Britney Spears’ manager: Star should not go back to Las Vegas residency
We might have seen the last of Britney Spears performing in Las Vegas.
Spears manager Larry Rudolph says the singer clearly doesn’t want to perform and he hasn’t spoken to her in months.
In an interview with celeb website TMZ, the Vegas-based Rudolph says, “As the person who guides her career — based on the information I and all of the professionals who work with her are being told on a need-to-know basis — 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.”
Spears’ “Domination” residency was scheduled to launch Feb. 13 at Park Theater. She called off the series in January, as her father, Jamie, suffered a ruptured colon and was hospitalized for a month in Las Vegas. His recovery has reportedly been rocky. Spears spent a month in a health-care facility to rest and recover after being distraught by her father’s illness.
All of Spears’ canceled dates this year at Park Theater have been filled. Several remain in 2020 and 2021, but those dates should be comparatively easy to fill given the venue’s popularity among resident headliners. Janet Jackson, Park Theater’s latest resident headliner, opens her “Metamorphosis” residency on Friday night.
Officials from Live Nation, which had booked “Domination” at Park MGM, say they have no further comment on Spears’ future with the company. MGM Resorts International officials have yet to return questions for comment.
Amid widespread concerns about her health and future, Spears has posted shots of herself doing yoga, working out and modeling dresses. But she is not ready to resume life as a full-time live entertainer and recording artist.
“It was the perfect storm. We had to pull her show because her meds stopped working and she was distraught over her dad’s illness,” Rudolph told TMZ. “Last summer, when she wanted to tour, she called me every day. She was excited. She hasn’t called me in months. Crickets. She clearly doesn’t want to perform now.”
Rudolph has reiterated that he is not involved directly in Spears’ health care nor her ongoing issues related to her conservatorship. Jamie Spears was assigned by the courts as Spears’ co-conservator in 2008. He was named sole conservator after Los Angeles attorney Andrew Wallet resigned from his co-conservatorship in March.
Spears was photographed leaving a conservatorship hearing last week while barefoot, sparking new concerns about her mental health. She is due in court again in September.
As for the future, Rudolph said today in a phone chat that it is up to Spears herself to resume her career. “She’s been working her entire life, and at 37 she’s worked more than most people who have reached retirement age,” Rudolph said. “She needs time to get her life and head together. She had the show called ‘Piece of Me,’ and she’s given a big piece of herself to performing. It’s time for her to be a private citizen for a while.”
It was suggested to Rudolph that Spears could take that time to reset her life and return in some sort of triumphant comeback. “Yeah, she might call sometime, even five years from now, and say, ‘Let’s do this,’ ” Rudolph said. “It would be an amazing comeback. But that’s not the intention here. We’ll all be first to know when she’s ready.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
