The Kardashians are no strangers to high-profile business ties, given their range of multimillion-dollar companies.
But the family are now facing backlash over documents obtained by Page Six that appear to suggest a link between their companies and the former business manager of Britney Spears’ estate, Lou Taylor.
If you didn’t know, Taylor is the current president and CEO of Tri Star Sports and Entertainment Group, which she founded in 1992.
However, Taylor — who has worked for a range of A-Listers including Jennifer Lopez and Gwen Stefani — has faced criticism in recent years over her connection to Spears.
In her memoir released that same year, Spears’ mother alleged that Taylor and Jamie discussed the possibility of a conservatorship after the hospitalization. Taylor’s attorney has repeatedly denied these claims, telling BuzzFeed News in a statement that the conservatorship was “created by attorneys and the Probate Court,” without “any contribution from [Taylor] or Tri Star.”
A year after the conservatorship was implemented, Taylor was hired as the business manager for Spears’ estate and oversaw her 2009 comeback tour. Her lawyer told BuzzFeed News that Taylor began representing the estate generally in 2010, and that Tri Star also provided “an important role in connection with budgeting, planning, and assisting with the negotiation of Spears’ Las Vegas residency,” which ran between 2013 and 2017.
Spears was due to start a second Vegas residency in February 2019, but pulled out a month before the shows began and announced an extended hiatus. The circumstances around her sudden hiatus sparked the global #FreeBritney movement, with fans expressing concern that she was being held at a mental health facility against her will.
Taylor resigned from her position in August 2020, at around the same time that Spears stated for the first time in court documents that she was “strongly opposed” to her father continuing to serve as her “sole conservator.” In a statement to BuzzFeed News, however, Taylor’s attorney said her resignation was “necessitated by severe death threats” sent to Tri Star, its staff and family members,” as a result of the #FreeBritney movement.
Less than a year later, Spears spoke publicly about the conservatorship for the first time in shocking court testimony, where she accused her father and co-conservators of “abuse.”
Spears said that she was forced to take “psych tests against [her] will” and had her blood drawn multiple times a week during the 2009 comeback tour, with her conservators telling her that she’d “have her life back” if she complied. She also said she was forced to take lithium against her will after rehearsals broke down for her second Vegas residency in 2019.
Ever since the testimony, both Spears’ conservatorship and Taylor’s role as business manager of her estate have been heavily scrutinized in a series of documentaries.
In September, FX and Hulu’s Controlling Britney Spears alleged that Taylor and her company, including an associate named Robin Greenhill, had been involved in “every step that Britney took.” These claims were denied by Tri Star.
A source in CNN’s Toxic: Britney Spears’ Battle for Freedom went on to claim that the singer was “aware and angered by the control exercised over her by Lou Taylor and her company, which reaped millions of dollars from her estate.” In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Taylor’s attorney called both claims “false and defamatory,” before adding that Taylor was never a business manager for Spears herself and had “nothing to do” with her day-to-day activities.
But with Taylor's name gaining traction, questions have been raised about the connections she shares with other celebrities, including the Kardashians.
According to documents filed with the California Secretary of State and uncovered by Page Six, Taylor has served as an agent for service of process — a person designated to receive legal correspondence on behalf of a business — for various Kardashian/Jenner entities over the last two years.
These include Kim Kardashian’s KKW Fragrance LLC and KimsAPrincess Inc.; Kylie Jenner’s King Kylie LLC; Kris Jenner’s Kardashian Jenner Family Foundation Inc.; Kendall Jenner’s self-titled incorporation; and even Kylie’s boyfriend Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack Enterprises LLC.
In 2020, Taylor’s name and the address of her firm were listed in paperwork filed for Kardashian Jenner Family Foundation Inc. in July, KKW Fragrance LLC and KimsAPrincess Inc. in November, and King Kylie LLC in December. In May 2021, she was also listed in paperwork filed for Kendall Jenner Inc.
However, documents obtained by Daily Beast show that just two weeks after Spears’ bombshell court testimony earlier this year, Kylie and Kim’s companies filed new statements of information changing the agent for service of process from Taylor to Eresidentagent, Inc. Tri Star’s mailing address was still present on the paperwork, however, and Taylor’s current involvement in the businesses remains unclear.
Well, the Kardashians are now receiving backlash from Spears fans who have branded them “hypocrites” for speaking out in support of the pop star despite working with Taylor.
In March, shortly after the release of the documentary Framing Britney Spears, Kim took to Instagram to publicly share her “empathy” for the “Toxic” singer.
“So I finally watched the Britney Spears documentary this week and it made me feel a lot of empathy for her. The way the media played a big role in her life the way it did can be very traumatizing and it can really break even the strongest person," Kim wrote.
“No matter how public someone's life may seem, no one deserves to be treated with such cruelty or judgement for entertainment,” she added.
Later in June, Khloé Kardashian tweeted out in support of Spears too. She wrote: “No one should be treated like this. Stay strong Queen!! You deserve better #FreeBritney.”
No one should be treated like this. Stay strong Queen!! You deserve better 💜🦄🌈✨💜 #FreeBritney
However, fans have been left unimpressed by the family speaking out in support of Spears while failing to address their business relationship with Taylor.
“Maybe drop Lou’s name,” one person said in response to Khloé’s tweet. In another, a fan urged the family to “look into” Taylor’s relationship with Spears.
Other fans drew attention to the fact that only Kim and Khloé had publicly spoken out in support of Spears, and questioned whether the rest of the family’s silence was due to their business connections with Taylor. The Kardashians did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment.
