After helping pop star Britney Spears break free from a 13-year-long conservatorship, fans are now rallying to help free a "Star Trek" legend from a similar situation.
On Monday, supporters attended a rally for actress and civil rights activist Nichelle Nichols, 89, one of the stars of the original "Star Trek" series, to free her from her conservatorship.
Nichols, best known for playing communications officer Nyota Uhura aboard the starship Enterprise, has been living under a conservatorship since 2018. Her supporters claim the agreement has allowed her estranged son, Kyle Johnson, to take control of her life and finances as she fights a battle with dementia, according to BuzzFeed News.
"As we've seen from Britney Spears's case, conservatorships are often used to benefit the conservator - NOT the conservatee they are designed to protect," supporters said in a statement on FreeNichelle.com. "Though Nichelle has developed some memory loss as she's aged, this is not a reason to strip her of her human and civil rights."
"People with memory loss often need additional care, but that does NOT justify a court-mandated conservatorship like the one Nichelle has been trapped in since 2018," the statement continued. "Nichelle is actively being isolated from friends and loved ones, which is a form of elder abuse, at the hands of her estranged son."
Supporters claim that Johnson forced Nichols to move out of her California home and relocate to New Mexico, where she continues being isolated from friends and loved ones.
At the hearing on Monday, Nichols' longtime friend Angelique Fawcette told the judge she feared Johnson was not allowing Nichols to live her final years as she had wished, but the judge overruled her objections, according to BuzzFeed. An attorney for Johnson said Nichols' family supports every decision he is making.
Fawcette told supporters outside of the courtroom that she would continue fighting for her friend.
"I'd be damned if this is my last stand for Nichelle Nichols," she said.
In December, Nichols made her final convention appearance as part of a three-day farewell celebration at the L.A. Comic-Con. During the celebration, NASA presented Nichols with its Exceptional Public Achievement Medal for her four decades of activism in diversifying NASA's ranks, People reported.
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