Britney Spears’ conservatorship crisis continued today as lawyers for the pop-star accused Spears’ father, Jaime, of extortion. Mathew Rosengart, an attorney for the pop star, says that while Jaime admits that a quick and orderly exit from the conservatorship is his daughter’s best interest, he wants $2 million on his way out the door. Nothing says “orderly transition” like a cool two mil.
Earlier this summer, Jaime said that he would be willing to step down from the conservatorship, but that process isn’t going as smoothly as Britney, her attorneys, or the general public would like. In a supplemental petition to suspend and remove Jaime Spears from the conservatorship uploaded by The Hollywood Reporter today, Rosengart argues that “the status quo is no longer tolerable, Britney Spears will not be extorted.” Rosengart goes in on Jaime Spears, accusing him of hanging on to the arrangement until someone gives him a “gold star” for parenting, claiming that Jaime maintains the right to “drag his feet.” The lawyer blasts Spears for attempting to repair his image as he tries to get an extra $2 million out of his daughter. Jaime Spears, according to Rosengart, is claiming that he is doing this in his daughter’s best interest—though the lawyer seems as confused as the rest of us.
He writes:
The thrust of his response is that although (i) he expressly recognizes that a ‘public battle’ regarding his departure would not be in Ms. Spears’s best interests and (ii) for that reason, he even intends to support ‘an orderly transition,’ his idea of ‘orderly’ is to hang on until someone first brands him ‘father of the year’ and awards him a gold star for his ‘service.’ In other words, although Mr. Spears has, at last, been forced to recognize that it is best for his daughter if he departs now, he claims the right to drag his feet because it is best for him to cling to this conservatorship until he feels sufficiently-vindicated.”
At this point, it’s hard to tell what in God’s name Jaime Spears is doing. But Rosengart tells TMZ that Jaime Spears does not “have the right to try to hold his daughter hostage by setting the terms of his removal” and calls on him to “resign now, today, before he is suspended.” A hearing on the petition is scheduled for September 29, but, um, yeah, it doesn’t seem like Britney’s camp wants to wait that long.