After filing to end her conservatorship, Amanda Bynes has broken her silence with a message to her supporters on Instagram.
The former child star, who rose to fame as a comedic starlet on Nickelodeon’s “All That,” has been under a conservatorship for nearly nine years, ever since 2013.
Bynes’ mother, Lynn Organ, has been in control of her conservatorship and supports her daughter’s petition to terminate the legal arrangement, which was filed a few weeks ago. A hearing is set for March 22. A lawyer for the family, Tamar Arminak, previously told Variety that Bynes’ mother expects the conservatorship to come to an end on or around that court date.
“What’s up Instagram. Amanda Bynes here,” the actor said in a video posted to the Instagram account @amanda.bynes1986 on Wednesday. “My court date is coming up in two weeks. I want to thank you all so much for your love and support. Peace out.”
(Variety has reached out to the family attorney to confirm the authenticity of the Instagram post, as the account is unverified.)
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In the post, Bynes, who has multi-colored hair and a heart-shaped face tattoo, is wearing dark-rimmed glasses, lipstick and a nose ring. She speaks slowly and direct-to-camera, conveying little emotion. At the end of the quick video, she gestures a peace sign.
On Wednesday two additional posts were added to the account. One is a video of Bynes taking off her glasses to show her fading facial tattoo with the caption, “Tattoo removal process.” The other post features her with her fiancé, Paul Michael.
In 2013, Bynes’ mother was granted a temporary conservatorship after the actor allegedly set a driveway on fire and was hospitalized on an involuntary psychiatric hold. In 2014, her mother gained a full conservatorship.
Now, it appears that Bynes’ family, attorney and medical professionals are in support of ending the conservatorship.
Bynes filed the petition to terminate the conservatorship on Feb. 23, along with a capacity declaration on Feb. 22, since the state of California requires all conservatees to provide updated information on their mental state from their physician or medical practitioner. In the filing, Bynes’ psychiatrist stated that she “has no apparent impairment in alertness and attention, information and processing, or ability to modulate mood and affect, and suffers no thought disorders.”
“Ms. Bynes contends her condition has improved, and protection of the court is no longer necessary,” stated Bynes’ attorney, David A. Esquibias, in last month’s termination filing.
Arminak said that Bynes’ mother is proud of her daughter and is ready to end the conservatorship. “This conservatorship that Lynn brought has always been intended to be temporary,” the attorney said last month, “and Lynn is extremely happy and thrilled and proud of Amanda and ready to terminate this conservatorship based on the hard work Amanda has done.”
Last September, a status report on Bynes’ health was filed and approved by a California court. At that time, a future update was scheduled for January 2023, but Esquibias told People that the conservatorship was not necessarily being extended through 2023 and would be terminated “when it is no longer convenient for Amanda.”
Bynes’ assets are part of a separate trust overseen by her father and are not subject to the conservatorship.
Bynes has remained out of the entertainment business for more than a decade. Her last credit was the 2010 film “Easy A,” in which she starred opposite Emma Stone. After her breakthrough on “All That” in the ’90s as a kid, she landed her own sketch variety series as a preteen, “The Amanda Show,” which ran for three seasons. In the 2000s, Bynes had a slew of popular television and film projects, including “She’s the Man” with Channing Tatum, “What A Girl Wants,” “Sydney White,” the 2007 movie adaptation of “Hairspray” and the TV sitcom “What I Like About You,” in which she co-starred with Jennie Garth from 2002 to 2006.
According to Bynes’ legal petition last month, she is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and has been living in a “structured community for women” since 2020. Over the years, her attorney has given updates on her health, and just before her 35th birthday in April of 2021, Esquibias shared that Bynes was “doing great.” He said, “She lives by the beach, attends school and is enjoying meditation and Soul Cycle classes.”
The March 22 hearing will take place in Oxnard, which is just north of Bynes’ hometown of Thousand Oaks, an upper middle class suburb near Los Angeles.
