Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Britney Spears: Former FBI agent claims pop singer was spied on by her father

A documentary previously alleged that Jamie Spears had placed a recording device in his daughter’s bedroom

Sam Moore
Wednesday 19 January 2022 12:22 EST
Comments
Britney Spears former stylist speaks outside court

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A former FBI agent has claimed that Britney Spears was spied on by her father, Jamie.

In a court declaration filed last week, Sherine Ebadi alleged that Jamie “engaged in and directed others to engage in unconscionable violations of [Britney’s] privacy and civil liberties”.

The documentary, Controlling Britney Spears, previously claimed that Jamie placed a recording device in Britney’s bedroom that captured over 180 hours of audio.

Alex Vlasov, who made the allegations in the film, was “personally debriefed and interviewed” by Ebadi according to the documents that are part of a wider court filing that accuses Jamie of taking more than $6m (£4.4m) from Britney’s estate.

Ebadi, who worked for the FBI for over 10 years, also alleges in the filing that her findings “raise criminal implications” for Jamie, who acted as Britney’s conservator until a judge terminated the arrangement in November last year.

Ebadi, who previously worked on Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, said in her declaration that she could back up Vlasov’s spying claims.

She said: “According to Mr Vlasov, Black Box was initially responsible for suggesting that a secret listening device be planted in [Britney’s] bedroom, but [Jamie] ‘loved’ the idea and approved and instructed that the installation move forward.”

Ebadi also claimed she knew how the listening device was planted: “The Black Box employee who placed the secret device in [Britney’s] bedroom explained to Mr Vlasov that he did so by duct-taping it behind furniture so it could not be seen and that he added a separate battery pack to the recording device to permit continuous recording for a longer period of time.”

Jamie has previously denied any claims of spying on his daughter, saying after the release of the documentary that “actions were done with the knowledge and consent of Britney, her court-appointed attorney and/or the court”.

Britney Spears performs in concert in 2003, five years before she was placed under a conservatorship
Britney Spears performs in concert in 2003, five years before she was placed under a conservatorship (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

The Independent has contacted a representative for Jamie for comment.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in