What To Know About Britney Spears' New Conservator Who Jamie Spears Claims Is 'Unqualified'
Jamie Spears has officially been replaced.
Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock / LinkedIn After 13 long years of spearheading Britney Spears' conservatorship, her father, Jamie Spears, has been suspended from his role, effective immediately.
The ruling was finalized by a judge on Wednesday after three separate requests were made from Britney Spears’ lawyer, Matthew Rosengart, to have Jamie removed as the conservator.
Despite Jamie’s exit, there is now someone else taking his place as the temporary conservator of Britney’s finances.
The court named John Zabel as the man taking over from Jamie Spears, as a temporary co-conservator of Britney's estate.
Who Is John Zabel, Britney Spears' new conservator?
Zabel will be Spears' conservator while Rosengart continues his bid to wind down Britney's conservatorship.
While the pop star is not yet entirely free, Zabel's appointment does mark the end of Jamie's reign of terror over Britney's life and may be a step towards meaningful justice.
John Zabel is an accountant.
Zabel is a licensed certified public accountant, in addition to working at Media Finance Structures. He studied accounting at CSU Long Beach as an undergraduate in the 1980s. Zabel later completed the Executive Management program at UCLA in the 1990.
Zabel’s first major job was working as a senior auditor for Arthur Young & Co. from 1981 to 1984.
He also worked as a senior auditor for Ernst & Young Co. during the same years of 1981 to 1984.
John Zabel also has experience the entertainment industry.
Zabel is the owner of his own company, Media Finance Structures, and has owned the company since March 2002.
The company offers financial or operational management of entertainment projects, and has worked with well-known studios such as Paramount, Sony, Lionsgate, and CBS Films.
Zabel served as senior vice president of Sony Pictures Entertainment from 1984 to 1995. He then moved on to work as an executive vice president and chief financial officer for Mandalay Entertainment from 1995 to 2002.
Jamie Spears claimed Zabel was unqualified to be Britney's conservator.
Zabel's extensive experience doesn't seem to be cutting it for Jamie, according to court documents filed prior to his appointment.
In the documents, Jamie's legal team claim that Zabel is not “highly qualified” and lacks the experience to run Spears' estate.
Jamie also maintains that he has done nothing that would warrant him being axed from the conservatorship.
The #FreeBritneyMovement consequently casted a huge spotlight on Jamie Spears, with many of Britney’s fans calling for her father to step down from his role as the conservator of Britney’s estate.
Britney has also made several claims of abuse against her father, alleging he has used the arrangement for personal gain. The singer even refused to perform as long as her father was in charge of her life and finances.
As the court's ruling of Zabel becoming the conservator for Britney Spears, Jamie must hand over all records.
John Zabel will work alongside Jodi Montgomery as Britney's conservators.
Zabel will control all of Spears’ financial decisions while Jodi Montgomery, Britney’s second conservator, will continue to manage the singer’s day-to-day wellbeing and medical care.
Montgomery was appointed a temporary role within the conservatorship after Jamie Spears went through health issues in 2019. Montgomery is also on board with Britney Spears’ request to remove the guardianship.
Hopefully with the removal of Jamie Spears from being in control of her assets, Britney Spears can finally feel a sense of normalcy and freedom in regards to being in control of her own life again.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.