Entertainment manager Louise “Lou” Taylor, wife of Calvary Chapel Brentwood Senior Pastor Rob Taylor, may be best known for her former business arrangement managing Britney Spears’ estate. Now, a New York Times investigation published this week shows how ministries connected to the Taylors, including Calvary Chapel Brentwood, benefited from Lou Taylor’s work with the pop star.
The Times reviewed court documents, financials, and corporate documents and spoke with more than 70 people for its investigation.
Britney Spears’ estate was in a conservatorship under the control of her estranged father, Jamie Spears, for more than 13 years in an arrangement that Britney Spears’ lawyer has called “increasingly toxic.” The conservatorship was terminated last month.
After the conservatorship was established, Jamie Spears hired Tri Star Sports & Entertainment Group, owned by Lou Taylor, to manage Britney Spears’ estate. The firm managed the estate from January 2010 until it quit in October 2020.
Tri Star’s lawyers have avoided directly answering how much the firm earned for its management.
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Jamie Spears got millions over the years from the conservatorship, The Times and other outlets have reported. In a petition to remove him from the conservatorship, an attorney for Britney Spears noted that among other revenues, Jamie Spears “has been paying himself $16,000 per month from Ms. Spears’ Estate, $2,000 more than he has allotted to Ms. Spears.”
The Taylors’ church at times received donations from Jamie Spears, The Times reported. These donations reportedly amounted to 10% of what Jamie Spears was receiving at the time as his daughter’s guardian. According to the investigation, the church received “tens of thousands of dollars” from Jamie Spears in one year alone.
Yet, the church in Brentwood, Tennessee, is hundreds of miles from the Louisiana town where Jamie Spears has reportedly been living.
However, during a trip in 2017 to Israel, Jamie Spears and Lou Taylor were baptized in the Jordan River by Lou’s husband Rob Taylor.
The Times also found that a Christian ministry the Taylors supported received a $42,000 donation from the Britney Spears Foundation in 2010, just before the foundation shut down.
The Britney Spears Foundation was originally launched to fund a summer performing arts camp and its mission continued to be to promote “artistic and cultural activities.”
Yet Mercy Ministries, which received the Britney Spears Foundation gift on Dec. 22, 2010, has a very different mission. It provides assistance to abused, pregnant and substance-addicted women, according to the foundation’s 2010 IRS filing. (It’s now known as Mercy Multiplied.)
According to the Times, the Taylors have donated to Mercy and Mercy has donated to Calvary Chapel Brentwood. Mercy Ministries stated that the Taylors had been “faithful monthly supporters. . . for years personally, through their church, and through Lou’s business.”
The Times investigation raised questions about whether Britney Spears would have wanted her foundation to support Mercy Ministries.
An attorney for Jamie Spears told the newspaper that Britney Spears supported the 2010 donation. But the foundation’s former director told The Times that Britney Spears had wanted to avoid religious causes.
Sarah Einselen is an award-winning writer and editor based in Texas.
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18 Responses
Are we surprised? I’m not. Churches that knowingly accept donations from questionable sources are nothing new, certainly not in this day and age. I know it’s not going to happen, but the right thing to do, a God honoring thing to do, would be to return all the money to Brittany. Can I get an amen?
There is a lot of room in this scenario for funny business. Giving someone elses money, over which you are a fiduciary, to a cause run by a personal friend right before the account/foundation is folded looks like a fast way to guarentee you will stay on a gravy train. Audits need to look into what ways Mr. Spears might have benefitted from Calvary after the big donation.
Really? I think this is the thinnest, least substantive, most innuendo-filled article I’ve read on the Roys Report. This reeks of gossip. A Calvary Chapel pastor’s wife has a company that has a lawful contract and thus derives income from this? Spears’ father tithes to the church of the woman whose company manages some aspects of his business? He tithes to a church not even in his state? How is any of this sin? How is any of this illegal? How is any of this unethical? How does any of this blight the glory of Christ?
I am a Calvary Chapel pastor and you may think that I am taking offense due to this. Yet I’ve read quite a few of your critical articles on various Calvary Chapels and have grieved at the level of wrongdoing in those churches. But I know that God is not mocked, whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. I’m just not sure what’s being sown in the above article.
Blessings
Tim Brown, Pastor
Calvary Chapel Fremont
Tim Brown,
Britney spears was (figuratively) raped by not only her family but by the entire judicial system–and yes, that includes this church. This is blood money that was *stolen* from her… gee whiz, if only the Bible had a commandment against stealing. Your response is beyond disgraceful.
Yes, Calvary Chapel has done a lot of good over the years–and a lot of bad as well, and that came from not only dictatorial pastors such as some of those highlighted in the RR–but some of it came from the untouchable Chuck Smith as well. I strongly urge you to repent of what you speak, brother.
And–I strongly urge Britney to sue the Calvary Chapel denomination for all they have.
It’s secondary reporting; primary source is The New York Times. The NYT article may supply more context and answer some (though not all) of your questions. I concur with you, however, that the information presented above does not, by itself, provide sufficient evidence to conclude that the transactions were improper.
This isn’t gossip. It’s accountability.
The ethics concern is that there seems to be some evidence and multiple witnesses who believe Ms. Taylor knowingly took advantage of a vulnerable person, through her company, for profit. Although the church should not put anyone on a pedestal I think there is a expectation for pastor’s families to lead by example and conduct themselves honorably in their private lives and businesses. It is concerning that a pastor’s wife, her company, and her church may have profited from someone else’s suffering and victimization. It is worth looking into. Even if Ms. Taylor and her company acted legally I don’t believe we can say that the company’s actions were above reproach.
I agree 100%! These mega churches are full of evil
TICTOC.. TICTOC
What’s done in darkness will come to light!!!
His daughter was being mistreated and taken advantage of, therefore it is illegitimate money. But most of these mega churches today are void of any depth. Ichabod! The glory he departed! Maybe it wasn’t even there to begin with.
Calvary Chapels have been making a bad name for themselves with the big name evils going on. I used to go to one. Stop praising yourself and get yourself on your knees before the one that Christmas is all about. We do not need more narcissist anti-Christs running around as kings over their own private Kingdoms. The Kingdom belongs to The Christ. CC Freemont belongs to God, do what He wants you too.
This makes me deeply grieved.
I’ve repented of my complicity in listening to Britney’s music in my teens. I’ve been shocked realizing she was some type of sex trafficked victim. Let’s be honest, she was super young and encouraged by her parents to be sexual. They say “she wanted to do it” – give me a break what 12-15 year old knows what they’re doing at that age?
This church is complicit in her exploitation, I wonder if they were reprimanding her parents? Did her parents repent? Did they stop taking her money? Did they tell her to stop the sexualized behavior? Did they apologize to her for exploiting her sexually and failing to protect her? Thank you to Roys Report for this.
Sarah: your comments on this matter are spot on. Every time you pulled the trigger you hit the bull’s-eye! Julie Roys and those like her are badly needed in the evangelical church these days. The scandals known and unknown that have been slithering through the evangelical church governance these many years now have been giving the Lord’s church/name a black eye, and more than a black eye. On a side note, the comments made by Tim Brown show a very high level of naïveté. He sounds more like a lawyer who knows his client is guilty but uses smoke and mirrors to try and get him acquitted. In an earlier comment I suggested that the right thing to do would be for the church to give all the money they received from an individual who had no right to give it to them back to its rightful owner, Britney Spears. I would fall over in a dead faint if it actually happened! To mirror your comment I will gladly say, thank you to the Roy’s report for this article.
Hi, Brian – thanks. You make accusations without evidence; you accuse the brethren without proof. Allegations are not evidence. Accusations are not proof. There have been allegations made and accusations stated without proof or evidence.
How is this pastor’s wife and church complicit in any wrongdoing done by Spear’s father. What was their knowledge of the requirements of the conservatorship? What was their knowledge of the extent of any wrongdoing on the part of Spears’ father? What was their relationship with and access to Brittany Spears? What was the extent of their knowledge of the charter of the Mercy Foundation and the purpose of its mission? What exactly did they steal from Britney Spears? What is their sin? Why did Lou Taylor’s firm quit the business arrangement with Spears’ father in 2020? With all the speculation being kicked around, is it possible that the Taylors grew more and more uncomfortable with Spears’ father and saw that when he could not be controlled or reasoned with, they quit? So many questions need to be answered before the Taylors are kicked to the curb.
Blessings – Tim Brown
Lou Taylor owned the firm that Jamie Spears hired to manage Brittney’s estate. Her firm should have known that Brittney’s father was bilking her. It sounds like the firm could have been cutting the paychecks to Jamie and Brittney (wherein Jamie was being paid more).
There is enough of an appearance of impropriety that the Taylors should clarify.
Hi, Mark – thanks. I’ve got no dog in this fight. If a Calvary Chapel has done wrong – they’re going to reap what they’ve sown. Again, I just don’t know what’s being sown here. What aspect of Britney Spears’ estate did Taylor manage? Was this everything or portions, just aspects of the estate? Did they set the amount paid to Spears and her father? Did they have any authority over these matters?
You write, “Her firm should have known…” Why? Were they privy to all financial transactions of the total estate? If Spears’ father is the crook they say he is, could he not have fooled the Taylors, also?
You write, “It sounds like the firm could have…”
We have ‘should haves’ and ‘could haves’ and ‘sounds like’, but no actual hard evidence, no proof. Yet this makes some say that there is enough of an impropriety that the Taylors should clarify. What there is enough of is confusion and what there is too little of is damning proof – at least on this blog. What there’s too much of is rush to judgment and throwing the Taylors under the bus. Love waits for the truth. Merry Christmas.
Blessings – Tim Brown
Tim B,
Here is where this doesn’t pass the smell test:
Mrs. Taylor works for a company that manages the Spears account, in return Spears donates 10% of his monthly income to her husbands church (per the NYT article), so there is a financial incentive for her to get as much monthly money as possible for Spears (whether or not he is entitled to it). That is called a conflict of interest and could be seen as a bribe named as a “donation”.
An interesting maybe you brought up:
“With all the speculation being kicked around, is it possible that the Taylors grew more and more uncomfortable with Spears’ father and saw that when he could not be controlled or reasoned with, they quit?”
Why would Spears be in a position where he could make demands that would need to be controlled/reasoned with by both Taylor’s?
Tim Brown,
A response other than “we must circle the wagons to defend the honor of Calvary Chapel pastors who have been insulted (and by extension Chuck Smith)” would be warranted here.
You write: “You make accusations without evidence; you accuse the brethren without proof. Allegations are not evidence.” Did you read any of this article? It seems pretty sufficiently researched to me. I think you realize that, and your only recourse is to attack the messenger.
It seems to me that your reaction stems more from you not personally liking Britney Spears or what she’s done and the music she’s made, than any sober analysis of the facts. Talk about “accusing”, eh?
I’ve said before and will do so again–while CC has done a lot of good, it’s also done a lot of bad–and a non-zero sum of the latter came directly from Chuck Smith himself, who ran every molecule of the denomination he founded as his own personal fiefdom. If you can show me a Calvary pastor somewhere that doesn’t treat CS like an infallible pope, I might consider attending their church. (And, no, apostates like his son don’t count.)
I feel sad for Brittany and the entire Spears family. I feel they were all taken advantage of by the very smart and manipulative Lou Taylor, and her company Tri star sports, and also the church The Calvary chapel owned by LouTaylor and her husband Rob Taylor , whom acts as the church’s pastor. After giving up his job as a cad operator. I believe she targeted this entire family because she did not believe them to be particularly smart and thought they were gullible. Stalking and Praying on them at a very vulnerable time for the entire Spears family. It’s hard to not trust a manager whom huddles your family together for prayer and taunts verses of the Bible every ten minutes. A person whom owns a church who’s husband is a pastor? Even if he was a cad operator a few years prior.? I believe religion was used by Lou Taylor as means to make people trust a very untrustworthy person. Herself. I’m suspicious as to wether any of the Spears family truly knew what they were exactly signing when it came to any documents with Loe Taylor? I believe the only person that was profiteering from this illegal slavery was Lou Taylor and any company’s, churches, charities, and investments associated with her.
Loe Taylor represented Brittany Fad as his agent and manager prior to 2008, as he was writing a cook book. She additionally represented Brittany Mother at the same time prior to 2008, for a book she was writing about her life. Let’s not forget she also was the agent and manager for Brittany sister Jamie Lynn also. So basically the entire family were managed by miss Lou Taylor prior to this conservative. Off course this is a conflict of interests from day one?