Britney Spears will not be charged following a battery investigation into a confrontation with her housekeeper last month, officials said.
The investigation found “insufficient evidence that a crime had occurred,” Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said Wednesday. A complaint was filed against Spears, 39, by her housekeeper, who alleged that the singer slapped her cellphone out of her hands.
There was no injury to the housekeeper or significant damage to the phone, a review by the sheriff’s office concluded.
Spears' lawyer Mathew Rosengart, a former federal prosecutor, called the accusation "sensational tabloid fodder” at the time and again in a new statement Wednesday.
“If this involved Jane Doe rather than Britney Spears, it would not have been pursued or covered at all,” Rosengart said. “Anyone can make an accusation, but this should never have made it this far, and we are glad the DA’s Office has done the right thing.”
Spears has been the focus of much media attention in the last year as interest in her ongoing conservatorship battle has intensified. She is attempting to remove her father, James "Jamie" Spears, as her conservator and has said she refuses to perform while he retains control over her in any capacity.
She testified in June that her conservatorship was “abusive” and that her father enjoyed exerting control over her, alleging that he used access to see her two sons as a means to have her comply with his demands.
Rosengart filed a petition in July to have Jamie Spears removed, asserting that his role as conservator was not in his daughter’s best interests and questioning his use of her finances.
Jamie Spears indicated in a filing last month that he would be “willing to step down when the time is right, but the transition needs to be orderly and include a resolution of matters.” But he still contested his removal, arguing there was no urgent need for his removal and urging the court not to make a decision based on “false allegations.”
