Stephen Lam/Reuters
- Britney Spears spoke out publicly against her family and conservatorship this Wednesday in court.
- She was on the phone with LA judge Brenda Penny, and spoke for 24 minutes.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Britney Spears appeared in court remotely on Wednesday, speaking out publicly against a conservatorship that has handed control of her life and estate.
In the hearing she covered everything from her business deals to her kitchen cabinet color – and her relationship with her father.
Spears asked LA judge Brenda Penny to help end the conservatorship, which was granted in 2008 and has been repeatedly extended.
Here are seven key highlights from Britney Spears' full 24-minute statement:
She compared her situation to being sex-trafficked
Spears said that her family created a rehab program for her in a small home in Beverly Hills. She said her possessions, including her credit card, phone, and passport, were taken.
During this period, her room had "no privacy door" and staff and nurses watched her constantly, even when she was changing and naked, according to her.
"I packed my bags and went to that place. I worked seven days a week, no days off, which in California, the only similar thing to this is called sex trafficking. Making anyone work against their will," she said.
She called her conservatorship "abusive"
Spears slammed her father's behavior as her conservator, calling him ignorant. She said he enjoyed hearing her cry over the phone for an hour, and that the conservatorship has done her more harm than good.
"The control he had over someone as powerful as me - he loved the control to hurt his own daughter, 100,000%," she said.
Spears said she was forced to take lithium medication
She said that when she didn't want to do a Vegas show, a therapist changed her usual medication and gave her lithium.
"He put me on that and I felt drunk. I couldn't even have a conversation with my mom or dad really about anything," she said.
She wants to end her conservatorship but believes her family will stop her
Spears told the judge that she wanted to terminate her conservatorship without having to be evaluated or tested. But she believed her family would block this to prevent her "exposing" them.
"I'm not sure how you make your decisions, ma'am. But this is the only chance for me to talk to you for a while. I need your help," she said to Judge Penny.
"I wish I could stay with you on the phone forever, because when I get off the phone with you, all of I sudden I hear all these no's. No no no."
Spears wants to sue her family, said that they were telling lies about her
Spears said her family benefited from her silence and have "lived off" her conservatorship.
"My own family doing interviews, and talking about the situation and making me feel so stupid. And I can't say one thing. And my own people say I can't say anything," she said.
She thought no one would believe her
Early in her statement, Spears told Judge Penny that she felt she wasn't heard the last time she was in court. She later said that she hadn't spoken up before as she was afraid nobody would believe her.
"People would make fun of me or laugh at me and say: 'She's lying, she's got everything, she's Britney Spears,'" said Spears.
"I've been so angry and I cry every day. It concerns me, I'm told I'm not allowed to expose the people who did this to me."
She wants to "move forward", and be able to get married and have a baby
Spears described having an IUD birth control device in her body that her management would not let her remove, even though she wants try to have another baby.
Spears has been married twice and has two children. The first marriage was annulled in 2004, and the second ended in divorce in 2007.
"I deserve to have a life. I've worked my whole life. I deserve to have a two to three year break and just, you know, do what I want to do," she said.
To read more on the #FreeBritney movement and the timeline around Britney Spears' legal battle to end her conservatorship, see Insider's full report.