International pop icon Britney Spears has, in recent years, achieved a grimmer kind of fame: surging interest in her ongoing 13-year conservatorship (guardianship) saga has made Spears a cause célèbre for reform efforts. Speaking in open court for the first time last month, Spears publicly denounced the conservatorship, calling it "abusive." In tones of heartbreak, frustration and anger, she described in detail her powerlessness to control nearly every aspect of her life. Spears added that she was unaware of her right to petition to end the conservatorship and had previously been unable to select her own lawyer. Her conservators and managers, she said, "should be in jail."