Sounding off. Amanda Bynes shared her thoughts on her “controversial” conservatorship case publicly for the first time.
“Hey ya’ll, I wanna say thank you guys so much for your support,” the What I Like About You Alum, 33, began in an Instagram video posted on Friday, February 21. “The fact that you’ve been rooting for me for years means more than you know.”
Bynes continued on to detail a specific issue she has with her conservatorship case, which involves her therapy bills.
“Today I want to talk about a controversial topic, my conservatorship case,” she explained. “I have been going to a treatment center that charges $5,200 a month. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t go to a therapist who takes my insurance for $5,000 less a month. This is why I’ve asked to see the judge next week regarding this conservatorship issue.”
The She’s the Man star thanked her fans one last time before apologizing for talking about the case on social media.
“Thank you guys so much for hearing me out,” Bynes said. “I’m sorry that this is what I’m dealing with and I’m sorry to put my problems on the Internet, but this is what life has come to. So, thank you guys so much for always supporting me. Love you all, peace out. Appreciate your love and support.”
On Valentine’s Day, the What a Girl Wants star announced that she was engaged to “tha love of my life,” Paul Michael. Bynes shared a photo of her massive engagement ring and hours later posted her first selfie with Michael.
Whether Bynes actually walks down the aisle, however, will be decided by her mother, Lynn, who has been her conservator since 2014.
“If Amanda’s parents did not consent to the marriage, they can petition the court to annul the marriage on the basis of Amanda’s ‘unsound mind,’” Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Us Weekly on Wednesday, February 19.
A source told Us on Wednesday that Bynes’ parents weren’t shocked by their daughter’s engagement.
“Nothing Amanda does surprises them anymore,” the insider said.
Bynes detailed her struggles with mental health and substance abuse in an interview with Paper magazine in November 2018.
“I just had no purpose in life,” Bynes said about her decision to retire from acting in 2010. “I’d been working my whole life and [then] I was doing nothing. I had a lot of time on my hands and I would ‘wake and bake’ and literally be stoned all day long. … I got really into my drug usage and it became a really dark, sad world for me.”
An insider told Us in March 2019 that the All That alum checked into rehab in January 2019 due to a “setback which was the result of feeling pressure of being back in the spotlight after her [November 2018] Paper magazine cover.”
Bynes checked herself out of the facility nine months later.
The former Nickelodeon star took to Instagram on Thursday, February 20, to introduce Michael to her followers and to apologize for calling celebrities ugly via Twitter in 2013.
She concluded her statement with an update on her and Michael’s sobriety.
“Now I’ve remained sober for over a year — same with Paul — and I just want to let you know that I love you guys and I’m so happy now,” Bynes shared. “I feel like I got what’s mine, and that is Paul.”
