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LOS ANGELES: A Los Angeles judge fired Britney Spear's father from his controversial role as guardian to her daughter on Wednesday, ending a long and bitter legal battle over the pop princess.
Judge Brenda Penny said Jamie Spears was immediately suspended and replaced by a temporary restoration guard "in the best interest" of the singer. A hearing to end the guardianship is expected before the end of the year.
"Mr. Spears has ordered that all conservatorship assets be turned over," Benny said.
Spears' father has controlled her life for the past 13 years, under a controversial legal arrangement that the 39-year-old American singer has called "abusive" and her lawyers have asked that he be removed from her.
Wednesday's move came after a years-long campaign in public, and after two powerful new documentaries emerged last week containing allegations that Jamie Spears had telegraphed his daughter's phone calls.
Dozens of supporters gathered in front of a Los Angeles courtroom before the hearing, many of whom carried colorful banners with slogans such as "Jail Jamie" and the "Free Britney" appeal spread around the world by their supporters in social networks.
The ruling came after Spear's attorney, Mathew Rosengart, filed a motion for her father to be removed from office.
"Every day that she spends with him as guardian, every day and every hour, is a day that causes her daughter anguish and pain," the petition said.
These allegations appear to have been corroborated by a New York Times documentary released Friday that claimed that Jamie Spears had secretly installed surveillance devices in his daughter's bedroom to record her conversations.
"It really reminded me of someone who was in prison," a former security company employee told the filmmakers of the movie "Britney Spears Dominance."
The pop star's lawyers said this week that the Times' allegations about her father show "egregious and unreasonable violations of the privacy of her adult daughter."
Jimmy Spears denies the occurrence of illegal censorship.
Another new documentary, "Britney vs Spears" on Netflix, which came out Tuesday, claims the singer twice tried to hire her own lawyer in the early years of the regency but was rejected.
In July, Spears finally managed to appoint her attorney, Rosengart, and last month, her father filed a petition to end the guardianship.
- 'Never fit to serve' -
At her request, Spears' attorneys accused her father of attempting to delay termination of the guardianship in her own financial interest.
The petition alleges that his efforts are "a ploy designed to avoid the stigma of the suspension and its consequences, including the possibility that the legal fees owed will be canceled and denied."
"Khula" is a legal term that means reimbursement of illicit earnings.
Spears' representatives and fans have long accused her father of profiting from guardianship, which was created after the 2007 collapse when the skinhead star attacked a paparazzi at a gas station.
Meanwhile, Jamie Spears has opposed her daughter's choice of new temporary maintenance to replace him, saying Certified Public Accountant John Zabel lacks the necessary experience, US media reported Monday.
In turn, Spears' attorneys said her father "was never fit for duty," citing accusations in her petition of his "alcohol addiction" and "trauma inflicted on her daughter since childhood.".
