Britney Spears' ex-husband claims her father's conservatorship saved her
After Britney Spears was ultimately liberated from the contentious arrangement last year, her ex-husband Kevin Federline claimed that her father Jamie's 13-year conservatorship rescued her.
The dancer said Jamie came to him in 2008 and admitted he "didn't know what to do" about his daughter's personal problems in a world-exclusive TV interview that ended his ten-year quiet on their marriage.
Sean Preston, 16, and Jayden, 15, the singer's two boys, haven't seen their mother in months, according to Kevin, who was married to Britney from 2004 to 2007.
Parts of the interview, which will be broadcast on ITV News this week, probed Kevin about Jamie's choice to place Britney under a conservatorship in 2008.
Jamie Spears really came to me and was pretty much like, "I don't know what to do I want to assist," he said, adding that he was visibly worried for her well-being at the time. "I saw a man who genuinely cared, and wanted things to be OK."
Kevin said, "100%," when asked if he thought Jamie could have rescued his daughter Britney. I believe he first saved her.
After Kevin stated that Britney's two sons had made up their minds not to visit her, his attorney backed up his claim by stating that the boys miss their grandfather Jamie.
The teenagers were more eager to visit their grandfather, according to Federline's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan, but a domestic violence restraining order is still keeping them apart.
Britney responded to Kevin on Instagram on Saturday night, saying, "It saddens me to hear that my ex-husband has decided to discuss the bond between me and my children.
Regarding Sean Preston, 16, and Jayden James, 15, she wrote in her article, "I gave them everything."
Everyone is aware that parenting teenage guys is difficult. I'm worried since the cause is related to my Instagram. Long before Instagram, it was.
She went on, 'Hurtful, in a nutshell... I will say it. My mum advised me to "GIVE them to their dad" Because I can, I'm sharing this!
Have a wonderful day, everyone," Britney concluded the succinct tweet.
In a hastily written follow-up post on her Facebook page, she added, "In addition to what I published on my story... As their step mom says "whatever is occurring outside this house has nothing to do with his home"...
"I'd like to convey the DOOR [door emoji] to the outside as a symbol to the WHITE GATES I've been kept from for 15 years... the conservatorship has only been ended for 8 months!!!!"
She said, "It's really enlightening [light bulb emoji] to get money from the outside world for the first time. Are we equal now? As in equal opportunity?
While acknowledging that the effects of her conservatorship were still being felt, she seemed to be justifying some of her naked Instagram posts.
"Reminder that not only do I suffer from the trauma and insults that come with fame and this profession, but so do my children!!! I tried my best, but I'm just human. I sincerely want to contribute my TWO CENTS!!!! The Federline's should absolutely see the BIG BOOTY VIDEO, emoji (peach)! Other artists have produced considerably poorer work while their kids were still quite small.
Under her conservatorship, Britney continued, she was "managed and supervised for over 15 years."
I required authorization only to take Tylenol! I should start doing WAY more than laying on the beach topless like a baby! I don't find it surprising that they would do interviews as well, just like my family did," she concluded.
She concluded, though it was unclear who she was addressing, "I'm not surprised at all with their behavior and their approach to what I've had to deal with!!!
Kevin revealed in the interview, which was exclusively published by the Mail On Sunday at the weekend, that Preston and Jayden had not seen their mother for many months at their own request, despite the fact that his ex-wife, who wed Sam Asghari, 28, in June, has bought a £10 million mansion close to the Federline family home in Los Angeles.
The guys have decided they won't be seeing her straight away, according to Kevin. She hasn't been seen by them in a while. They chose not to attend her wedding.
Britney's conservatorship, which had many elements of her personal and financial life under supervision, was ultimately lifted last November. But Kevin is now motivated by the possibility that his wife's very public struggles may have an effect on their teenage boys.
He says it has been challenging to see, challenging to live through, and challenging to watch my boys endure. "It's been challenging. It's the most challenging thing I've ever had to do.
Additionally, there have been other parenting challenges during the continuing Britney scandal. Since being freed from conservatorship last year, the 40-year-old superstar has continued to garner attention and has started posting naked images on social media.
Kevin claims that at the moment, he felt obligated to apologize to the lads for any backlash they might have received as a consequence.
I try to explain to them, "Look, maybe it's just another way she tries to express herself," he says, insisting that the boys adore their mother. However, that doesn't change the fact that it harms them. It's difficult. "I can't even begin to understand how it feels to be a teenager having to attend high school," he continues.
While he and the guys do nothing but express sorrow for Britney, Kevin claims that he is coming out about his estranged former wife in order to highlight a previously unknown aspect of this entertainment story.
The frenzied chaos that surrounded the 44-year-old father's affair with a lady who rose from Disney child star to international stardom has long since passed in the father's life. With his youngsters and Victoria, his accomplished ex-volleyball player wife of nine years, he manages to keep a peaceful family.
Two sweet-tempered, talented sons who have unquestionably inherited their parents' creative proclivities are Preston and Jayden. Jayden is an accomplished pianist, while Preston has already started to create music and wants to take guitar classes. Victoria and Kevin's children have all been urged to express themselves.
Jordan, 11, and Peyton, 8, are also members of Kevin and Victoria's blended family. Kevin's older children, Kori, 20, and Kaleb, 18, from his previous relationship with actress Shar Jackson, also frequently visit.
The six siblings get along well. Kevin makes fun of them for being similar to the Brady Bunch, a well-known American sitcom family, as cameras are shooting them eating cake in the garden to celebrate Kaleb and Kori's birthdays and the boys swimming in and out of the pool.
It's precisely what Kevin and Victoria want—the never-ending drama and controversy that Britney constantly seems to be at the center of.
Victoria tells me, "This is a typical household, a family... full of love." "This house has nothing to do with whatever is going on outside."
However, they assert that bringing the cameras inside their house today would assist Kevin's ex-wife comprehend the challenges associated with growing up in the spotlight.
If there was any way, Kevin adds, "I could say anything to simply open [Britney's] eyes," but thus yet, he hasn't discovered it. I imagine that if I discovered it, I would be attempting to call her and tell her.
Kevin, who was reared in Fresno, California, is the first to acknowledge that he has direct experience with controversy. He was a skilled dancer when he first saw Britney in a Hollywood club in early 2004. The timing was not ideal since Britney, who was 26 at the time, had recently terminated a 55-hour marriage to her childhood friend Jason Alexander in Las Vegas while Kevin was expecting his second child with Shar, his then-girlfriend.
Because of the less-than-ideal conditions, Kevin was immediately the subject of rumors.
The couple's romance, which included a brief engagement and wedding in October 2004, developed amid great public scrutiny but did not survive for very long. Two months after the birth of Jayden, Spears filed for divorce in November 2006, citing irreconcilable differences and asking for joint custody of their two children.
Kevin remembers being "blindsided" by the news while taking part in a live radio broadcast at the time while on a promotional tour in Canada.
I called my attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan, and we got down on the floor, and I told him all I care about is getting 50% custody, he says. Nothing else mattered.
Nothing. I'm not the type of person to put family before wealth.
According to him, Kaplan promised to obtain it for him because of his confidence in him.
Following a long court battle, Kevin and Britney were subsequently granted shared custody.
In the months that followed, Britney had a very public breakdown, abruptly cutting off her hair, and was sent to the hospital for drug usage.
Federline received sole physical and legal custody of their sons in January 2008. She was given the contentious legal conservatorship the following month.
Kevin asserts that despite the chaos and confusion, he thinks everyone made an effort. "So many diverse things were occurring in a little amount of time." Everything simply came to a head at once, and I don't believe anyone knew what to do. He questions, "How can anybody prepare you.
The documentary 2021 The release of "Framing Britney Spears'" increased media coverage of that conservatorship, which in turn inspired the emergence of a worldwide movement to end it that was primarily done online and went by the hashtag "FreeBritney."
Britney broke her silence during a court hearing four months after the documentary aired, saying, "I just want my life back," and pleading with the judge to dissolve the conservatorship. She said, "It's plenty and it makes absolutely no sense." I'm through.
Her dream came true six months later, in November 2021, when the conservatorship was formally ended by a judge.
Although Kevin acknowledges that he has his own questions about why the relationship existed for so long, he maintains that Britney's father always had the best of intentions.
I witnessed this man who genuinely cared about his family and wanted everything to go smoothly, the speaker said. "When Jamie took charge, everything was in order." She was saved by him.
Although the conservatorship was a part of his boys' upbringing, he acknowledges that it has became more difficult to explain the facts around it.
He admits, "They've asked a lot of questions about that." I tried to explain to them that your mom needed help, you know, and that people were involved in trying to make it happen or make things better, but I'm not sure if I can address all of their questions for them.
This hasn't prevented the ups and downs in his own relationship with Jamie: in November 2019, Kevin secured a restraining order against his ex father-in-law after claims that he got into a fight with one of his sons.
However, because the restraining order is about to expire, any hostility is now a thing of the past.
I would definitely welcome Jamie Spears coming back into the boys' lives, Kevin says. especially if it was what the guys wanted. Jamie Spears is not liable for anything in my eyes. Errors are made by people. I'm sorry for him. He's been put through the wringer, in my opinion.
That love also permeates Britney's mother Lynne, affectionately referred to by her grandkids as "memaw," brother Bryan, who resides nearby in Los Angeles, and sister Jamie Lynne.
All of them know Kevin, the sons, and Victoria well.
Family is meant to remain together, and just because they aren't my direct family doesn't mean they shouldn't be treated as such since they are my sons' or my kids' immediate family, Kevin explains. They cherish their mother. My first objective has always been to put the men' needs first.
The importance of this extended family structure is made even more poignant when Kevin reveals that Sean Preston and Jayden had been postponing visiting their mother for a few months.
The lads explained how tough their decision had been to me and my producer Erbil Gunasti. They still adore her despite this.
Following the initial conservatorship, there was a period of somewhat better stability, and Kevin recalls having positive co-parenting experiences with his ex-wife. Mother-son interactions, however, have been worse recently.
The importance of this extended family structure is made even more poignant when Kevin reveals that Sean Preston and Jayden had been postponing visiting their mother for a few months.
The lads explained how tough their decision had been to me and my producer Erbil Gunasti. They still adore her despite this.
Following the initial conservatorship, there was a period of somewhat better stability, and Kevin recalls having positive co-parenting experiences with his ex-wife. But recently, mother-son interactions have gotten worse.
They made an effort to see her favorably, but despite that, he adds, "I can tell that sometimes it hurts to be in that situation." Therefore, I ensured that all of my children could talk to me about anything at any time. The boys, along with the rest of my children, are aware that they can talk to my wife and I about anything.
They are currently teens, he continues. We speak about drugs, sex, and all the other stuff that teens experience, you know. In order for me to protect my kids from mistakes, I want them to make as many mistakes as they can at home.
That is one reason, according to Kevin, why his boys were absent from Britney's most recent wedding to Asghari.
Her children did not accompany her to the ceremony in California, which was attended by a number of A-list celebrities. He states that although "[the lads] were delighted for her, they took the decision not to attend her wedding because they aren't currently seeing her.
It is consistent with Kevin's overall feelings for his ex-wife, which are still measured and courteous. The boys are encouraged to talk lovingly about their mother and to understand the struggles that have impacted her life over the years.
Victoria tells me that "whatever is happening within this home has nothing to do with what is going outside."
Kevin echoed this viewpoint. More than everything, he wishes that someday, not only for his boys but for the entire Spears family, all the turmoil will be over.
He continues, "I hope for them to forgive, to find inner peace, and then peace with one another." The future.
