Judge Orders Evaluation After Britney Spears And Parents Appear In Private Hearing Over Conservatorship

Has Britney Spears joined the #FreeBritney movement? 

The 37-year-old pop star appeared in court with her parents on Friday, where a judge declared that an evaluation was in order as the court re-examines the conservatorship that the singer was placed in more than 10 years ago, the Associated Press reports.

Jamie Spears, her father, and an attorney were granted conservatorship over Spears in 2008 after she had a number of disturbing public episodes and was admitted into a psychiatric ward for treatment. That conservatorship has been in place since but change may soon be on the horizon.

The courtroom was labeled off-limits to the public on Friday while Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny met with the Spears family and made her decision regarding the evaluation, the Associated Press reports. Spears and her parents all agreed to the 730 expert evaluation, something that’s often performed in divorce cases to examine the fitness of a parent, according to one family law expert.

It is currently unknown who will be the subject of the evaluation, per Associated Press. Spears shares two children with ex-husband Kevin Federline, but it’s unclear if the examination will focus on Spears’ parenting or on her parents, according to the outlet.

Complicating matters further are reports that Spears protested the conservatorship during Friday’s private hearing, effectively joining the #FreeBritney movement.

As previously reported, Spears checked into a mental health facility earlier this year. It was a move that was reportedly made of her own volition, but it sparked immense controversy on social media, with some fans claiming that the singer had been forced into the facility and was being held against her will. 

Spears herself took to social media to squash those rumors and fire back at #FreeBritney believers, and she was later released from the facility. However, anonymous sources who reportedly have knowledge of the situation told TMZ that Spears claimed to the judge on Friday that her father had her committed to the facility involuntarily. During Spears’ alleged plea to put an end to the 11-year conservatorship, her mother Lynne Spears supported her claims, according to the outlet.

Penny ordered another hearing on the matter for September.

Spears has a number of pending legal battles to contend with, having just been granted a temporary restraining order last week against a man she says falsely claimed to be her manager. She is reportedly scheduled to return to court for a hearing on that case on May 28.