Britney Spears ' father fired back at Spears' mother in a new court doc, disputing recent statements.Jamie Spears saidLynne Spears was "estranged" from Britney for most of the pop star's "adult life."- He said "despite" this, Britney's estate had paid "upwards of $150,000 per year" for Lynne's home.
Britney Spears' father, Jamie, has filed a court response to the pop star's petition asking for his immediate removal from her conservatorship.
In statements made through his lawyer, Jamie Spears took issue with allegations made by his ex-wife, Lynne Spears. On July 26, Lynne Spears submitted a sworn statement to the Los Angeles court. It was an incendiary declaration in support of her daughter's request to remove her ex-husband from the legal guardianship.
"It is clear to me that James P. Spears is incapable of putting my daughter's interests ahead of his own on both a professional and a personal level," she said.
As part of Jamie Spears' new rebuttal of these claims, he detailed how much money Lynne Spears had received from their daughter's financial estate.
"In stark contrast, it appears that Lynne is the one who is incapable of putting her daughter's interests ahead of her own," Jamie Spears' statement, reviewed by Insider, said. "Lynne has not been involved in her daughter's life for most of the past twelve years. Despite their estranged relationship, the Conservatorship Estate, during the entire duration of the Conservatorship, has paid and continues to pay for the mansion in Louisiana where Lynne lives, including all of her utility bills, weekly maid service, and all maintenance (totaling upwards of $150,000 per year and to date, nearly $2,000,000 in total)."
He also said Spears' mother had "exploited their daughter's pain and trauma for Lynne's personal profit by publishing a book about their daughter."
The book, "Through the Storm," was published in 2008 and detailed the events that led up to Spears' being placed under a conservatorship earlier that year. As reported by The New Yorker, Lynne Spears' memoir said the younger Spears had encouraged her mother to divorce her father, "knowing that years and years of verbal abuse, abandonment, erratic behavior, and his simply not being there for me had taken their toll."
"The book resulted in a lawsuit filed by Osama 'Sam' Lutfi against Ms. Spears and Lynne, and the Conservatorship Estate incurred significant legal fees to resolve it," Jamie Spears' statement said.
Though his latest court filing noted multiple instances in which he believed his ex-wife made "several false statements," he ultimately agreed to step down from the conservatorship.
"Nevertheless, even as Mr. Spears is the unremitting target of unjustified attacks, he does not believe that a public battle with his daughter over his continuing service as her conservator would be in her best interests," the statement said. "So even though he must contest this unjustified Petition for his removal, Mr. Spears intends to work with the Court and his daughter's new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator."
Lynne Spears' attorney, Gladstone N. Jones III, told Insider in a comment: "Lynne Spears is pleased Jamie has agreed to step down. Lynne entered into this conservatorship to protect her daughter almost 3 years ago. She has accomplished what she set out to do. She will have no further comment."
You can read the full court filing from Jamie Spears below and see all of the ongoing updates in the conservatorship case here.