NEW: Britney Spears’s dad Jamie and a security firm ran a surveillance apparatus that monitored her phone and secretly captured audio recordings from her bedroom, according to a former employee of the security firm nytimes.com/2021/09/24/art…
Alex Vlasov worked for Black Box for 9 years & backed up his claims with emails, texts & recordings.
"When I took a step back and looked at everything it really reminded me of somebody that was in prison....and security was put in a position to be the prison guards essentially."
"When I took a step back and looked at everything it really reminded me of somebody that was in prison....and security was put in a position to be the prison guards essentially."
He explained how Britney’s phone was monitored-- security set up a mirrored icloud account on an ipad/ipod. Security chief Edan Yemini would review her texts and share contents with Jamie and Robin Greenhill, an employee of the former business manager Tri Star, run by Lou Taylor
While the reason given for monitoring Britney’s phone was to protect her from “bad influence,” Jamie monitored her texts with her mom, her boyfriend, close friends-- and even her court-appointed lawyer Sam Ingham.
Vlasov described how security secretly placed an audio recording device in Britney’s bedroom.
It captured more than 180 hours of audio-- including Britney’s interactions & conversations with her boyfriend, children & others.
It captured more than 180 hours of audio-- including Britney’s interactions & conversations with her boyfriend, children & others.
He was asked to wipe the device, but not wanting to destroy evidence, he kept a copy.
Some of the recordings were made in 2016 days before a court investigator visited to interview Britney-- and the singer told her the conservatorship had “too much control-- too, too much!”
Some of the recordings were made in 2016 days before a court investigator visited to interview Britney-- and the singer told her the conservatorship had “too much control-- too, too much!”
Said there was an “obsession” with Britney’s boyfriends & claims they billed over $100k (to Britney’s estate) to surveil her boyfriend in 2014. That boyfriend confirmed he was intensely tailed & says he had encouraged her to understand her legal rights under the conservatorship.
One of the more surprising allegations: That security infiltrated a #FreeBritney rally in 2019 with undercover investigators to identify fans (This was also allegedly billed to Britney’s estate).
Security also created dossiers on active #FreeBritney members.
A July 2020 “threat assessment report” included info on accounts like @BritneysGram @EatPrayBritney “Lawyers for Britney” & @diet_prada.
A July 2020 “threat assessment report” included info on accounts like @BritneysGram @EatPrayBritney “Lawyers for Britney” & @diet_prada.
Fan @meg_rad, described as a young mother in Oklahoma, was classified as “a high risk due to her creation and sharing of information.”
An August 2020 email from Edan at Black Box discussed the possibility of surveilling Kevin Wu, of prominent FreeBritney account @freebritneyla
An August 2020 email from Edan at Black Box discussed the possibility of surveilling Kevin Wu, of prominent FreeBritney account @freebritneyla
Recording conversations in a private place and mirroring text messages without the consent of both parties can be a violation of the law. It’s unclear if the court was aware of or had approved the surveillance.
So was this all legal? Let's look at the legal responses:
So was this all legal? Let's look at the legal responses:
Jamie’s lawyer didn't respond to detailed Qs but instead said: “All of his actions were well within the parameters of the authority conferred upon him by the court. His actions were done with the knowledge and consent of Britney, her court-appointed attorney, and/or the court.”
Edan’s lawyer didn't respond to detailed Qs, citing client confidentiality. She said “Mr. Yemini & Black Box have always conducted themselves within professional, ethical and legal bounds, and they are particularly proud of their work in keeping Ms. Spears safe for many years.”
A lawyer for Tri Star said: “These allegations are not true. Ms. Greenhill was only involved in Ms. Spears’ security to the extent Ms. Spears requested her involvement, as well as Tri Star’s role of issuing the payments to the security company.”
But the lawyer did not respond to follow-up questions specifically asking whether Ms. Greenhill ever received copies of or reports on the contents of Ms. Spears’s text communications.
Britney’s new lawyer Mathew Rosengart said: “Any unauthorized intercepting or monitoring of Britney’s communications- especially attorney-client communications, which are a sacrosanct part of the legal system- would represent a shameful violation of her privacy rights ...
"… Placing a listening device in Britney’s bedroom would be particularly inexcusable and disgraceful, and corroborates so much of her compelling, poignant testimony.”
“These actions must be fully and aggressively investigated.”
“These actions must be fully and aggressively investigated.”
But if the court was aware of and had approved of everything, an email Vlasov shared from Britney’s then-lawyer Sam Ingham to Jamie’s lawyers in 2020 about Britney's new phone is pretty confusing:
Britney's lawyer: “Ethically, I need to get written confirmation that no one other than my client can access her calls, voicemail messages or texts directly or indirectly”
Jamie’s lawyer responds: “Jamie confirms that he has no access to her calls, voicemail messages, or texts”
Jamie’s lawyer responds: “Jamie confirms that he has no access to her calls, voicemail messages, or texts”
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