A judge fired Amanda Bynes ‘conservatory on Tuesday, ending the legal arrangement that has given the former actress’ mother control of her property and personal affairs for nearly a decade.
The 35-year-old filed a petition last month with the support of her mother and psychiatrist to close the conservatory she was put under in 2013 after she was forcibly admitted to a psychiatric team.
“I’m excited about her. She’s excited,” Bynes’ lawyer, David A Esquibias, told Variety on Monday. . “
On Friday, the Ventura County Magistrate, who was overseeing the case, had already indicated that he intended to close the Bynes Conservatory. “The petitioner has presented facts that the conservatory is no longer necessary,” Judge Roger L Lund wrote in Friday’s preliminary ruling.
Bynes starred in Nickelodeon’s All That and the Amanda Show and films such as What a Girl Wants and She’s the Man before announcing her retirement from acting in 2010.
Bynes was placed on a psychiatric team in 2013 after allegedly starting a small fire, and a judge gave her parents a temporary conservatory that was extended several times in recent years.
In the years before the conservatory was established, tabloids had addressed her legal issues, which included hit-and-run and DUI charges.
Bynes has commented on mental health issues, saying she was diagnosed as “bipolar and manic depressive”. In an interview from 2018, she told Paper Magazine that she struggled with body images and substance abuse that affected her behavior and mental health and “ruined” her life.
Bynes is now sober and has earned an associate degree from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. She is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree and has become engaged. She has lived in a “structured community for women in need” since 2020, according to Variety, where her lawyer said she has “done very well in a very short time where she has been there” and she is now able to live independently.
In a statement to People on Tuesday, Bynes shared his appreciation of his fans.
“Following today’s decision by the judge to terminate my conservatory, I would like to thank my fans for their love and congratulations during this time. I would also like to thank my lawyer and my parents for their support over the last nine years,” she said. “For the past many years, I have worked hard to improve my health so that I can live and work independently, and I will continue to prioritize my well-being in this next chapter.”
Bynes ‘attempt to end his conservatory comes months after Britney Spears’ years-long struggle to end her own. A judge released the star from the nearly 14-year-old conservatory in November in a triumph for Spears and the #FreeBritney movement, a once-rejected fan-led campaign that drew attention to Spears’ situation and shed a sharp spotlight on the controversial legal system. .
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.