Both Britney Spears and Wendy Williams have found themselves stripped of their autonomy later in life. Spears involuntarily entered conservatorship in 2008 amid a string of controversies, including shaving her head and berating a paparazzo. Her family intervened, culminating in a conservatorship spearheaded by her father. According to court documents obtained by the BBC, he found it was “necessary to protect Britney in every sense of the word.” The set-up lasted longer than anticipated, with Spears only breaking out of it in 2021. Throughout that time, Jamie had the final say on the singer’s finances and personal affairs, with Spears noting a loss of $36 million over 13 years and allegations of Jamie taking some of her hard-earned fortune. Spears later described the conservatorship as degrading in her memoir “Woman in Me,” saying it reduced her to “more of an entity than a person” and “stripped me of my womanhood,” as noted by People.
Williams, too, had been placed under a similar arrangement. While hers is commonly referred to as a guardianship in the media, it’s technically the same as a conservatorship. It started in May 2022 when Wells Fargo deemed her as an “incapacitated person” and the “victim of undue influence and financial exploitation.” Unlike Spears’ familial-led conservatorship, Williams’ case is overseen by attorney Sabrina Morrissey, who had no prior ties with her, and per Williams’ family, they have limited contact with the star. It has also been reported that Williams is in a facility for treatment for her medical issues, including dementia. She has yet to resurface publicly, but her lawyer, La’Shawn Thomas, told The Hollywood Reporter that she opposes the guardianship. “If it’s the court’s intention to have one appointed over her affairs for the long haul, she definitely isn’t going to accept that,” he said.
