Britney Spears’ manager resigns after 25 years

Britney Spears is officially without management. Larry Rudolph, the man who has helped to shape the popstar’s career for more than 25 years, handed in his official resignation to Spears’ co-conservators on July 5.

“It has been over 2 1/2 years since Britney and I last communicated, at which time she informed me she wanted to take an indefinite work hiatus,” Rudolph wrote in a letter to co-conservators Jamie Spears and Jodi Montgomery, as first reported by Deadline. “Earlier today, I became aware that Britney had been voicing her intention to officially retire,” he continued.

“As you know, I have never been a part of the conservatorship nor its operations, so I am not privy to many of these details. I was originally hired at Britney’s request to help manage and assist her with her career. And as her manager, I believe it is in Britney’s best interest for me to resign from her team as my professional services are no longer needed.”

Rudolph, who also manages Aerosmith, Pitbull and Kim Petras, added that he wishes Spears all of the “health and happiness in the world” and he’s proud of what they accomplished together. “I’ll be there for her if she ever needs me again, just as I always have been,” he wrapped.

The manager has been with Spears since 1995, except for a period in 2007-08 when Sam Lutfi represented her. In 2009 Spears’ family took out a restraining order against Lutfi, who claimed he was trying to help Spears. In 2019 the family was granted another five-year restraining order that prevents the manager from having any contact with Britney.

This is the latest twist in Spears’ conservatorship case. Last week Bessemer Trust, the court-appointed company that managed her assets, resigned following her headline-generating testimony at the end of June, in which she called the conservatorship abusive and revealed she wishes for it to end.

So far the court has denied Spears’ petition to remove her father from the conservatorship. However, neither Spears nor her attorney, Samuel Ingham III, have filed the paperwork to end the conservatorship itself. Everyone is expected back in court on July 14 for the next hearing.

Currently, Jamie Spears and Jodi Montgomery, Spears’ care manager who was previously appointed to the conservatorship by the court, have full control over the singer’s career, personal and professional finances, and her relationships with everyone in her life—including her two kids, Sean and Jayden.

Jamie recently filed his own legal response to the situation, claiming he hasn’t been involved with the conservatorship for nearly two years and that it’s Montgomery who has made all of the decisions as far as Spears’ day-to-day personal care and medical treatments go—including the forced birth control Spears spoke out against on June 23 in court.

It was during that 24-minute address that Spears also touched on the future of her career, making it clear that she has no intentions of performing again anytime soon. “I deserve to have a life. I've worked my whole life,” she said. “I deserve to have a two to three-year break and just do what I want to do.”

The last time Spears performed was in 2019 during her Vegas residency show. At the time she went on a hiatus because of her father’s then-declining health, and she has not returned to the stage since.

To read up on the ongoing conservatorship hearings and the #FreeBritney movement, follow along with Etalk’s coverage, here. 

BEFORE YOU GO: Britney Spears’ co-conservator files to resign

 

[video_embed id='2233837']BEFORE YOU GO: Britney Spears’ co-conservator files to resign[/video_embed]