Next Wednesday, September 29, Britney Spears will return once to the Los Angeles courts that are handling the case for her custody. But this time his entry will be different: with his own lawyer and popular favor on his side. The 39-year-old artist is about to achieve the goal she has been trying for years: to stop her father from being her legal guardian. He, Jamie Spears, has already formally renounced custody. But until Britney's situation is clarified, some of the dark practices that her father has maintained during the 13 years of legal control of the singer continue to come to light. Now, according to new revelations, it has been known that the interpreter was constantly under surveillance, even in her most private moments, and that her circle was also closely observed.
A new documentary from
The New York Times
— the second about the singer; He already issued one in February that put all eyes on the artist's legal situation — he explains that Jamie Spears hired a security company that controlled Spears and monitored her communications. Not only the public ones or the ones she carried out in open spaces, but also the ones she kept in her bedroom and, according to Alex Vlasov, a former employee who has spoken with the newspaper, “the interactions and conversations with her boyfriend and her children”.
The documentary, released on Friday, is titled
Controlling Britney Spears
(
Controlling Britney Spears
), following in the wake of the previous one,
Framing Britney Spears
(
Portraying Britney Spears
), which went on to be nominated for an Emmy, and for now it can be seen on Hulu (not available in Spain).
In it, he discusses how his father's tutoring worked, and in it former security employees of companies hired by him speak.
"It reminded me of someone who was in jail," says Vlasov of the singer's situation.
Britney Spears (right) and her father Jamie.EFE / AP
This man, who spent nine years in a security company hired by Jamie Spears, called Black Box (which he finally left in April), has not only given his testimony but has presented recordings, messages, emails and different evidence that show what told and that give an idea of how strict the custody of the singer was and the tight control that her father exercised over her. The attorneys at Black Box assure that they have always “worked within the ethical, legal and professional limits” and that they are proud of the work done in this case.
Vlasov tells the New York newspaper that Spears' phone was monitored: the data was copied from her cloud to a tablet, the technology company encrypted it and sent it to the artist's father. This data included all his text messages, video calls, notes, photographs and his browsing history, in addition to his calls, so conversations with his mother, his boyfriend, his intimates and even his lawyer were controlled, according to the documentation shown. by Vlasov and as corroborated by other first-hand sources in the documentary. In addition, there was also a device in his bedroom that recorded everything he said. The interpreter of
One more time
and
Toxic
He always left the house with his security personnel, who informed those responsible for Black Box and the singer's father of all his movements through a group chat.
In addition, Vlasov also brings to light an episode from 2019. In April of that year the artist spent a few weeks in a mental clinic, but it was never clear whether it was on her own feet or forced, although her father, as legal guardian, did not he could force her to do so, he was not authorized. But this is what the former security employee is aiming for. "She did not want to be there, I have heard it from many people, from many conversations," she says, something that the American newspaper corroborates with text messages that the singer makes clear that she was not there of her own free will and that she could not leave because she always had security personnel watching her. When he was in that clinic, he wanted to hire a new lawyer, something his father found out when his communications were controlled, and so he decided to take away his cell phone.
Britney Spears and Sam Asghari at a movie premiere in Los Angeles, California in July 2019.Jordan Strauss / AP
Another issue that is disclosed is that Jamie was especially interested in Britney's partners, that the security team followed them to find out their behavior and if they would be "a bad influence" for the singer.
Once they became their boyfriends, they had to sign confidentiality agreements to, among other things, not post anything on social media without Jamie Spears approval.
Security also infiltrated the singer's fans who support her with the “Free Britney” movement, to control what they did and said about the artist.
As the
Times
explains
, the recording of private conversations without the consent of the two parties may be illegal, and so far it is not known whether the court handling the case knew that these recordings were taking place. The artist's lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, chosen by herself in July, has also gone the same way, ensuring that “monitoring or intercepting Britney's communications, especially attorney-clients, a sacrosanct part of the legal system, would represent a shameful violation of their right to privacy and an obvious example of the deprivation of their civil liberties ”.
The lawyers of the singer's father have responded to the newspaper stating that all these actions could be carried out by the authority that legal custody conferred on Jamie, and that they were also done "with the knowledge and consent of Britney, her lawyer established by the court and the court itself ”.
At the moment Spears, very active in her social networks in recent months, has not commented on the documentary, the alleged espionage or if she really consented.