Amanda Bynes was in a horrible downward spiral nine years ago. She was living alone, she was surrounded by drugged-out “friends,” she was abusing alcohol and drugs, she was saying and doing all kinds of scary and horrible things. For Bynes, the root of it all seemed to be a significant mental health issue, which was then compounded by her attempts to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. By the summer of 2013, it got so bad that her parents stepped in and got Amanda under a conservatorship. For years, Amanda seemed to blossom under the conservatorship – she stayed on her meds, she worked a program, she was sober for four or five years, she completed her degree in fashion. Then there was a relapse in 2019/2020, a broken engagement, perhaps a pregnancy and she was back to living in a treatment center. It seems that she’s gotten her life back together in the past year or so though, and now she wants the conservatorship lifted:
Amanda Bynes is seeking to end her nearly nine-yearlong conservatorship. The 35-year-old Easy A actress’ lawyer David A. Esquibias tells PEOPLE exclusively, “Amanda wishes to terminate her conservatorship. She believes her condition is improved and protection of the court is no longer necessary.” Page Six was first to report the news.
Bynes’s mother Lynn was granted temporary conservatorship over her daughter in August 2013 after the actress allegedly set fire to a driveway. Lynn regained conservatorship of the star in October 2014.
This past September, a status report regarding Bynes’ health was filed and approved by a California court with the next update scheduled for January 2023. Contrary to reports at the time, Esquibias explained that her conservatorship was “not extended” through 2023.
He told PEOPLE then, “It is open day to day. A status report regarding her health and welfare was recently filed and approved by the court. By law, the next status report is due in two years. Her conservatorship will terminate when it is no longer convenient for Amanda.”
Esquibias said last April that Bynes was “doing great” ahead of her 35th birthday: “She lives by the beach, attends school and is enjoying meditation and Soul Cycle classes.”
Bynes announced her engagement to Paul Michael, a man she met at her former sober living home in late 2019, on Valentine’s Day 2020. In October 2020, Esquibias told PEOPLE that she was working on her degree at California’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising after graduating with her associate’s degree in 2019. He shared at the time, “Amanda is very entrepreneurial. She is investigating fragrances. She is now considering perfume in addition to a clothing line. But, don’t get too excited. She is still a student at FIDM earning her degree.”
In Amanda’s case – unlike Britney Spears’s situation – it often felt like Bynes was a real danger to herself and others on her worst days. The fact that she relapsed and was living in a sober living facility back in 2020 tells me that her recovery might be more tenuous than even she believes. But… I also think she deserves the chance to live her life on her own terms. I wonder how much power her parents have over at this point – they never got the reputation as Jamie Spears-esque douchebags who were looking to loot Amanda’s finances, but I do wonder.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, her old Instagram account.
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, BRAZIL, CANADA ** – West Hollywood, CA – A heavier and healthy looking Amanda Bynes is all smiles as she shows off her new hair and sharp nails as she is seen leaving Glam hair salon in West Hollywood this afternoon with a friend. Pictured: Amanda Bynes BACKGRID USA 28 JULY 2016 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle at Windsor Castle. Broadcast on ITV1,Image: 372311182, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN's services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material., Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Wenn / Avalon
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- Los Angeles, CA – Amanda Bynes picks up Starbucks before her 1hr indoor cycling class with a friend. Amanda looks casual in an all black athleisure ensemble, complete with a Life of Pablo shirt, as she makes her way down the street with a friend. Pictured: Amanda Bynes BACKGRID USA 8 DECEMBER 2018 BYLINE MUST READ: Clint Brewer / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
I want Amanda Bynes to live a fulfilled, independent life.
I also think it’s a little bit different from the Spears situation as the family doesn’t seem to be forcing her to work and living off her income. But I don’t know.
I think she needed rehab and counselling, conservatorships never happen to out of control male stars. What happened to that being the last resort insted of the first.
Being surrounded by druggy friends, doing drugs, and “saying and doing horrible things” is what at least 50% of male Hollywood actors do, and many of them have done much more destructive things than “setting fire to a driveway.” What about all those male stars who are famous for repeatedly trashing hotel rooms? Yet putting them under a conservatorship controlled by their mom has never once been part of a conversation for any of them. Hmm, why is that?
It shouldn’t be this easy to completely strip women of all their legal, civil, and human rights.
People have the right to be a danger to themselves because what that constitutes is extremely subjective. If they commit crimes, they are innocent until proven guilty and have the right to a fair trial and due process.
Conservatorships shouldn’t exist in this way.
Thank you!!!You articulated what i was trying to say perfectly. If people like Kanye or Justin Bieber(pre saved) days were female they would have been subjected to such treatment. You are right it shouldnt be so easy to take someones liberties away, the whole Britney thing makes my blood boil.
You seem to be forgetting that she attempted to light herself and her dog on fire, along with the driveway. I’m curious, why do you people have a strong tendency to forget important facts that are imperative to understanding the full story. Bieber is horrible, but he didn’t try to kill himself, and a dog. There is a difference between property destruction and self destruction. In your attempt to white knight for Bynes, you seem to be forgetting that she quite literally tried to kill herself, and harm others.
@Blargh Fair Enough! And Britney drove with her baby in her lap and that was completley bonkers. Does that mean they should have their lives dictated to them for years and years. How about counselling? Even a mental intistituion for a while if needs be,but the extreme has been apllied to these two FEMALES.
I’m not going to argue that women are treated unfairly compared to men. BUT — that doesn’t change the fact that Amanda as an individual may have needed 9 years of conservatorship. And depending on the nature of her condition, and variables in treatment, she may need a conservatorship again at different points in the future.
Her parents certainly don’t seem to treat her like a meal ticket. And it sounds like her schooling is a path toward an area that interests her, but will be more manageable with her mental health than returning to performing.
She has schizophrenia. It would benefit male stars to have conservatorships, as evidenced by their continued overdoses and deaths and bankruptcies. Bynes and Brittany have 2 very different situations. Her parents love her, often tried to keep her from any exploitative roles and she’s still a multimillionaire. What if River Phoenix had had parents who stepped in and got conservatorship? Both of the Coreys. Most children stars. Wouldn’t that be better than having them die or go broke?
eh, Corey Feldman’s parents fleeced him of his millions. I wouldn’t put him into this scenario.
Her parents were pushing 70 or was at that age when the conservatorship was in place.
I am surprised that it is till happening and her parents ages were no taken into consideration at this point.
What a strange comment. Many people have children in their late 30s and even early 40s and are “pushing 70” when their children are in their 20s and 30s, like Amanda. Most people in their 60s and 70s are perfectly capable of looking after themselves and others. Do you think people don’t function after 60??
Considering what it entrails. Yeah.
I said what I said.
@Tiffany This is such an ignorant comment. What you turn 70 and you just dig a hole and lay down and die in it? My Mom is almost 78. Has a job she enjoys, goes to the gym. Bikes and drives everywhere. Trades stock like a baller and is living her best life. She takes care of herself. She wil out live me. So you said what you said, but it was stupid.
Whateve Amanda’s case is I hope she has the best representation to guide her to a happy and stable life. Amanda doesn’t have the millions that Britney does to insulate her from the world.
Ever since Britney’s ordeal came to light, I view every conservatorship with suspicion. Granted there are people who may need help and legal guidance to protect themselves and their finances/livelihood, but you wonder about those that live in conservatorships without celebrity and/or a public platform. I feel there is more abuse in the conservatorship system than what is being exposed right now.
I hope she’s doing well, and hope for the best outcome for her.
There is a valley of gray between Jamie Spears-type control and abuse and parents who keep a conservatorship going because they truly believe that it is in their (grown) child’s best interests. Amanda’s parents can have good intentions and still be wrong that she still needs a conservator. As a parent, there is nothing that I wouldn’t do to spare my child from pain or harm, and sometimes I have to step back to assess whether I am doing the right thing for the child or not allowing them to grow.
She was diagnosed bipolar and schizophrenic, so I think the situation here is definitely different and she is the kind of case conservatorships were designed for in the first place. Her parents seem to be level headed about her situation and if they and professionals feel she can end the conservatorship then fine.
I