Skip to main content

Matt Gaetz invites Britney Spears to testify about her conservatorship before Congress


play
Show Caption

PENSACOLA, Fla. — U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz is inviting pop star Britney Spears to testify about her controversial conservatorship before Congress. 

In a press release issued by Gaetz's office Thursday morning, the congressman from northwest Florida said he led a letter sponsored by Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Burgess Owens of Utah, encouraging Spears to testify before Congress about her "alleged abusive conservatorship, which gives her father full control of her multi-million-dollar assets and life decisions, despite Ms. Spears’ ability to competently control her actions and estate."

Gaetz announced his letter in an interview Wednesday evening on One America News. Overnight Wednesday, a California judge denied Spears' request to have her father, Jamie, removed as her conservator.

Gaetz speaks out for Britney: U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz joins 'Free Britney' campaign with push to look at conservatorships

Last week, Britney Spears addressed the court in person about her conservatorship for the first known time in more than two years. She asked the judge to remove her father as her conservator, saying her conservatorship was "abusive" and her family was taking advantage of her multi-million dollar estate. 

More: Britney Spears details ‘abusive’ conservatorship in court. Here are biggest revelations.

"I’m not here to be anyone’s slave," she said while appearing in Los Angeles court remotely via telephone last week. "I’ve lied and told the whole world I’m OK and I'm happy. It's a lie. I thought that maybe if I said it enough, I would maybe become happy because I've been in denial. I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized. … I’m so angry it’s insane. And I'm depressed."

In March, Gaetz requested that the House Judiciary Committee convene a hearing to review and examine the "plight" of Americans trapped unjustly in conservatorships, following a New York Times documentary about Spears' situation.

More: Spears' forced IUD sparks important conversations about disability, reproductive rights

Here is the full text of Gaetz's recent letter to Spears: 

Annie Blanks can be reached at ablanks@pnj.com or 850-435-8632.