In 2020, the #FreeBritney social media movement attracted worldwide attention to Britney Spear's
controversial conservatorship dispute.
Court proceedings that started in June 2021 would ultimately bring about the end of Spears'
conservatorship later that November.
By that time, the pop star's legal restrictions had been in place for well over a decade.
Many people who followed this highly-publicized affair were introduced to the concept of a
conservatorship for the first time.
To brush you up to speed, just in case your knowledge of the subject is still a bit fuzzy,
a conservatorship is a legal arrangement where the financial decisions and daily life affairs
of a conservatee are placed in the hands of a court-appointed individual known as a conservator.
This arrangement is similar to legal guardianship but is often invoked when someone who is a
legal adult is deemed incapable of handling their own affairs due to things like mental
illness or substance abuse issues.
Britney Spears' conservatorship might have made the most headlines, but since 2013, former
child-star Amanda Bynes had been dealing with one of her own.
This past February, the 'Amanda Show' star filed to end her conservatorship, claiming
that her mental health had significantly improved and that the court's protection was no longer
necessary.
Bynes, who is now 35, got her wish on March 22, 2022, when her conservatorship was officially
terminated.
Join Trender as we take a look back at what prompted this conservatorship in the first
place.
Most people know that Bynes hasn't been in the spotlight in recent years, but the reasons
why are fairly astonishing.
Once again, we have a former child star that obviously has struggled to adapt to adult
life.
It's a tale as old as time at this point.
Before we dive into dissecting the details of Amanda Byne's mental health and history
of drug abuse, let's take a moment to reflect on her childhood and acting career.
Amanda Bynes Rise To Fame
Amanda Laura Bynes was born on the third of April, 1986, in Thousand Oaks, California.
Her father, Rick Bynes, was a dentist and her mother, Lynn, was a dental assistant.
When Bynes was 7, she started appearing in television ads for Buncha Crunch candy bars.
Throughout her childhood, she also made several stage appearances in productions such as Annie,
The Sound of Music, and The Secret Garden.
After attending a comedy camp facilitated by the Los Angeles Laugh Factory, Bynes was
spotted by a producer for Nickelodeon, who promptly offered her a spot on the network's
sketch comedy program.
Bynes eagerly took the opportunity and played various roles on the series between 1996 and
2000.
When she was 13, Bynes was given her very own All That spin-off comedy series called
The Amanda Show.
The series, which ran from 1999 to 2002, proved to be Bynes' big breakthrough.
It put her on the map and earned her much praise – including earning her two Young
Artist Award nominations and four Kids' Choice Awards.
In 2002, Bynes appeared in her first movie, Big Fat Liar, in which she played the character
Kaylee who was the best friend of her co-star Frankie Muniz's character.
Despite being met with a mixed critical reception, the movie proved to be a commercial success,
and Bynes ended up winning yet another Kids Choice Award for her performance.
From 2002 to 2006, Bynes starred n the WB sitcom What I Like About You.
In 2003, she appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair.
In 2005, she provided the voice for the character Piper Pinwheeler in the animated film Robots
and followed that up with a starring role in the rom-com Love Wrecked, which hit theaters
later that year.
In 2006, Bynes was named one of Teen Peoples' hottest stars under 25.
Clearly, she was beginning to step into her element.
That same year she starred in the comedy flick She's The Man.
Her next major film role was starring as Penny Pingleton in the musical film Hairspray in
2007.
Unlike She's the Man, which was panned by critics, Hairspray was both a critical and
commercial success.
It would prove to be Byne's most successful film up untill that point, premiering in over
3,000 theaters.
That role earned her a Critics Choice Award for Best Acting Ensemble and a SAG Award nomination.
Additionally, the Hairspray Soundtrack, which Bynes was featured on, received a Grammy Nomination.
Despite the success of the first film, a planned sequel in which Bynes was slated to reprise
her role in, ended up getting canceled.
The next feature film that Bynes starred in, 2007s Sydney White, ended up flopping.
Even so, Bynes performance was met with praise.
In 2008, Bynes appeared in the Lifetime movie Living Proof, in which she played a student
assistant to Harry Connick Jr.'s character.
The film, especially its casting, received widespread praise.
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First Signs Of Trouble
Rumors started swirling in 2009 that Bynes was experiencing some kind of personal trouble
after she abruptly dropped out of the cast of the comedy film Post Grad without providing
any reason for her departure.
In 2010, Bynes appeared alongside a young Emma Stone in the comedy film Easy A.
The film was both a commercial and critical success.
She was set to star in the comedy Hall Pass later that year, but once again, Bynes dropped
out of the film shortly after it began filming.
In July of 2010, Bynes announced that she would be taking an indefinite hiatus from
acting.
In 2012, Bynes made headlines when she was charged with a DUI in West Hollywood.
In 2014, the charge was dropped, and she was placed on three-year probation.
In 2013, Bynes became the subject of tabloid fodder once again when she was caught smoking
weed in the lobby of her Manhattan apartment building.
When law enforcement officers entered her apartment on the 36th floor, Bynes allegedly
tossed a glass bong out the window.
For that incident, Bynes was charged with cannabis possession and reckless endangerment,
although the case against her was dismissed by a New York County judge in 2014.
Things Only Got Weirder From There
In 2013, Bynes was detained by Ventura County sheriff's deputies after she allegedly lit
a small fire in the driveway of a stranger's home in Thousand Oaks, California.
She was then placed on a mandatory 72-hour psychiatric evaluation hold at a local hospital.
That was the moment when Bynes' parents filed for conservatorship.
It was clear that she was dealing with mental health issues far greater than the public
had previously known about, and the courts seemed to agree because, in August, Bynes'
mom was granted temporary conservatorship over her affairs.
In October of 2014, Bynes name was put through the wringer of the gossip rags once again
when she accused her father of sexual and emotional abuse.
She made these startling claims through a series of emotional tweets, but her parents
vehemently denied that any wrongdoing had actually taken place.
Bynes would later admit that her father never abused her as she had claimed.
She tweeted nonsensically that the 'microchip' in her brain had made her say those things,
and added that her father was the one that ordered 'them' to microchip her.
Days after making those delusional comments, Bynes' mother was yet again granted temporary
conservatorship.
Not long after that, Bynes revealed that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
In August of 2018, paperwork was filed in count to extend the conservatorship until
August of 2020.
Bynes Began To Heal
In 2018, Bynes announced that with the help of her parents and friends, she had managed
to stay sober for four years.
She additionally apologized for the baseless accusatory comments that she had made on Twitter
during the years that she was battling with substance abuse.
In an interview from around that time, Byues revealed that during her years of drug addiction
she had been using cocaine and MDMA, but the substance that proved to be the most detrimental
to her mental health was the ADHD prescription drug Adderall.
Adderall addiction commonly produces adverse mental health side effects like delusions,
hallucinations, and paranoia – so it would make sense that this drug - in tandem with
her bipolar diagnosis - is what was causing her the issues she was experiencing back in
2014.
Even though she appeared to be doing significantly better than she once had been, rumors began
to circulate in 2020 that Bynes had experienced either relapse or some sort of new mental
health setback shortly after she announced on Instagram that she had gotten engaged to
her longtime boyfriend Paul Michael.
Three weeks later, she seemed to announce that they had broken up, but she would later
claim that that announcement had been false.
Michael stated that he and Bynes' Instagram accounts had been hacked.
In March, Bynes shared an ultrasound image on social media while announcing that she
and her boyfriend were expecting a child.
She subsequently deleted this post, and her lawyer confirmed that they weren't actually
expecting a child despite her previous claim.
Exactly why she would fabricate such an assertion became the subject of much debate.
As previously alluded to, many feared that Bynes had fallen back on her old vices.
Despite these concerns, it would seem that Bynes had not, in fact, relapsed.
If anything, she likely was experiencing a momentary mental health episode of some kind.
Bynes' Conservatorship Finally Has Come To An End
On the 22nd of March, 2022, a judge terminated Amanda Bynes Conservatorship after accepting
her petition to dissolve the legal arrangement, which she filed in February.
When she filed that petition, her parents reportedly both stood behind her in full support.
Bynes' lawyer, Tamar Arminak, was quoted as saying that while it had been a slow process
to abolish the conservatorship, both Bynes mother Lynn, and her father Rick were especially
excited about the next chapter of their daughter's life.
Bynes mom is said to be especially proud of what Amanda has managed to accomplish in the
last few trying years, and she's thrilled at the prospect of starting a renewed relationship
with her that doesn't include this conservatorship arrangement.
During the hearing that ultimately brought about the end of Bynes' conservatorship, it
was noted that she had done everything that the court had asked of her.
Bynes' petition asserted that she had consistently tested clean for illicit substances and had
maintained her mental health with the help of her psychiatrist, who likewise believes
that she is now more than capable of handling her own affairs.
Since 2020, Amanda has been living in what's been described as a 'structured community
for women' which sounds a lot like a halfway house.
While living there, she has maintained an independent lifestyle while regularly checking
in with her case managers.
Bynes is currently working on earning her Bachelor's degree at Los Angeles' Fashion
Institute of Design and Merchandising.
At the moment, it's unclear if she will ever attempt a comeback in show business, but back
in 2018, she told reporters that she was open to the possibility of acting again on television.
Amanda Bynes must be feeling pretty optimistic about life, given recent events.
Do you think that she should return back to acting on television and in films, or do you
think she should pursue a career in fashion design?
Let us know in the comments.
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