Britney Spears‘ return to the stage is looking bleak amid a contentious battle over her conservatorship with her parents.
The pop star’s longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, told TMZ that he and his team are putting a hold on Spears’ career until her health improves.
“I don’t want her to work again ’till she’s ready, physically, mentally and passionately,” he said. “If that time never comes again, it will never come again. I have no desire or ability to make her work again. I am only here for her when she wants to work. And, if she ever does want to work again, I’m here to tell her if it’s a good idea or a bad idea.”
Spears, 37, checked out of a mental health facility on April 25 after staying at the wellness center for nearly a month as she sought help in dealing with her father Jamie Spears’ illness.
Rudolph called the stress of Jamie’s colon condition the “perfect storm,” adding that he and his team “had to pull her show because her meds stopped working.” In January, Spears’ “Britney: Domination” run in Las Vegas was paused indefinitely.
Rudolph shared that he has been receiving information about Spears’ current medical condition on a “need-to-know basis” and that is how he is determining her career plans.
He said, “From what I have gathered it’s clear to me she should not be going back to do this Vegas residency, not in the near future and possibly never again.”
The talent manager, who has worked with Spears since 1998, said the singer has not called him in months — which is an indication she is not interested in working right now.
“Last summer, when she wanted to tour, she called me every day,” he said. “She clearly doesn’t want to perform now.”
After Spears left treatment, a source similarly told Page Six that the “Toxic” singer was just “looking forward to keeping her stress level as low as possible and to just relax,” adding that “there’s a way to [go]” before she returns to the stage.