Britney Spears‘ relationship with her loved ones is complicated, to say the least. The 41-year-old superstar has repeatedly called out dad Jamie Spears, 71, and mom Lynne Spears, 68, for their involvement in the controversial conservatorship that Britney was under for 13 years until it was terminated by a judge on November 12, 2021. Brit, who is also estranged from her sister Jamie Lynn Spears, 32, and brother Bryan Spears, 46, has even said her family “should all be in jail” for their alleged actions. However, both of Britney’s parents have claimed that they’ve always had their famous daughter’s best interests at heart, despite evidence pointing otherwise.
Most recently, Brit’s dad reportedly landed in the hospital after he contracted an infection, as reported by Page Six on October 5, 2023. “Jamie has been suffering with a bad infection that has required surgery,” an insider close to the matter told the tabloid. “He has been hospitalized for weeks in a special infectious disease facility.” They also claimed that the 71-year-old is “severely ill.”
Meanwhile, a separate source told the same outlet that the Daily Mail‘s October 4 report regarding Jamie’s stay in rehab was false. That same report also claimed that his eldest daughter was allegedly “furious” that he was reportedly living with her younger sister amid their feud. “This obviously infuriates Britney for so many reasons,” DM‘s insider said. “She feels betrayed that her sister is putting up her dad and allowing him to watch her kids after what he did to her.”
In addition her family turmoil, Britney is also dealing with the fallout of her divorce from Sam Asghari, 29. The model filed to end his one-year marriage to the songstress on August 16, 2023. Sam cited “irreconcilable differences” as the primary reason for their split and later asked the media to be “kind” via his Instagram Story.
Below, is everything you need to know about Jamie and Lynne Spears amid the ongoing drama in their family.
Britney Spears’ Father, Jamie Spears
Britney’s dad is James “Jamie” Spears, who was born on July 6, 1952 in Kentwood, Louisiana. Jamie had a very trouble childhood. His mother, Emma Jean Spears, committed suicide when he was just 13 years old. According to The New York Times, Jamie was arrested at age 22 on drug and driving while intoxicated charges. Jamie has been married twice: first to Debbie Sanders Cross, from 1972 to 1975, and then to Lynne, from 1976 to 2002. The couple welcomed their first child, son Bryan, in 1977, but Lynne filed for divorce (as well as a temporary restraining order) in 1980. However, the couple reconciled and had two more children: daughter Britney, born in 1981, and daughter Jamie Lynn, born in 1991. Jamie and Lynne eventually got divorced in 2002.
Jamie witnessed Britney become famous at a very young age after she appeared on The Mickey Mouse Club. Brit signed with Jive Records in 1997 at age 15, which led to her releasing her first two albums. During this time, Jamie struggled with alcoholism, and in 2004 he went to rehab at Britney’s behest. He later came home, apparently sober. In January 2008, worldwide fame officially took its toll on Britney, and she suffered a very-public nervous breakdown. She was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship led by Jamie and attorney Andrew Wallet. This gave them complete control over Brit’s assets. For the next decade, Britney remained under the conservatorship while releasing more albums, performing worldwide tours, and working as a judge on X-Factor. In January 2019, Britney went on hiatus from her Las Vegas residency after Jamie suffered a colon rupture that nearly killed him. Two months later, Andrew resigned as co-conservator of the singer’s estate. After that, Britney entered a mental health facility amidst Jamie’s health issues. But concern began to arise over Jamie’s conservatorship control of his daughter, and that sparked the #FreeBritney movement.
The #FreeBritney movement argued for Britney’s release from the facility, under suspicion that Jamie was holding the superstar against her will. In May 2019, Judge Brenda Penny ordered an evaluation of the conservatorship. Later that year, Jodi Montgomery was named Britney’s personal conservator, while Jamie remained conservator of the estate, until Bessemer Trust began splitting the duties with him in November 2020. Britney’s conservatorship became worldwide news after the documentary Framing Britney Spears was released by Hulu/FX in Feb. 2021. Britney moved along with trying to terminate the conservatorship, and at a June 2021 court hearing, Britney accused her father of “conservatorship abuse.” The “Toxic” singer claimed Jamie were blocking her from getting married to Sam or removing an IUD to have a baby. She also compared her forced work under the conservatorship to sex trafficking and said that Jamie “loved” having control over her. Jamie denied all these allegations.
Britney was able to hire her own lawyer in July 2021, and he quickly filed a petition to remove Jamie. Jamie agreed to step down in August 2021, and officially filed a petition to end the conservatorship the following month. On Sept. 29, Jamie was suspended as conservator of his daughter’s estate, and the conservatorship was terminated entirely in Nov. 2021. Since then, Britney has made it clear she wants no relationship with her father. “Honestly it still blows my mind every day I wake up how my family and the conservatorship were able to do what they did to me…it was demoralizing and degrading!” she said on Instagram on November 17. In that same post, she said her family should be jailed for their involvement in the conservatorship.
Britney Spears’ Mother, Lynne Spears
Britney’s mother is Lynne Irene Bridges, born on May 4, 1955 in Magnolia, Mississippi. Lynne married Jamie in 1976, and together they had three children. She operated a day care in Louisiana and later worked as a school teacher. While Britney was 8 years old, Lynne brought her eldest daughter to Atlanta to audition for The Mickey Mouse Club. Britney didn’t get the gig then, but Lynne continued supporting her daughter in future opportunities, which allowed Britney to break into the music industry. Soon, Lynne was witnessing her daughter become a worldwide star! In 2000, Lynne and Britney teamed up to create Heart to Heart, an autobiographical book about Britney’s life. They also co-wrote a 2001 novel called A Mother’s Gift that was adapted into a TV movie. In 2008, four years after Lynne officially got divorced from her husband, Britney suffered her nervous breakdown that led to the conservatorship being put in place. Lynne detailed Britney’s breakdown, as well as Jamie Lynn’s teen pregnancy and more, in her 2008 memoir, Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World.
Once Britney and her legal team began fighting to remove Jamie from the conservatorship, Lynne shared her support for her daughter. Lynne said in July 2021 court docs that the father-daughter relationship “dwindled to nothing but fear and hatred.” The family matriarch also said she became a participant of the conservatorship in May 2019 during a “time of crisis” because she wanted to “ensure that everything in my daughter’s life was handled in the best interests of my daughter.” However, Britney has publicly slammed her mother, just like Jamie, for her alleged involvement in the conservatorship. Ten days before the conservatorship was dissolved, the singer accused Lynne of giving Jamie the idea of the conservatorship back in the day. After the conservatorship ended, Britney took a dig at Lynne on IG and said her family “should all be in jail” for “the bad things” they did to her — “including my church going mother!!!”
It’s apparent that neither Jamie nor Lynne have a relationship with Britney. It’s also unclear if the former couple sees Brit’s two children. Jamie and Lynne have three more grandchildren — two from Jamie Lynn, and one from Bryan.