In a long, emotional and sometimes profane speech, Britney Spears condemned the 13-year-long, court-enforced conservatorship that has controlled the vast majority of her life. 

What You Need To Know

  • Britney Spears asked a Los Angeles judge to terminate her 13-year-long, court-enforced conservatorship on Wednesday

  • Fans and supporters of the #FreeBritney movement gathered near the Los Angeles courthouse, although Spears will likely appear virtually 

  • Britney Spears has spoken in court in the conservatorship before, but the courtroom was always cleared and transcripts sealed

  • Spears called the conservatorship “abusive,” and condemned her father and the others who have controlled it

Spears called the conservatorship “abusive,” and slammed her father and the others who have controlled it.

“I want to end this conservatorship without being evaluated,” she said. “This conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good … I deserve to have a life.”

Spears said she wants to marry her boyfriend, Sam Asghari, and have a baby, but the conservatorship won’t allow her to.

“I have an IUD in my body right now that won’t let me have a baby and my conservators won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out.” she claimed during the hearing.

Hours earlier, Asghari shared a photo to his Instagram stories donning a shirt that appeared to read, “Free Britney.” 

While the pop star spoke via telephone at her hearing, swaths of fans and supporters of the #FreeBritney movement gathered outside Grand Park, near the Los Angeles courthouse, to voice their opposition to the conservatorship on Wednesday afternoon. 

“We recommend bringing a #FreeBritney sign, water, snacks, sunscreen, a camera, and a portable phone charger,” organizers on the FreeBritney.army website wrote. “No sign? No problem, we will have extra signs to share.” 

The organizers encouraged rally-goers to “chant, hold signs, march around the Courthouse (where our chants can be heard from Judge Penny’s courtroom!), conduct interviews with the press, and more.” 

"We need to make sure that Britney Spears is free of her conservatorship entirely," a fan and #FreeBritney leader known as "Jakeyonce" told CNN outside the courthouse ahead of Britney’s appearance. "No matter what she says today, the most important thing is that Britney Spears was denied due process in 2008."

Britney Spears has spoken in court in the conservatorship before, but the courtroom was always cleared and transcripts sealed.

The last time she was known to have addressed the judge was in May 2019.

Her court-appointed attorney, Samuel Ingham III, made a request for the pop star to address the court at an April hearing. At the time, he said Spears had not officially asked him to file a petition to end the conservatorship.

On Wednesday, Ingham told the court he would be “happy to take guidance” on how to be replaced as Britney Spears’ lawyer.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Spears’ alleged that her lawyer said she “can’t let the public know anything about what has been done to me,” adding that she was never given an opportunity to choose her own legal representation. 

"A lot has happened since two years ago, the last time I was in court," Spears said. "I haven't been back to court because I didn't feel I was heard."

Spears detailed a long list of alleged abuses she suffered largely at the hands of her father, James "Jamie" Spears, who has controlled the financial aspect of his daughter's life since the conservatorship was imposed in 2008. 

"Anything I had to do, [my dad] was the one who approved all of it. My whole family did nothing," she said. 

Spears said her father not only forced her to perform against her will, but that he sent her toa mental health facility for $60,000 a month without her consent. She went on to say she was forced to take lithium against her will after rehearsals broke down for a planned Vegas residency in 2019, which was subsequently canceled.

She said all she had done was disagree with one part of the show’s choreography.

Spears, while acknowleding that she likely needs to continue therapy moving forward, listed a number of changes she hopes to see in her personal and medical care. 

When an attorney representing her co-conservator said the hearing and transcript should be kept sealed if private medical information was to be revealed, Spears shouted her down to say her words should be public.

“They’ve interfered with my life so I feel like it should be an open court hearing and they should listen and hear what I have to say,” Spears said.

Following Spears' nearly 20-minute long speech Judge Brenda Penny thanked her for her remarks, which she called “courageous,” but made no further comment.

Other attorneys in the room also said this was not the venue for them to respond to the remarks, but agreed they were courageous. The attorney for James Spears asked for a recess to confer with her client.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.