Britney Spears Felt Trapped. Her Business Manager Benefited.

Ms. Spears rocketed to fame in 1998 with the release of her single “Baby One More Time.” At 16, she became a pop culture sensation.

Her success opened doors for her younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, who in 2005 starred in a Nickelodeon series, “Zoey 101,” and became a Tri Star client. That year, she turned 14.

Mr. Spears would also become a Tri Star client. The details of how he and Ms. Taylor met aren’t clear.

Britney Spears began publicly struggling. Shortly after giving birth to her second son in 2006, she filed for divorce from her children’s father, Kevin Federline. A battle ensued, and Ms. Spears eventually lost custody of her sons. In January 2008, she was twice hospitalized on involuntary psychiatric holds.

Her father — who had filed for bankruptcy, struggled with alcoholism and faced accusations of physical and verbal abuse — had largely been absent from his daughter’s life. Now he re-entered.

Around the time his daughter was hospitalized, and while he was working as a cook, Mr. Spears received a loan of at least $40,000 from Tri Star. (His lawyer, Mr. Weingarten, initially told The Times that Mr. Spears “never” received a loan from Tri Star but later confirmed its existence.) “Tri Star routinely loans money to clients,” he said.

On Feb. 1, after discussing the matter with Ms. Taylor, Mr. Spears petitioned a California court for conservatorship powers, court records show. (Mr. Harder said Ms. Taylor did not push for the creation of a conservatorship.)

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/19/business/britney-spears-conservatorship-tri-star.html