intends to do both of those things with Asghari. 

On Spears’ Instagram post announcing their engagement, actress Octavia Spencer commented: “Make him sign a prenup[.]” Spencer received some hate for the comment, but Asghari jokingly responded in an Instagram Story the following day, writing “Of course we’re getting [an] iron clad prenup to protect my jeep and shoe collection incase [sic] she dumps me one day.”

All jokes aside, both Spears and Asghari have expressed how excited they are not only for their wedding, but for Britney to have her freedom again. In an interview with PEOPLE magazine, her fiancé stated that “[he has] always wanted nothing but the best for [his] better half, and will continue to support her following her dreams and creating the future she wants and deserves. [He is] thankful for all of the love and support she is receiving from her fans all over the world, and [he is] looking forward to a normal, amazing future together.”