LOS ANGELES — Jamie Lynn Spears is speaking out after her older sister, singer Britney Spears, called her conservatorship “abusive” in a Los Angeles Superior Court hearing last week.
According to People magazine and E! News, Jamie Lynn, 30, took to Instagram Stories on Monday to publicly address the issue and why she hadn’t said anything sooner.
“The only reason I hadn’t before is because I felt like until my sister was able to speak for herself and say what she felt she needed to say publicly, that it wasn’t my place and it wasn’t the right thing to do,” the former “Zoey 101” actress said in a video. “But now that she’s very clearly spoken and said what she needed to say, I feel like I can follow her lead and say what I feel I need to say.”
She added that she has “loved, adored and supported” Britney her entire life.
“I don’t care if she wants to run away to a rainforest and have zillion babies in the middle of nowhere, or if she wants to come back and dominate the world the way she has done so many times before, because I have nothing to gain or lose either way,” Jamie Lynn said in the clip. “This situation does not affect me either way because I’m only her sister who’s only concerned about her happiness.”
She continued: “Maybe I didn’t support the way the public would like me to with a hashtag on a public platform, but I can assure you that I supported my sister long before there was a hashtag, and I’ll support her long after.”
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Jamie Lynn’s post came days after Britney, 39, asked a judge on Wednesday to end her longtime conservatorship, which began in 2008, The Associated Press reported. Under the current agreement, the sisters’ father, Jamie Spears, 68, is co-conservator of the pop star’s fortune, but he previously was able to control most aspects of her life, according to the news agency.
“I’m traumatized; I’m not happy,” Britney said via phone at the hearing. “I can’t sleep. I’m so angry, it’s insane.”
She added that the conservatorship forces her to take birth control and prevents her from marrying and having a child with boyfriend Sam Asghari, the AP reported.
“I want to end this conservatorship without being evaluated,” she said. “I just want my life back.”
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.