Lou M. Taylor

Louise Mary Taylor (born October 30, 1965) is an American business manager and the founder and chief executive officer of Tri Star Sports and Entertainment Group. Taylor became a public figure in January 2008, acting as singer Britney Spears' family spokesperson amid Dr. Phil's alleged violation of trust in a family intervention. Taylor served as Spears's business manager from 2008 through 2020 and has been credited as the person who established her conservatorship.

In addition to her work in entertainment business management, Taylor has partnered with the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) since 2020. She has co-hosted the BMAC Gala and, in collaboration with Tennessee State University, supports the "Maymester" Music Business Accelerator, an educational program for college students pursuing careers in the music industry.

Career Taylor is a CEO of Tri Star Sports and Entertainment Group, which she established in 1992. The firm operates as a business management and multi-family office company, providing accounting, tax planning, royalty audits, tour budgeting, production accounting, and estate services for ultra-high-net-worth clients in music, television, sports, and digital media.

Over her career, Taylor has built a client roster that has included Mary J. Blige, Reba McEntire, Gwen Stefani, Florida Georgia Line, Priyanka Chopra, Jason Derulo, Jamie Lynn Spears, and Steven Tyler. She also served as Britney Spears’s business manager from 2009 until 2020.

A 2019 Hollywood Reporter profile described Taylor as "redefining what business management means in the 21st century." and associated with Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman Festival.

Taylor was hired by Jamie as Spears's business manager and worked with the estate during the Circus Tour and subsequent years.

Taylor was also a party in a 2011 lawsuit involving Spears's estate and Brand Sense Partners, a licensing firm, over a fragrance licensing dispute. The matter was settled privately. FreeBritney controversy The #FreeBritney movement in front of the Lincoln Memorial, 2021. Taylor gained traction for her role in the conservatorship.

Taylor came to further prominence in 2019 with the rise of a movement to terminate Spears's conservatorship, dubbed #FreeBritney.

During a May 2019 hearing, Judge Brenda J. Penny ordered "an expert evaluation" of the conservatorship.

In 2019, Taylor was accused by supporters of the #FreeBritney movement of exploiting Spears's finances, a claim she alleged to be defamation, orchestrated by Spears's former manager, Sam Lutfi. Lutfi also accused Taylor of creating the conservatorship, and leaked alleged 2007 emails implicating her as a "stalker". The lawsuit was dismissed. Amid the controversy, comments by Taylor's client, Mary J. Blige, resurfaced; Blige revealed in 2017 that she owed $6.5 million in unpaid back taxes for the years 2008–2016.

On February 23, 2022, Spears alleged that Taylor invited her into her office at Tri Star a week before she was sent away to a health facility against her will. Billboard’s “Top Business Managers” (2016–2021, 2023–2024) Billboard’s “Women in Music” (2016–2020) Billboard’s “Country Power Players” (2018–2021) Billboard’s “R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players” (2020–2021) Among the honorees of The Nashville Business Journal’s “Women in Music City” awards list in from 2017-2019 Recognized as one of Adweek’s “Most Powerful Women in Sports” in 2019 Recognized as Live Nation’s “Femme it Forward” 2024 Honoree