Britney Spears may never return to the stage, manager says

The judge overseeing Britney Spears’ conservatorship has ordered an investigation into the team managing the singer’s medical, business and legal affairs, a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly told USA Today. The move comes after the singer’s longtime manager indicated he doesn’t expect her to return to her Las Vegas residency anytime soon, if at all.

The source says, however, the investigation into the star’s conservatorship is “due diligence” on the part of the court and has taken place twice a year since her father, Jamie Spears, and a team of doctors and lawyers took control of those decisions following her emotional breakdown in 2008.

Spears, who has never spoken publicly about her conservatorship, has shared positive updates about her well-being on social media in recent weeks to assure fans worried about her health.

“Just checking in with all of you who are concerned about me. All is well,” Spears said in a video posted to Instagram last month. “My family has been going through a lot of stress and anxiety lately, so I just needed time to deal.”

However, her longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, cast doubt on just how well she is.

Rudolph, who managed Spears from 1998 to 2004 and then again from 2008 to the present, spoke to TMZ about Spears’ current status, sharing that she hasn’t been in contact with him about returning to the road.

“As the person who guides her career — based on the information I and all of the professionals who work with her are being told on a need-to-know basis — from what I have gathered, it’s clear to me she should not be going back to do this Vegas residency — not in the near future and possibly never again,” he said.

Spears has had a tumultuous 2019, beginning with her January announcement that she was postponing her “Domination” residency (scheduled to begin on Feb. 13,) so that she could tend to her her father, Jamie Spears, who is recovering from a ruptured colon.

“It was the perfect storm,” Rudolph said. “We had to pull her show because her meds stopped working and she was distraught over her dad’s illness.”

Rudolph claimed that Spears had been eager to tour last year, but that she hasn’t contacted him in recent months.

“Last summer, when she wanted to tour – she called me every day,” he said. “She was excited. She hasn’t called me in months. Crickets. She clearly doesn’t want to perform now.”

Rudolph stressed he was putting her physical and emotional well-being before her career, stating he has no intention of talking her into working if she can’t handle it.

“I don’t want her to work again ’till she’s ready, physically, mentally and passionately,” he added. “If that time never comes again, it will never come again. I have no desire or ability to make her work again. I am only here for her when she wants to work. And, if she ever does want to work again, I’m here to tell her if it’s a good idea or a bad idea.”

Spears’ emotional state came into question again in April when she reportedly checked in and out of a mental health facility and obtained a restraining order against her former associate Sam Lutfi. Recently, he has encouraged his followers to take “vigilante action” to attempt to change the singer’s conservatorship.

Read more at usatoday.com