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Pop superstar Britney Spears&#39; father has agreed to step down as her conservator after 13 years, according to US media reports.</p>
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The announcement came as a judge ruled she could appoint her own lawyer to help end a guardianship that Britney had termed as &quot;cruelty.&quot;</p>
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During Wednesday&#39;s hearing, the judge accepted the resignation of Spears&#39; previous attorney and indicated the acceptance of Britney&rsquo;s new choice, lawyer Mathew Rosengart, to represent her.</p>
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The singer&#39;s career has been in the hands of legal guardians since public concerns over her mental health in 2008. The court-ordered agreement had given her father, Jamie Spears, control over her estate and other aspects of her life.</p>
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But she later sought to remove him from the role, calling for him to be charged with &quot;conservatorship abuse&quot;.</p>
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A grassroots movement of fans, known as the #FreeBritney campaign, wants the singer to regain autonomy over her affairs.</p>
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<strong>Also read:</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/culture-news/anupam-shyam-the-thakur-of-mann-kee-awaz-pratigya-no-more-106523.html">Anupam Shyam, the Thakur of &lsquo;Mann Kee Awaz Pratigya&rsquo; no more</a></p>
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The prolonged legal row gained renewed attention in 2021 following the release of Framing Britney Spears – a documentary which centred on the conflict over the singer&#39;s guardianship.</p>
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The 39-year-old later told a judge that she had been drugged, forced to perform against her will and prevented from having children.</p>
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Britney had said she would not perform again while her father remained in the conservator role.</p>
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Jamie Spears&#39; lawyer said on Thursday in a court document there were &quot;no actual grounds&quot; for him to step back, but added that he had become &quot;the unremitting target of unjustified attacks&quot;. Jamie Spears has been consistently denying that he has been cruel.</p>
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The star&#39;s lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, said in a statement: &quot;This is a major victory for Britney Spears and another step toward justice.&quot;</p>
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&quot;We will be filing a petition as soon as possible to move Mr Spears, subject to our formal retention,&quot; an AFP report cited Rosengart as saying. He is a former federal prosecutor who has represented Steven Spielberg and Sean Penn.</p>
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&quot;Why is Mr Spears not voluntarily stepping down?&quot; Rosengart asked. &quot;He does not belong in this conservatorship anymore. And we believe he should voluntarily step down immediately.&quot;</p>
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Following the judge&#39;s ruling, Spears posted a video of herself performing cartwheels on Instagram, with the caption: &quot;Coming along, folks … coming along!!!!! New with real representation today … I feel GRATITUDE and BLESSED!!!!&quot;</p>
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She signed off her post with the hashtag adopted by her fans: &quot;#FreeBritney.&quot;</p>
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