Attorneys for Britney Spears are accusing her father Jamie Spears of “running and hiding” from a deposition and “stonewalling” an investigation into his alleged misconduct during years as the star’s conservator.
In a motion Wednesday, Britney’s attorney Mathew Rosengart asked Los Angeles court to force her father to sit for deposition, arguing that despite his assurances that he would cooperate with the probe, Jamie had in fact done the opposite.
“Mr. Spears can run, but he cannot forever hide from his legal and fiduciary obligations,” the attorney wrote. “Mr. Spears has engaged in stonewalling and obstruction—for over six months—dodging his deposition and repeatedly failing to respond to simple requests for basic information.”
Rosengart said Jamie had not only failed to cooperate, but had chosen to “bully, harass, and abuse the legal process” by pursuing his own investigation into Britney, including demanding to depose her.
“Whether Mr. Spears’s latest ill-advised efforts are the product of cruelty, spite, or just poor judgment, they should cease,” Rosengart wrote Wednesday. “Indeed, we submit that a father who truly loved and wished to “protect” his daughter (as Mr. Spears professes) would place his daughter’s interests above his own—as a fiduciary is also required to do. Such a father would show grace and decency.”
Britney’s long conservatorship was formally ended in November, but that wasn’t the end of the legal wrangling. Rosengart, a former federal prosecutor, has vowed to investigate alleged misconduct by Jamie during his years as conservator, including allegations that he took millions from the estate, illegally bugged his daughter’s communications, and tried to control her using drugs.
In the latest filing, Rosengart said he had first asked for a deposition in October, and then again in November and April, but that Jamie had refused to appear for any of them – and recently rejected an offer of eight specific possible dates in June.
“It is evident that Mr. Spears will not voluntarily sit for his deposition and that he must be compelled to do so,” Rosengart wrote.
Jamie’s attorney, Alex M. Weingarten, did not immediately return a request for comment. He will file a formal response with the court in the weeks ahead, and a hearing on Rosengart’s request is tentatively set for July.
