In new court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Britney Spears’ father Jamie Spears is accused of “dodging” sitting down for a deposition amid their legal battle
Britney Spears’ lawyers are accusing her father, Jamie Spears, of refusing to sit for a deposition months after he was suspended from her conservatorship.
On Wednesday, lawyers for the 40-year-old “Circus” singer filed a motion to compel Jamie to be deposed, stating that he “still has not appeared for his deposition” since he was first given notice on Oct. 20, 2021, per court documents obtained by PEOPLE. Jamie has also failed to comply with any of the previous at least eight dates offered for a deposition, the filing alleges.
“Mr. Spears can run, but he cannot forever hide from his legal and fiduciary obligations,” Britney’s lawyer Mathew S. Rosengart writes, adding, “After using his daughter’s money for more than 13 years to fund his legal fees and expenses, for the first time, Mr. Spears will now have to pay his own legal fees.”
In December, Jamie requested that Britney’s estate make payments to his legal team for “ongoing fiduciary duties relating to the winding up of the Conservatorship of the Person and Estate,” just over a month after her conservatorship ended — a request Rosengart called “shameful” in a statement to PEOPLE at the time.
In Wednesday’s documents, Rosengart accuses Jamie of “stonewalling and obstruction” for more than six months and “dodging his deposition” that would include him being asked various questions on how he handled Britney’s money while overseeing her conservatorship for 13 years. They also accuse Jamie of not handing over “communications concerning the shocking electronic surveillance apparatus set up to spy on his daughter,” per the filing.
Britney’s lawyers go on to say that Jamie managed a “corrupted and conflicted conservatorship” and profited $6.3 million from his daughter “while paying his associates tens of millions more.”
Pushing for the court to compel Jamie to be deposed, Rosengart notes that Jamie has vital information on “pending matters” and is intentionally avoiding the sit-down because he allegedly violated conservatorship regulations.
One of the issues concerns claims that, around 2008, Jamie borrowed money from “a then-fledgling management company” Tri Star Sports & Entertainment. He allegedly owed at least $40,000 when he hired Tri Star as Britney’s business manager after taking over her conservatorship, booking Britney “on a grueling 97-show international tour” and other events that made Tri Star millions. Britney previously testified she was treated as a “racehorse” under the deal.
Rosengart adds in the motion that Jamie declined a recent notice of deposition, challenging the date. Jamie claimed that the deposition was “unilaterally noticed” and did not take into account whether he was available, according to the documents. However, Rosengart says in the filing that there is “no such requirement” to do so.
Jamie also recently refused the deposition because he resides in Kentwood, Louisiana, the filing says, adding that the initial two deposition notices listed Los Angeles, California, as the location.
“Mr. Spears did not initially object to this location,” court documents say. “If Mr. Spears had an objection to the deposition taking place in Los Angeles, it was incumbent upon him to object on that basis at least three days before the originally-noticed October 20, 2021 date.” The filing adds that Jamie has already agreed to sit down for the deposition “in any city in the country.”
PEOPLE has reached out to Jamie’s lawyer for comment.
Jamie — who had stepped down as Britney’s personal conservator in 2019 — was officially suspended from his role as estate conservator on Sept. 29.
Weeks later, Rosengart, who began representing Britney in July, filed additional court documents accusing Jamie of having ulterior motives after he unexpectedly reversed his stance in September on the necessity of Britney’s conservatorship.
Rosengart filed a request on Oct. 1 to have Jamie deposed.
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