Has Britney Spears been set up by her father in an alleged incident of battery?
Los Angeles, California - Britney Spears is being investigated for misdemeanor battery, but fans think her father Jamie Spears could be behind it all.
The Ventura County Sheriff's department has launched a misdemeanor battery investigation involving Britney Spears after one of her housekeepers reported that the pop singer struck her during an argument.
Ventura County Sheriff Captain Eric Buschow told Page Six the incident unfolded on Monday.
Britney's housekeeper contacted police in the aftermath and filed a report. Buschow declined to discuss specifically how the housekeeper claimed Spears made physical contact.
However, a source said the dispute involved a dog belonging to Spears. When the housekeeper accused the singer of trying to swat at the phone she was holding, Spears made contact with her hand.
According to TMZ, the housekeeper had allegedly taken Spears' dogs away earlier this month. It is said on Monday, the housekeeper had just returned from taking one of the dogs to the vet, citing issues with the pet's treatment.
Fans and sources have made claims the star's father Jamie Spears may suspiciously be behind the incident, and that he has even possibly even paid the housekeeper to keep the dogs from his daughter. If Britney is painted to be "lashing out," it could further his case that the singer is unstable and may need his conservatorship help.
The move seemed similar to actions shared by Spears' during her court testimony in June, where she said her conservators threatened her and barred access to her hard-earned money and possessions, unless she obliged to their demands.
Sources close to the matter told Page Six, "She’s been through this before. Her conservators used to threaten to take her children away from her, and now her dogs are nowhere to be found. It’s an all too familiar – and heartbreaking – feeling for her."
Fans on Twitter agreed with the theory, as one wrote, "It feels to me as retaliation that they took Britney Spears dogs a month ago right after her testimony accusing her father of abuse."
Despite the housekeeper's claims on Monday, Buschow said the employee showed no visible signs of injury. The investigation will be forwarded to the Ventura County District Attorney to decide how to proceed and whether to press charges.
The sheriff's department allegedly said the battery investigation will "go nowhere"
According to Spears' attorney Mathew Rosengart, the new allegations of battery are "overblown sensational tabloid fodder – nothing more than a fabricated 'he said she said' regarding a cell phone, with no striking and obviously no injury whatsoever."
TMZ reported that "a source connected to" Spears also venomously denied any physical altercation between the Grammy winner and her staff member.
The same source claimed the sheriff's department told Spears' team the investigation wouldn't amount to anything.
For such a misdemeanor offense to be charged, prosecutors usually require law enforcement to have witnessed the incident, or for there to be clear physical evidence.
The complaint comes amid an ongoing legal battle waged by Spears in an effort to cut ties from her father in her long-running conservatorship.
Last week, Jamie Spears agreed to step down as conservator when the time was right, but also signalled he would fight to deny his daughter's request to remove him.
The #FreeBritney movement gained fresh momentum earlier this summer after Spears demanded an end to what she called an "abusive" arrangement before a Los Angeles court.
The next hearing in Spears' conservatorship case is slated for September 29.
Cover photo: Collage: screenshot / Instagram /britneyspears