Britney Spears's Lawyer Is Moving on, But We Don't "Hold It Against" Him
Matthew Rosengart is a high-profile celebrity lawyer who famously “freed Britney” from her conservatorship. What’s next for him?
Published June 25 2024, 2:29 p.m. ET
It’s 2021, and aside from COVID-19, our biggest concern is Britney Spears's wellbeing. After learning she had been in an abusive conservatorship since 2008 under her father, Jamie Spears, the world rallied behind Britney to “free” her in the viral #FreeBritney movement. The movement was so popular that the New York Times produced an award-winning documentary about the case. And Britney was freed, all thanks to her lawyer, Matthew Rosengart.
Britney wasn’t Matthew’s first high-profile celebrity client, and we doubt that she’ll be his last now that he’s announced he’s moving on from representing Britney. But what is Matthew doing next and will Britney be OK without him?
Britney Spears’s lawyer, Matthew Rosengart, stood by her side through her complicated legal battles until June 2024.
On June 24, 2024, Britney Spears’s former lawyer, Matthew Rosengart, announced that he’d be parting ways with the “Pop Princess.” He shared in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter:
“It has been an honor to serve as Britney’s litigator, to work with her to achieve her goals in obtaining the court-ordered suspension of her former conservator, followed by restoring her fundamental rights and civil liberties, while continuing to protect her and more recently to extricate her from all outstanding litigation and the byzantine probate court proceedings."
“As I’ve always said, the credit goes to Britney,” he added. Britney first started working with Matthew after she appeared in court herself to make a statement against her conservator, alleging “abusive” restrictions in her conservatorship since 2008. She requested her own lawyer instead of the conservator-appointed lawyer, and in July 2021, she met with Matthew. The court approved his appointment shortly after, and in just four months, Britney’s conservatorship was terminated.
It all happened much faster than expected, and that’s all thanks to Matthew’s expert lawyering. “I’ve always detested bullying, even growing up,” he said. “Bullying a woman is even more unacceptable and abhorrent. It was troubling to me both personally and professionally, and I felt I could help stop it, as a lawyer and otherwise. That’s a pledge I made, and it was really rewarding to be able to help.”
Although the conservatorship ended in November 2021, Matthew stuck by Britney’s side to help secure her book deal with Simon & Schuster for her best-selling memoir, The Woman in Me. He also worked with her for her pre-nuptial agreement and later divorce with Sam Asghari and helped Britney set up the restraining order against her ex-husband, Jason Alexander. He also helped her through the controversial Chateau Marmont incident in 2024.
But after the final strings of Britney’s conservatorship were neatly tied up in April 2024, Matthew began making plans to focus on other clients. There seems to be no bad blood or controversy regarding Matthew’s career move, as the agreement was initially to focus on getting Britney out of her conservatorship and into the world.
“As she desired, her freedom now includes that she will no longer need to attend or be involved with court or entangled with legal proceedings in this matter,” he explained in an April 26 statement. Now he’s free to move on to other clients after working with people such as Sean Penn, Casey Affleck, Steven Spielberg, and more.