Argentina's Cristina Fernandez Will Extend Control of Congress

Argentina's President-elect Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will have more control of Congress than her husband, helping ensure passage of government-sponsored bills after she takes office Dec. 10.

Fernandez's coalition will have 48 senators out of a total of 72 in the upper house, six more than President Nestor Kirchner has now. She'll also have 12 more deputies allied with her, with as many as 152 of 257 in the lower house, after political negotiations, Rosendo Fraga, a Buenos Aires-based political analyst and pollster said.

The president-elect's strengthening grip on Congress will make it easier for her to push through changes she wants without giving in to opposition demands. The greater majority will also give her backing for laws passed during Kirchner's term that give the executive branch greater control of the budget.

``Congress will continue to be an appendage of the presidency and she will be able to govern by herself,'' said Sergio Berensztein, a political analyst at Poliarquia Consultores in Buenos Aires. ``Congress has had a marginal role in the past four years, and I doubt that will change.''

New Laws

Fernandez, who represents Buenos Aires province in the Senate, was elected president Oct. 28 with 44.9 percent of the vote. She said little about her planned policies during the campaign, never giving a news conference or releasing a platform. In an interview with the Todo Noticias television station last night, she said she'll focus on fighting poverty and unemployment.

Among the main bills Congress will likely debate next year are whether utility companies should be allowed to raise rates frozen since early 2002 and a law to determine the distribution of federal taxes among provinces.

Under Kirchner, Fernandez took the lead in shepherding government legislation. Last year, she pushed through a bill giving the president power to alter budgeted spending without congressional approval, a measure former President Raul Alfonsin, from the opposition Radical Party, said meant the ``death of the republic.''

Fernandez also steered through a law giving the governing party more control of the panel that nominates federal judges.

`More Active'

``We hope Congress will be more active and resume its oversight of the executive branch, a task it hasn't fulfilled the past four years,'' said Pablo Secchi, a political analyst at Poder Ciudadano, a non-government organization that monitors political parties and elections.

Some lawmakers, including Buenos Aires Senator Hilda Duhalde, who ran against Fernandez in 2005 and finished second, said the ruling party's majority in Congress is stifling debate.

``Congress is a shame, it's pointless for me to take my seat on the floor if the ruling party members don't want to discuss our ideas,'' said Duhalde. ``The state shouldn't bother paying my salary.''

Portia de Rossi & Ellen DeGeneres Revealing

What is in Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres' e-mail inbox? The whole doggy saga has died down somewhat but as Ellen and her partner were thrust into the spotlight speculation emerged that they were either bad pet owners, headed for a split or both. Personally I love the couple and think its neither but some very revealing e-mails show that America's favorite lesbian couple probably could have handled the "Iggy" situation a bit better.

Portia de Rossi & Ellen DeGeneres Revealing E-Mails Revealed (Wenn)

A series of e-mails posted on the Smoking Gun" website details that Portia and Ellen were very happy with the little dog at first but then after problems emerged decided to pass the dog along to Ellen's hairdresser without letting the dog rescue agency Mutts and Moms know exactly what was going on.

***

It looks like the situation snowballed. After Mutts and Moms wrote the couple asking how the pooch was getting along in his new home Ellen and Portia confessed that they no longer had the dog and had given him away. That was a no-no according to the contract that was signed when the dog was adopted according to the agency.

TSG has this (check out the e-mail exchange here): DeGeneres and de Rossi responded, "Funny you should write today--we were just about to write to you." The performers then explained that, "we tried Iggy," but that the puppy "was too much energy and time for us in our brand new home with so much going on in our lives."

***

As a result, the couple reported, they gave Iggy to Marks, who had been persistent in "asking-begging-for him." Baktis responded that she was "deeply disturbed" by the pair's decision to give Iggy away "in violation of our legally binding" adoption contract. The rest is history, Ellen was crying on television and the whole mess went world wide.

SPEARS CAN MEET CHILDREN

A Los Angeles court hearing the child custody battle between Britney Spears and her ex-husband has not restored the singer's child custody rights.

However Spears, who previously lost custody of her children to former spouse Kevin Federline, has been granted visitation rights. All of the singer's time with her two sons will take place in the presence of a court-appointed monitor.

Under the new terms, the troubled pop princess is entitled to two daytime visits and an overnight stay with her children every week.

Los Angeles court commissioner Scott Gordon also ruled that the Baby One More Time would have to childproof her home and continue to meet regularly with parenting coaches. Spears will also have to meet with Federline to decide on a schedule for custody during holidays.

Previous court directives ordering the star to undergo weekly drug tests remain in place.

Documents of testimony given by court-appointed parenting coach Lisa Hacker, who appeared at a previous hearing, also reveal that the star missed three scheduled visits with the counsellor.

Hacker told the court that the environment at the Spears household ranged from "chaotic to almost sombre with little communication at all".

"It seems that her (Spears) choices are dependent more upon what she wants to do at any given time rather than what would be more enjoyable
for the children," she said.

However, the parenting coach added that the star loved her children
and that her two sons had a bond with their mother.

At the moment, Federline maintains full custody of the couple's two children - Sean Preston, two, and one-year-old Jayden James.

Britney Gave Romo A Lapdance

Ryan Seacrest has revealed details about Britney Spears' kinky night out with Dallas Cowboys Tony Romo and claims that he witnessed the pop-mess give the quarterback a lap dance.

Seacrest - who attended the same Hollywood hotpot as the pop-tart on October 26 – made the stunning revelation on his KIIS-FM radio show this morning.

”I spoke to her for a minute. She seemed to be in a very, very good mood” said Seacest.

He continued: “She had her sunglasses on. I said, 'Busy day, huh?' She kind of smiled and laughed and said, 'Yeah.' And then I believe I saw her and Tony Romo frolicking."

"Lap dancing?" a co-host queried

"I mean some would say," a coyr Seacrest replied.

"She's on his lap," the co-host continued.

"Yeah," Seacrest replied.

As reported by Entertainmentwise yesterday, Spears and friend and Alli Sims begun their night out on Friday at L.A. restaurant Ketchup where Romo was dining with some friends.

"[Spears] walked around the restaurant into the lounge where she met up with some people," a witness told the People.com "She didn't eat or drink …[It] seemed like she was rounding up people to go to [out]. She was very friendly and smiley, in and out."

The trio later hit Hollywood hotspot Les Deux where according to sources the Toxic singer was in good spirits.

"She was dancing and talking a lot with Tony," a witness told US magazine.

“She seemed in a really good mood and was super happy when [one of her] songs came on."

The 25-year-old reportedly made a trip to the bathroom throughout the evening to change her frock and shades.

Both Spears and Sims left the venue by 1:15 a.m

Britney Spears reawakens with 'Blackout'

Just when it seemed safe to write off Britney Spears as a punch line only capable of entertaining people through tabloid escapades, she goes and gets all musically relevant on us.

Blackout, her first studio album in four years, is not only a very good album, it's her best work ever – a triumph, with not a bad song to be found among the 12 tracks.

Granted, a Britney Spears rave should be put in its proper context – it's not like we're talking Bob Dylan here. Ms. Spears is a lightweight singer who flourishes only when she has great songs and great producers to supplement her minimal vocal talent.

But when she has that help, she's fierce. And she gets that boost on every single track on Blackout, a sizzling, well-crafted electro-pop dancefest that should return her to pop's elite.

This is a shocker, given all the lowlights Ms. Britney Spears has given us this year. From her embarrassing MTV Video Music Awards performance to her bizarre public antics to allegations that she's an irresponsible parent, Ms. Spears has been a walking disaster. It seems amazing that she even found her way to a recording studio, let alone did anything of value while in it.

But Ms. Britney Spears emerges on Blackout as the antithesis of her tabloid persona – confident, sensual and in control.

"I got my eye on you," she coos on one of the album's best tracks, "Radar," a sexy techno groove that you can't help but bounce to – a feeling that permeates all of Blackout's tracks. You won't find any saccharine ballads or fluffy pop on this disc – it's all about generating heat on the dance floor (and if Ms. Britney Spears has shown us anything in the last year, it's that she knows how to party).

On the aptly titled "Freakshow," produced by Danja (who worked on Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds), Ms. Britney Spears gets voyeuristic with a tantalizing promise to get wild in the club. The hypnotic "Get Naked (I Got a Plan)," also produced by Danja, features Ms. Britney Spears breathlessly asking, "What I gotta do to make you move my body," before demanding, "Take it off, take it off, take it off." It's not all about grinding to the music, though. On the rock-tinged "Piece of Me," she defiantly addresses her critics: "I'm Mrs. Bad Media Karma, another day another drama ... I'm Mrs. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, I'm Mrs. 'Oh My God That Britney's Shameless.' " And on the slow-burn, Neptunes-produced "Why Should I Be Sad," the album's last track, she cops to heartbreak but refuses to let it get her down, a rare vulnerable moment.

Listening to Blackout is not only an energetic release, it's also a relief: No, Ms. Britney Spears hasn't completely lost it, and yes, her career has a flicker of fire left – actually much, much more. But with all the damage Ms. Spears has done and continues to do to her public image, will anyone outside her core fan base (and who knows what that consists of these days) care anymore?

This album is the first, great step in making that happen.Britney Spears

SPEARS TO SPARK CATHOLIC CONTROVERSY WITH NEW PROMO PICS

Britney Spears

BRITNEY SPEARS is set to shock the world with saucy new promotional shots picturing her seducing a handsome Catholic priest.
The images are to promote her new album Blackout - which is released in the U.S. on Tuesday (30Oct07)- but the shots, in which the troubled singer is dressed in a black blouse, short black mini-skirt and fishnet stockings, will outrage the Catholic Church with her suggestive poses.
In one picture, Spears is snapped leaning seductively against the confession box as a young priest listens to her repent her sins, while in another photo, Spears is shown sitting on his lap inside the cubical.

‘Miss Bad Media Karma’ Sings, Too

“Eat it! Lick it! Snort it!” Such was the legal commentary offered by Britney Spears when she left her latest court hearing on Friday afternoon, as reported by “Access Hollywood.” (Actually there was one more imperative phrase, but it’s not likely to appear in this newspaper.)

The CD’s 12 songs all surfaced online in recent weeks.

Related

It’s starting to seem as if America’s appetite for titillating news about Ms. Spears can be matched only by her ability to supply it. The unworn unmentionables, the bobbled baby, the hewn hair, the umbrella attack, the loose lip-syncing, the benders and fender-benders: We have seen it all. And, notwithstanding all the rather transparent statements of concern and condemnation, we have watched avidly but rather dispassionately. What motivation could possibly be stronger than pure, unimpeded, indefensible curiosity?

Yet there remains one thing we haven’t really seen Ms. Spears do: We generally haven’t seen her in the recording studio, at least not recently. And in that sense, her new album, “Blackout” (Jive/Zomba), arrives in shops tomorrow as something of a mystery. Her face is on the front, and 12 songs — all of which have surfaced online in recent weeks — are listed on the back. But we don’t know much more than that, and (legal commentary aside) she doesn’t seem to be talking.

The album’s first single is “Gimme More,” a nifty little electro-pop song that was swiftly overshadowed by Ms. Spears’s inept pantomime of it at the MTV Video Music Awards in September. “Gimme More” was produced by Danja, a deft protégé of Timbaland who is perfecting his own melancholy, robotic sound. It did pretty well on radio (it hit No. 14 on Billboard’s Pop 100 Airplay chart) and, propelled by hundreds of thousands of paid downloads, reached No. 3 on the main singles chart, the Hot 100.

The album includes four other Danja productions, and “Gimme More” seems to provide the template for virtually the entire CD: The electronic beats and bass lines are as thick as Ms. Spears’s voice is thin, and as the album title suggests, the general mood is bracingly unapologetic. As if to taunt all the voyeurs crying crocodile tears for her children, she delivers almost nothing but slithery come-ons and defiant invitations to nightclub decadence.

If that sounds depressing, then you should hear “Piece of Me,” produced by the Swedish duo of Bloodshy & Avant, the same team that produced her 2003 song “Toxic.” Introduced by a sludgy bass line, Ms. Spears waxes defensive, in a heavily synthesized voice that’s the main (and sometimes only) instrument: “I’m Miss Bad-Media-Karma, another day another drama/Guess I can’t see the harm in working and being a mama.”

Over and over comes a refrain — “You want a piece of me” — that could be an accusation or an invitation or a threat. And the producers set upon her like ravenous fans, building her up (by dropping out the bass line) and then knocking her around (by shifting her pitch). Together they evoke the horror, the exhilaration and (finally) the boredom of the overexamined life. It’s brilliant.

Some of the other songs are nearly as good. (The rave-inspired flirtation “Break the Ice”; the giddy love song “Heaven on Earth,” a collaboration with the indie-electro duo Freescha.) And even the awful ones — like “Ooh Ooh Baby,” with its brain-battering refrain of “Babe-eh, babe-eh, babe-eh, babe-eh, babe-eh, babe-eh, babe-eh” — are cleverly produced. Ms. Spears wisely avoids ballads, although the album ends, rather abruptly, with a breakup song called, “Why Should I Be Sad,” which should make listeners grateful for the album that Ms. Spears might have made, but didn’t.

Ms. Spears has been a fierce presence for most of her career, whether gazing disconcertingly into the camera lens in David LaChapelle’s baby-girl-chic 1999 Rolling Stone photo spread or slithering around an airplane in the video for “Toxic.” Her breathy voice often hints at urgency, or even violence: “Hit me baby one more time”; “I’m a slave 4 u.” Even when she was being marketed as a clean-cut ex-Mouseketeer, and even when she was touring the country with a microphone that functioned largely as a prop, something about her was intense.

But she cuts a startlingly low profile on “Blackout,” and there are times when it scarcely sounds like a Britney Spears album at all. Even when not buried in electronics, her distinctive singing voice sounds unusually vague, and sometimes it’s hard to be sure it’s hers. It isn’t always. On this album, unlike on previous ones, Ms. Spears isn’t credited with doing any of her own backing vocals. Read the fine print, and you’ll discover an impressive cast of helpers, including T-Pain, Keri Hilson (who sang the recent hit “The Way I Are”) and the Euro-pop star Robyn. In general the parts that sound the most Britney Spears-ish are the whispered introductions and interjections

Earlier albums have arrived complete with effusive, multipage thank-you lists. From “Britney,” her 2001 album: “Mama — thanks for being the best role model in the world. I want to be just like you when I’m older.” (Times have changed.) “Blackout” has no thank-you list at all, which will likely be noted by fans who are already suspicious that this album is really a hastily cobbled-together grab bag. And those same fans will surely notice that someone seems to have run low on photographs of Ms. Spears. The booklet is padded with pictures of empty chairs (two) and stills from the notably slapdash “Gimme More” video (six).

Unlike all the other Britney Spears albums, this one hasn’t been accompanied by the usual avalanche of magazine interviews, talk-show appearances and televised performances. Ms. Spears scarcely lacks for publicity (she remains the paparazzi’s favorite quarry) but she has done almost nothing, in the recording studio or outside it, to convince fans that “Blackout” is really hers, or really her. That doesn’t make it any harder to delight in how good the best songs sound. But that may well make it hard (or impossible) for fans and skeptics to treat this CD as a serious comeback attempt. Ubiquitous, one way or another, for almost a decade, Ms. Spears has finally managed to become a spectral presence — on her own album.

Poor Little Pop-Star Girl Fails to Elicit Sympathy

If you asked an 11-year-old girl what she imagined it must be like to live as a young female pop star in America today — a young female pop star earning commercial success and seeking critical recognition — she might tell you that it is really, really tough because everyone wants something from you and maintaining a sense of yourself is next to impossible and the business just hacks away at your efforts to maintain artistic integrity.

David Drebin/MTV

Danielle Savre play the title role in “Kaya,” a new scripted series on MTV.

Sometimes you might bang up a hotel room, sure, but it is not because you are a violent person by nature; it’s because things can just get to be too much. And if you’ve slept with a few of the guys in your band, well, it couldn’t really be helped. Making music together is just such an intense experience; look at Fleetwood Mac. This young girl might provide you, in other words, with something like a treatment for “Kaya,” a new half-hour drama on MTV, the network’s first scripted series in some time.

The show revolves around Kaya (Danielle Savre), who, at 21, has had a platinum-selling album with her band, Crossing Coldwater, a name that stands as a metaphor for what we must assume to be her transition from San Fernando Valley suburban teenager to glamorous, paparazzi-chased Beverly Hills celebrity. At a news conference Kaya, who fusses with her hair, is asked how she might respond to fans who see her switch from an indie label to a major one as a sign that she has sold out. Suddenly the confidence drains from her face. She looks nauseous and disoriented; she can’t answer the question. She wants to be Joni Mitchell, and she’s being pushed to become Britney Spears.

As her new producer, the hotshot T, tells her about a song she is working on: “It didn’t rock. It was too slow. It was morose. It was depressing.” He continues: “Nobody is going to listen to this song except maybe some cutter laying on the floor of a bathroom with a razor blade in her hand.”

We’re supposed to feel sorry for Kaya here, but we don’t. For starters her song has a plaintive stupidity to it, and second Kaya is so deeply self-infatuated that you want her stardom to backfire so that she might end up working in prison reform or handing people their dry cleaning.

“Kaya” asks us to participate in a collective nostalgia for what the music business was before iTunes, overproduction and MTV itself, at the same time that it wants to elicit our sympathies for the star system that has resulted from it. “Kaya” seeks our sympathy for young people ill-equipped to handle quickly begotten, astronomical fame. But it comes nowhere close to a single image of a shorn Britney wielding an umbrella at a car window in getting us there.

Britney Spears Begins Parenting Program

Britney Spears arrived at the Beverly Hills Hotel Wednesday for her first Parenting Without Conflict session, a source close to the singer says.

"She's not nervous, she's actually looking forward to it," says the source.

The singer's ex-husband, Kevin Federline, is reportedly at the hotel as well.

Although the program strongly urges that parents take the course together, it is not mandatory. The program, which lasts six sessions, teaches cooperative parenting and communication skills.

Part of the program is doing drills called "polite requests."

"Instead of saying 'You're always bringing the kids home late because you're an insensitive jerk,'" explains Craig Ogulnick, a supervisor for the program, "We teach parents instead to say 'When you bring the kids home late, I feel like you're not valuing my time, and I feel hurt or angry as a result."

The program is one of many requirements that L.A. Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon ordered the pop star to complete.

Both Spears, 25, and Federline, 29, are required to show in court Friday for a progress review.

By then, they must have also completed at least three sessions together of their joint co-parenting counseling, which is being held at a hotel as well, according to the source.

In addition, Spears must also complete three individual counseling sessions "to address parenting issues."

As of now, Federline retains physical custody of sons Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1. Spears has monitored visitation rights.

Blackout - Britney Spears

You want it to be bad. You want it to be really, really bad. You want it to be so eye-squintingly awful this train wreck called Britney Spears disappears from our lives forever.

Unfortunately, it's not that bad. In fact, it's nowhere near as bad as it deserves to be.

Despite the constant drama - the marriage, the head-shaving, the divorce, the rehab, the custody battle, the MTV performance and the lack of underwear - Britney has done what she used to do better than anyone else: made an enjoyable pop album.

From the opening tones of Gimme More to the closing Pharrell Williams-produced ballad Why Should I Be So Sad, Britney proves she can leave her chaotic personal life at the door to produce the goods in the studio.

There are classic club tracks (Gimme More, Hot As Ice), sexually suggestive eyebrow-raisers (Break the Ice, Get Naked (I Got A Plan)) and nu-rave romps (Toy Soldier, Ooh Ooh Baby ).

On Piece of Me she shows a level of self-awareness that no one has ever given her credit for. Over a futuristic synth-fuelled beat, Britney coos lines like "I'm miss bad media karma, another day, another drama" in the album's defining moment.

Okay, so it's not all perfect. Radar takes overblown synths to new, uncharted waters and should be left there to drown, while Heaven On Earth is a toe-curlingly cheesy '80s adventure that should never have seen the light of day.

And Britney still can't sing. Her vocals have more layers than a French pastry factory, often sounding so distorted a robot could be singing. But aren't all Britney Spears albums like that?

Still, you can't fault the album's production - which comes courtesy of rising star and Timbaland prodigy Nate Hills, among others - and the ability of a pop star to make a comeback like this, despite admitting she's "a freak show".

You'll always be a freak show, Britney. But as long as you keep churning out albums as good as Blackout, we won't stop watching.

Britney Spears' Blackout is released in New Zealand on October 30.

Britney Spears' Top Friends Stage A MySpace Intervention

A group of Britney Spears' "concerned friends and former associates" have started a MySpace campaign to help the troubled paparazzi target, saying that she should follow the example of Lindsay Lohan and get out of the public eye for awhile. (But not too long, apparently.) They're also asking Britney's fans to start a letter-writing campaign against the arms of the celebrity-industrial complex that, they believe, are part of the problem:

Contact MTV and hold them responsible for allowing Britney to come out and really give us all the finger because she knew we'd all be curious to see what she did.

Contact her record label and let them know you'll buy her album, but not until she is clean and sober and realizes the amazing life she has created for herself.

Contact her music publishing house who is responsible for tracking Britney's music. Publishing houses pay artists when their music is played on the radio or purchased in stores or on- line or played at live performances such as her MTV disaster.

Contact her management and let them know that they'll make money together with her for a much longer period of time if she is clean and sober. Management's role will be constantly in jeopardy if Britney continues to spiral out of control.

Clearly Britney is not in a good state of mind; a judge would not have ordered her children to be taken away from her had she proven to be in a good frame of mind to care for two young children. What makes anyone else think that she will be able to "go on with the show" in the same state of mind?

Ultimately we ask that you show Britney you care about her by being proactive. Let her know by contacting these responsible parties. Let them know you'll be around to buy her music, her merchandise, etc when she sets a better example of how to be a performer.

I'm not sure if this will work--although I do suspect that Blackout's sales next week will be saggy enough that these people will be able to claim a victory of sorts. Maybe their tactics would be more effective if they also called on people to tell Starbucks baristas to stop serving her at every stop she makes--surely once she comes down from that caffeine-and-sugar rush, she'll realize some of the mess she's in, right?

Britney Spears Reportedly Hits Another Paparazzo

Britney Spears reportedly hit another paparazzo with her car on Monday, according to TMZ. The site says the singer accidentally ran into a photographer with her Mercedes-Benz as she was leaving a shopping complex in Beverly Hills, California. Spears is said to have apologized repeatedly for the incident, which the pap insisted was his fault anyway, and a photo on TMZ's site shows the singer apparently on the verge of tears. Spears apparently ran over a photographer's foot on Thursday while attempting to leave a doctor's office in Beverly Hills, according to videos that circulated online. And in potentially more bad news for Britney, according to TMZ, on Monday her parenting coach submitted to Los Angeles Superior Court a report that says Spears has ignored the coach's presence and that the coach has been unable to teach the singer anything. The coach also reportedly wrote that Spears often ignores her children and often wasn't around them while the coach was present. The report will likely be critical in determining what level of custody Spears will have with her children, according to TMZ. ...

For fans disappointed in 50 Cent's last salvo, the glossy, guest-filled Curtis, a much grittier 50 project hit stores Tuesday (October 23) — and it's not Fif's next album, Before I Self Destruct. The G-Unit rapper's new book, "50 x 50: 50 Cent in His Own Words," written with Complex magazine Editor in Chief Noah Callahan-Bever, is out, and 50 will appear at a Barnes & Noble store in New York City on Tuesday afternoon to sign copies. The project is patterned as a pseudo-scrapbook and includes photos from his childhood in Queens, along with page-long anecdotes, which cover his mother's murder to his rise to rap dominance. ...

Radiohead are close to signing deals with a pair of independent labels to distribute the physical version of their In Rainbows album, which they released on the Net themselves earlier this month. According to an article published Tuesday in The New York Times, the band is planning to sign with Coran Capshaw's Side One Recordings to distribute Rainbows domestically, and XL Recordings (which released Thom Yorke's solo album, The Eraser, last year) internationally. Capshaw manages the Dave Matthews Band through his company, Red Light, and co-founded ATO Records — home to acts like My Morning Jacket and Ben Kweller — with Matthews in 2000. Side One is his newest endeavor, operating under the Red Light/ ATO umbrella. Until recently, ATO had a distribution deal with Sony BMG, but it now distributes its music independently, through RED distribution. When contacted for comment, Radiohead's U.S. publicist, Steve Martin, told MTV News he could "neither confirm nor deny" the Times story, and a spokesperson for Red Light had no comment. ...

Vincent Margera, better known as Don Vito to viewers of "Viva La Bam," was described as a "man out of control" by prosecutors on Tuesday, the first day of his sexual-assault trial in Colorado, according to The Denver Post. Margera was accused of being "extremely intoxicated" and groping three 12- to 14-year-old girls during a mall appearance in August of 2006, prosecutor Jim Stanley said in his opening remarks. Margera's attorney, Pamela Mackey, told the jury that Margera was playing his "goofy, outrageous and vulgar" TV character because "that's what got the laughs," she said. "It was entertainment." Mackey said to support a charge of sexual assault, the intent must be proven to have been sexual. Margera is charged with three counts of sexual assault on a child. He has pleaded not guilty. ...

Jamie Foxx is gearing up for a big awards-show performance next month — at the Country Music Association Awards, if you can believe it. The singer will join Rascal Flatts for "She Goes All the Way," a duet that was featured on the Nashville band's recent Still Feels Good LP. Carrie Underwood will also perform at the ceremony, which will air November 7 at 8 p.m. on ABC. ... Good Charlotte, Korn, Chris Cornell, Kaiser Chiefs and Muse will head to South Africa next year to headline the My Coke Fest, set to take place in Johannesburg on March 21 and Cape Town three days later. ...

Speaking of Korn, it appears that they have not booted Droid — who are signed to guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer's label — off their B---h We Have a Problem Tour, contrary to rumors. Reports of a fight between Shaffer and Droid guitarist Jamie Teissere, however, are true — albeit exaggerated — according to Droid's publicist. In a press release, a spokeswoman for Droid's label said the two got into a scuffle last week during the tour's stop in Little Rock, Arkansas. "Jamie and Munky have been best friends for years, and the reported fight they got in was nothing more than a drunken scuffle that ended in apologies — all is well in both camps and Droid are moving forward to finish the tour," Christy Priske said. ...

Amy Winehouse is apparently very candid about her recent troubles on her new concert DVD "I Told You I Was Trouble: Live in London," which hits stores November 13. "I'm quite an insecure person," she says on the disc, according to RollingStone.com. "I'm very insecure about the way I look. I mean, I'm a musician; I'm not a model. The more insecure I felt, the more I'd drink." But, she adds, "Life's short — just do it, do you know what I mean? Life's short, and I've made a lot of mistakes, you know." Surprisingly, her record label is offering a "very cool" pint glass and ashtray, each engraved with Winehouse's logo, to coax fans to preorder the set. ...

Led Zeppelin fans are already eagerly awaiting November 13, the day when the band's albums will finally be made available online and a new two-CD collection, Mothership, hits stores. Well, now there's another treat in store: Apple announced Tuesday that it will also pack all 13 of the group's albums into a digital box set. The Complete Led Zeppelin will contain 165 tracks and be available exclusively on iTunes. Preorders for that collection and Mothership began Tuesday, and fans who preorder either set will be entered into a contest to win a pair of tickets to the group's reunion show at London's O2 Arena on November 26. The winner will also get round-trip airfare and accommodations. ...

Team Sleep, Deftones frontman Chino Moreno's side project, will release a series of EPs online for free download over the next year, along with videos and other visual extras. "We want to give our fans new music while they are waiting for our next full-length, which we have started writing for," Moreno said in a statement. The band has scheduled a series of headlining shows, beginning November 29 in Orangevale, California, and continuing through December 16 in San Francisco. ... Ozzfest 2007 veterans Daath have parted ways with singer Sean Farber and are currently seeking a replacement. No reason has been given for the departure. ...

... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead have parted ways with Interscope Records, although a reason hasn't been given for the split. The band hasn't signed with another record company yet but plans to hit the studio in February to record the follow-up to 2006's So Divided. ... What do R. Kelly and Danzig have in common? Probably not much — but they will on November 20, when both artists find themselves covered by indie folkie Will Oldham on his new Bonnie "Prince" Billy LP, Ask Forgiveness. Pitchfork reports that Oldham takes on Kelly's "The World's Greatest" and Danzig's "Am I Demon," in addition to Björk's "I've Seen It All," on the disc. ... Guster guitarist/singer Adam Gardner, along with representatives from biofuel companies and environmental groups, will speak at a hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday called "The Grass Is Greener: The Future of Biofuels." Gardner and his wife head up the nonprofit organization Reverb, which educates and engages musicians and fans about eco-friendly alternatives on tours. ...

Phil Spector has whittled down his choice of a new attorney for his second murder trial to an unidentified California lawyer, according to The Associated Press. Christopher Plourd, Spector's remaining attorney, reportedly informed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler of the news on Monday, after which Fidler granted a delay for a new lawyer until November 6 and said the attorney would likely take more than 60 days after that date to prepare for trial. The jury in Spector's first murder trial over the death of Lana Clarkson ended up in a deadlock in mid-September. ...

Senator Barack Obama is coming under fire from gay-rights groups over a controversial gospel singer's planned participation in the Democratic presidential candidate's Embrace the Change tour, set to start in South Carolina this weekend. Singer Donnie McClurkin believes homosexuality is a choice, telling AP on Monday, "I don't believe that it is the intention of God. Sexuality, everything is a matter of choice." He added, however, that he doesn't think gays should be discriminated against. According to USA Today's On Politics blog, McClurkin is a former homosexual who detailed his "bout" with homosexuality in his book "Eternal Victim/ Eternal Victor." Obama reportedly replied with a statement in which he said gays and lesbians are "our brothers and sisters," and that he strongly disagrees with McClurkin's views.

Britney Spears' Blackout Album Now Available

NEW YORK, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- MTV Networks' Music & Logo Group and Jive Records today announced that Britney Spears' highly anticipated new album, Blackout, will be streamed exclusively through The Leak on MTV.com, VH1.com and LOGOonline.com beginning today - a full week in advance of its official release date. The Leak is the only online destination where fans can listen to Blackout in its entirety prior to Oct. 30. MTV Networks will drive further interest in Blackout by promoting it on-air on MTV, MTV Hits, MTV Tr3s, VH1 and Logo.

One of the year's most eagerly awaited albums, Blackout features the smash hit "Gimme More," which stormed the charts worldwide. Domestically, "Gimme More" ranks #1 on iTunes Store's Top Songs Chart and is the #1 iTunes video. Recently, the song made a meteoric jump from #68 to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, where it currently ranks #6. Further, digital single sales abroad are impressive. In the UK this week, "Gimme More" debuts #3 on the iTunes Store's Top Songs chart and holds the top spot in Australia and Canada on iTunes. Overall, the song is a Top 20 hit on the European Top 100 Airplay chart.

For Blackout, Britney collaborated with top-notch producers and songwriters to produce an upbeat album with a nod to past musical influences and an ear toward the future. Fans who tune into The Leak will hear all tracks from the album, including:

-- "Gimme More," produced by Nate "Danja" Hills
-- "Piece of Me," produced by the Swedish team Bloodshy & Avant
-- "Radar," also produced by Bloodshy & Avant
-- "Break The Ice"
-- "Heaven On Earth," produced by Freescha and Kara DioGuardi
-- "Get Naked (I Got A Plan)"
-- "Freakshow"
-- "Toy Solider"
-- "Hot As Ice"
-- "Ooh Ooh Baby"
-- "Perfect Lover"
-- "Why Should I Be Sad"

About MTV Networks

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom , is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 140 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN/THE N, VH1 CLASSIC, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 300 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.

Britney Spears fails to hit no. 1 spot

BRITNEY SPEARS' comeback single went straight into the top ten of the U.K. charts on Sunday (21Oct07) - but failed to make the top spot. Dance track Gimme More came in at number three, trailing behind British girl band Sugababes and super producer Mark Ronson. Spears' single is the first to be released from her fifth album - the first new music from the pop star since 2003. The news follows a rocky time for the troubled 25-year-old, who has been ordered by a judge to get coaching on parenting skills, seek counselling and undergo random drug testing if she wants to regain custody of her boys, Sean Preston, two, and Jayden James, one, with ex-husband Kevin Federline. The singer's recent performance of Gimme More at MTV's Video Music Awards in Las Vegas was widely criticised as lacklustre and under-rehearsed.

Spears regains temporary visitation with kids

Britney Spears has regained temporary visitation rights of her two sons, her attorney said Sunday.

Here with now-ex-husband Kevin Federline, Britney Spears has regained temporary visitation rights of their children.

"Yes, she's got visitation with the kids," lawyer Anne C. Kiley told CNN in a telephone interview. "She had this weekend -- from Saturday morning 'til Sunday at some point."

A court-appointed monitor is accompanying the family during the visitations, which are allowed "several days a week," Kiley said.

The schedule will remain in place until a custody hearing slated to be held Friday. "This is just an interim order pending the hearing," Kiley said.

People magazine reported that Spears was spotted Saturday driving in her white Mercedes convertible with her sons, Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1.

Last Wednesday, a court commissioner suspended Spears' visitation rights with her children until she complies with court orders in her custody battle with her ex-husband, Kevin Federline.

Earlier this month, the court awarded full custody of the couple's sons to Federline, Spears' former backup dancer.

Last month, a judge ordered Spears to submit to random drug tests after finding she engaged in "habitual, frequent, and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol."

The parents had split custody 50-50, but Federline then asked for the arrangements to be shifted to 70-30 in his favor.

In addition to ordering the twice-weekly drug tests, Gordon ordered Spears to spend eight hours per week working with a "parenting coach," who was to observe her interactions with her children.

Spears and Federline were married for two years before their divorce became final in July.

Bachelor of the Year Cosmopoli

Bachelor of the Year

Cosmopolitan magazine has named Brian Watkins of Kent as its Bachelor of the Year, beating bachelors from the 49 other states. The announcement came Thursday evening at a private party in New York City. Readers voted online for their favorites, then Cosmo editors reviewed the top vote-getters to select the winner.

Watkins, 23, is a grad student in biotechnology and business administration. His prize: $10,000.

No hard feelings

Hours after losing visitation rights with her two young sons, struggling pop star Britney Spears apparently ran over the foot of a photographer for celebrity Web site TMZ.com. Spears was driving away from a Beverly Hills medical building, her car surrounded by photographers, when the incident occurred about 5 p.m. Thursday.

Video posted on the Hollywood.TV Web site shows elements of the incident but not the tire rolling over the cameraman's foot.

TMZ producer Gillian Sheldon confirmed Friday that the photographer was employed by the Web site. She said there were no plans to file a police report. In a statement released by TMZ, the photographer indicated he wasn't angry.

''Things happen at certain times and she was just a little impatient,'' said the man, whose name wasn't released. ''She got a little impatient for whatever reason. I say let bygones be bygones.''

Talk show on hold

Ellen DeGeneres' talk show was put on hold for a day because of her emotionally wrenching dog-adoption drama.

''It's been a long week and a tough week and we decided to take a long weekend and be back on Tuesday,'' said Laura Mandel, a spokeswoman for Telepictures Productions, which produces The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

DeGeneres was scheduled Thursday to tape shows to air Friday and Monday. Instead, the tapings were canceled. A new show is planned Tuesday.

The battle over Iggy, a Brussels Griffon terrier mix, pitted DeGeneres against an animal rescue agency and, at one point, had her in tears on her show. The agency's owners complained of receiving death threats over the dispute.

British singer arrested

British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse was arrested in Norway for marijuana possession and held overnight, a police official said Friday.

Winehouse, her husband Blake Fielder-Civil and a third person were released around 7 a.m. Friday after paying $715 in fines, Prosecutor Lars Morten Lothe said.

The three were arrested shortly after 6 p.m. at a hotel in Bergen in southwestern Norway, where Winehouse is on a European tour, after a tip to police.

And finally...

Jenna Bush told Larry King last week she doesn't watch television because she can't stand seeing her dad criticized. There's not much she can watch. The only place you can be sure that his name won't be mentioned is in a Republican presidential debate.

Britney Spears appears to run over foot of TMZ photographer

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.—It might just be Britney Spears' latest hit.

Hours after losing visitation rights with her children, the struggling pop star apparently ran over the foot of a photographer for the celebrity Web site TMZ.com. Spears was driving away from a Beverly Hills medical building, her car surrounded by photographers, when the incident occurred about 5 p.m. Thursday.

Messages left with her attorney were not immediately returned.
Video posted on the Hollywood.TV Web site shows elements of the incident but not the tire actually rolling over the cameraman's foot.

The video shows Spears beginning to pull out of the structure when her car is surrounded by more than a dozen photographers. The car comes to a stop.

Spears honks and the car lurches forward a few feet. Shouting is heard and the camera jerks around as fellow photographers appear to help a man up.

Spears drives off and seconds later video shows what appears to be a tire mark on the photographer's sock. The man, wearing sandals with white socks, doesn't respond to questions from the others as he walks away, apparently unhurt.

TMZ supervising producer Gillian Sheldon confirmed Friday that the photographer was employed by the Web site. She said there were no plans to file a police report, and in a statement released by TMZ the photographer indicated he wasn't angry at Spears.

"Things happen at certain times and she was just a little impatient," said the man, whose name was not released. "She got a little impatient for whatever reason. I say let bygones be bygones."
On its Web site Friday, TMZ said it was putting the photographer's sock on e-Bay, and proceeds would go to the Children's Defense Fund in Spears' name.

Earlier Thursday Spears learned she can no longer visit her two preschool-age sons, who are in the custody of ex-husband Kevin Federline, until she complies with an order from Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon.

Gordon's ruling did not spell out what directives Spears defied, but a hearing on the matter was scheduled for Oct. 26.

Thursday's foot bender isn't the first time Spears has run into trouble behind the wheel. She faces charges of hit and run and driving without a valid license as the result of an Aug. 6 parking lot mishap.

In that incident, paparazzi photographed Spears steering her car into another vehicle as she tried to park in a space in a Studio City lot. The video showed her walking away after assessing the damage to her own car.

Judge Ceases Britney's Visits With Kids

Judge Ceases Britney's Visits With Kids

The judge overseeing the current custody dispute between popstar Britney Spears and her ex-husband Kevin Federline suspended her right to visit her two sons on Thursday (October 18), after she failed to meet the commissioner's orders.

Los Angeles County Commissioner Scott Gordon hasn't detailed the exact reasons for banning Spears' visits, but a court order states, "Petitioner's (Spears) visitation with the minor children is suspended pending Petitioner's compliance with court orders."

The order comes a day after Federline and his lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, headed to court to seek an emergency hearing for unspecified reasons.

Another custody hearing is scheduled for October 26.

Hefner wants Britney for Playboy

Magazine mogul Hugh Hefner has offered Britney Spears the opportunity to pose nude in his Playboy mag - once she has cleaned up her image.

"I have only heartfelt concern for her situation… I hope her career gets back on track, I hope her personal life gets back on track." Heff said."If that happens, we’ll be happy to have her in the magazine."

Playboy boss Hugh Hefner has offered troubled pop star Britney Spears a chance to pose in his famous men’s mag – but only after she’s cleaned up her act.

Hefner reveals that he has been trying to get Britney to pose for his mag for years, and hopes that she will agree once her life is back on track.

"I have only heartfelt concern for her situation... I hope her career gets back on track, I hope her personal life gets back on track. If that happens, we'll be happy to have her in the magazine," a website quoted him, as saying.

However, Britney suffered another blow in her personal life when Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon suspended her visitation rights with her sons Sean Preston and Jayden James.

The document read: "[Spears's] visitation with the minor children is suspended pending [her] compliance with court orders."

A source close to ex hubby Kevin Federline revealed that he asked for Britney’s visitation rights to be revoked after sons Sean Preston and Jayden James came back to him after their last visit with her two days ago.

"She just doesn't take parenting seriously. And Kevin knows it. He keeps saying he's genuinely scared for their safety," a website quoted the source, as saying.

What convinced K-Fed was when the kids came back to his house crying and surly. "They came back to his house, and their eating schedule was off, their sleeping schedule was off, and they won't listen to him, because he knows they haven't been getting any discipline at her house," the source claims.

Court suspends Britney Spears's visitation rights

Britney Spears will not be spending time with her young sons anytime soon, for the singer’s visitation rights have been suspended by Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon.

A court document obtained by People magazine confirmed the news.
The document read: "[Spears's] visitation with the minor children is suspended pending [her] compliance with court orders."

Though no further explanation has been given, a source close to the singer revealed that a judge decided to remove her visitation rights after Britney could not be reached by cell phone designated for court-related scheduling.

However, a source close to ex hubby Kevin Federline revealed that he asked for Britney’s visitation rights to be revoked after sons Sean Preston and Jayden James came back to him after their last visit with her two days ago.

"She just doesn't take parenting seriously. And Kevin knows it. He keeps saying he's genuinely scared for their safety," E!Online quoted the source, as saying.

What convinced K-Fed was when the kids came back to his house crying and surly.

"They came back to his house, and their eating schedule was off, their sleeping schedule was off, and they won't listen to him, because he knows they haven't been getting any discipline at her house," the source claims.

"He has to start all over, getting them settled again, calm them down and reintroduce them to their normal schedules. And it's frustrating for him. He's been tolerating this for a long time, but he thought maybe it would get better with a monitor involved. It hasn't.

"So, Kevin wanted back in court right away to see about cutting off her visits.

"Kevin believes it's the only way she'll start paying attention to her responsibilities, by making her feel the consequences of shirking them."

The parenting coach is due to submit a report at the next hearing on Oct. 26,
Britney has been ordered to undergo random drug tests, work with a parenting coach, and counselling by the court.

Britney Spears doesn’t like lover boy

Always looking to create headlines, Britney Spears decided to let her sweatshirt do the talking last night.

While driving in Malibu, the Gimme More singer wore her new zip-up jacket backwards in an attempt to show off the sewn-on phrase “F**k Off Lover Boy”.

Observantly pointed out by the people at Us Weekly, the foul language is becoming a trend for Britney, as “On October 11, she was overheard dropping an f-bomb at the upscale Beverly Hills department store Neiman Marcus.”

During the incident, Britney was looking for her pup London, only to find out that he was at her home in Malibu.

“F-k that,” she replied. “That will take us an hour to drive there. Can’t we have the dog messengered over?”

Britney Spears 'doesn't like underwear'

Britney Spears doesn't go out in underwear because she "just doesn't like" the feel of it on her skin, a friend of the troubled pop star claims.

The Toxic singer - who has been frequently pictured in public without panties on - knows it is "stupid" to go out without underwear but just doesn't feel comfortable in it.

Jewellery designer Tuesday Knight, who has been friends with Britney since 2003, said her decision not to wear underwear was "ridiculous".

"I've told her. I've said, 'You can't walk into a store wearing just a shirt with your underwear off, or get out of cars baring all'. I've told her that no one will take her seriously when she does this.
"Britney knows it's stupid, but says she just doesn't like to wear underwear. She doesn't feel comfortable with it on."

The 25-year-old mother-of-two, who has lost custody of sons Sean Preston, two and one-year-old Jayden James to ex-husband Kevin Federline, can't understand why people think she is a bad role model.

Tuesday added to In Touch Weekly magazine: "Britney has always been a good mother. I want people to know that she's the better parent - not Kevin!

"Britney asked me, 'Doesn't anybody get to see this part of me?' The answer is, no, they don't. People just read about her not wearing underwear.

"I knew Britney when she and Kevin first met. She remade her entire life so it was all about him. She didn't even want to sign a prenup. Since then, I've watched her spiral downward."

Britney was photographed several times earlier this year without underwear, one of several incidents leading to rumours of a meltdown.

Britney Spears's attorney blames photogs for driving misdemeanours

Britney Spears’ attorney hopes that the judge presiding over her driving misdemeanours will consider that the singer is always trying to escape the paparazzi.

Pointing to the recent hit and run case the ‘Toxic’ star has been booked for, attorney Michael Flanahan argues that his client is distracted by photogs who keep chasing her for snaps.

"Remember, she's surrounded by 30, 40, 50 photographers taking her picture. There's a little bit of distraction and she's concentrating on more things than her driving,” Contactmusic quoted him, as saying.

On October 15th, the mum of two as booked for the charges in Van Nuys, California.
She is due to appear in court on October 25th.

Finally, Britney photo shoot goes well

LOS ANGELES -- Britney Spears is no stranger to being photographed, but it's not often she has her fingerprints taken at the same time.

On Monday night, Spears reported to a Los Angeles police station to face charges of hit and run and driving without a valid license, police said.

Officer Mike Lopez said Spears turned herself in around 9 p.m. and left about 45 minutes later. Spears was fingerprinted and photographed, he said.

"She was fine, cooperative," Lopez said. "She did her business and came out."

Spears, 25, was wearing large designer sunglasses and a black turtleneck dress and jacket. As she left the station, she told KCAL-TV that all went smoothly.

Britney hopes healer will cleanse soul

Troubled pop star Britney Spears is reportedly set to meet a Native American healer to help cleanse her soul.
The singer - who recently lost custody of her two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James, to ex-husband Kevin Federline - is said to have organised the meeting with a head shaman near a reservation at the base of America's Grand Canyon.
A source said: "The head shaman has agreed to perform the ritual on Britney, which is a great honour.
"The shaman will wave sage over her head and daub her temples with a magical potion. And the learned Indians will chant mantra and perform a special dance around her."
Britney was inspired to arrange the visit by Owen Wilson, who met the healers following his suicide bid in August.
The Toxic singer has seen her life spiral out of control since splitting from Kevin in November 2006.
She has been seen wildly partying, drinking heavily, flashing her genitals and allegedly taking drugs.
In February, she publicly shaved her head off and swiftly entered rehab.
However, after leaving Malibu's Promises centre, she continued to behave erratically.
In July, her divorce from Kevin was finalised, with the couple sharing joint custody of Sean and Jayden.
But Kevin was granted sole custody earlier this month after a judge ruled Britney was not behaving in a suitable manner.

Britney Spears's dance studio boss insists she’s back on track

Washington, Oct 16: Millennium Dance Complex's owner Robert Baker has insisted that pop star Britney Spears is back on track.

Baker has judged Spears by looking at her efforts towards practicing dance moves in his North Hollywood dance studio.

The dance studio boss has revealed that the pop star has been spending a lot of time to master her dance moves for upcoming live dates.

"(She's here) pretty much nine to five everyday, which is reminiscent of her old days when she was gearing up for her other tours," Contactmusic quoted Baker, as telling U.S. TV news show Extra.

He also insisted that Spears does not act like a diva when she is rehearsing.

"Britney has a good heart... She will call us and say, `Hey, I would like to teach some kids dance just to give them some encouragement,' Baker said.

"These are various things that she does that no one gets the opportunity to see," he added.

Britney Spears turns herself in to police to face charges

Actress Rose McGowan and director Robert Rodriguezare engaged, a source close to the actress told People.com last week.

McGowan, 34, met Rodriguez, 39, in 2006, when he directed "Planet Terror," a portion of the "Grindhouse" double feature. She played Cherry Darling in the zombie flick.

McGowan was engaged to rocker Marilyn Manson, and Rodriguez is divorced from producer Elizabeth Avellan.

A representative for McGowan declined to comment. Calls to Rodriguez's rep were not immediately returned.

Spears turns self in to police

Britney Spears reported to a Los Angeles police station Monday night to face charges of hit and run and driving without a valid license, police said.

Officer Mike Lopez said Spears turned herself in about 9 p.m. and left about 45 minutes later. Spears was fingerprinted and photographed, he said.

Spears, 25, faces charges stemming from an Aug. 6 wreck during which she steered her car into another vehicle as she tried to turn into a spot in a Studio City parking lot. The owner of the other car, Kim Robard-Rifkin, filed a police report three days later.

'Diddy' accused of club attack

A man has accused Sean 'Diddy' Combs of punching him out during a dispute at a trendy Manhattan nightspot in New York.

Police were investigating the report of an assault early Saturday at the club in SoHo but declined to identify any suspects. Law enforcement officials confirmed news accounts Tuesday that Combs, 37, was the suspect.

In a statement, Combs' attorney Benjamin Brafman denied any wrongdoing by his client.

Police said the incident occurred about 3:30 a.m. inside Kiosk nightclub. The 31-year-old man told police that he and Combs had been arguing over a woman before Combs punched him in the face, the officials said.

Britney Spears turns herself in to police

US singer Britney Spears has handed herself in to Los Angeles police to be booked over a hit and run and driving without a valid licence.

Police officer Mike Lopez said Spears turned herself in about 9pm local time and left shortly afterwards, the Associated Press reported.

The charges stem from an August 6 incident during which paparazzi filmed Spears driving her car into another vehicle as she tried to turn into a spot in a Studio City car park.

The video showed her walking away after assessing the damage to her own car.

Britney threatens to 'kill herself'

Singer Britney Spears is alleged to have threatened to kill herself in a phone call to ex-husband Kevin Federline, according to British Sunday newspaper the News of the World.

Britney is said to have called Federline, and then threatened to drive off a cliff in her car.

"I'm going to drive off the cliff! It's going to be your fault that I killed myself!" Spears is alleged to have said.

-- article continues below --

The call was said to have been made shortly after a Los Angeles judge ruled that Britney could only see her two sons once a week.

Britney Spears is going again at top position and many celebrities don't like this. They always find to disappoint to Britney Spears. But I know her last many years. No one like to show bad behavior ourself.

Please never do anything, which will make bad iffect on your kids. If you do something like this then your kids will be alone and they will always miss you. Good Luck Britney I am always with you.

Britney's Label Going After Perez Hilton

Zomba Recording, the label about to release Britney Spears's new album, has said it will be going after celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton after he posted unfinished songs from Spears's new album on his Web site.

Zomba stated: "The unauthorized dissemination of recordings is a serious violation of copyright law. "In addition, posting demos and unfinished songs as if they were final versions is grossly unfair to the artist and misleading to the public."

Hilton's lawyers said he was being targetted for the sake of "publicity". Hilton has posted 10 new Spears tracks on his site for download over the last three months.

She is going again at top position and many celebrities don't like this. They always find to disappoint to Britney Spears. But I know her last many years. No one like to show bad behavior ourself.

Good Luck Britney I am always with you.

Britney Spears Christens Album

The new Britney Spears album will be called 'Blackout'.
Spears has announced at her website that her 5th album will be released in November.
Songwriters on the album include Kara Dio Guardi (Kelly Clarkson's 'Walkaway, Kylie's 'Spinning Around') and Swedish team Bloodshy & Avant who wrote 'Toxic',
According to her label Jive Records "he album title, Blackout refers to blocking out negativity and embracing life fully and captures the dance-friendly nature of the songs".
While Britney gets more press these days for her bizarre antics, she is one of the world's most successful female artists. Her debut '…Baby One More Time' sold more than 14 million units in the USA. To date, she has sold more than 83 million albums worldwide.
'Blackout' by Britney will be released on November 17th.

Britney not fat but pregnant bombshell

Los Angeles, California - "She ain't just fat, she's pregnant," was how an MTV Video Music Awards executive described last month's jaw-dropping black sequinned bikini and knee-high stiletto boots performance by singer Britney Spears.

Speaking to a music industry conference about what is being billed as the Britney liability effect, the MTV exec was adamant Spears is more than two months pregnant after a secret six month fling with former Bel Air pool man Bud Shagwort.

Today's claims will cause major ripples in the Spears/Federline child custody drama which LA courts are adjudicating amid drug and alcohol use monitoring reports.Having temporarily lost the kids to ex-husband K-Fed Britney is back-pedalling like mad to prove herself a fit mother."

Of course this could also be a ruse to keep her ass out of jail given her current legal problems," a music industry source added after speculating on the warm-hearted attitude of LASD's Sheriff Lee Baca towards celeb customers in his catchment areas.

Britney’s Loss, Their Gain

AFTER years of being fodder for the celebrity press, Britney Spears’s train wreck of a story hit a news high this past Monday when a judge with less tolerance for her antics than the public took away custody, at least temporarily, of her two young sons. The stern ruling lent her saga a dose of poignancy. For all her recent bizarre, unexplainable behavior, Ms. Spears is now a mother in danger of losing permanent custody of her two toddlers, age 2 and 1.
But the latest installment also showed that the attention paid to this long-running public drama has become a force of its own — one that sells magazines and music, increases Web traffic and gives obscure characters their minutes of fame.
Who won and who lost in the latest twists of the Britney story?

A Gusher for the Web
When it comes to traffic, “Britney is Old Faithful,” said Harvey Levin, the managing editor of TMZ.com, one of the top gossip Web sites, adding that both page views and unique visitors spike when an item on her appears, though he declined to give exact figures. Since the custody ruling Monday, which was followed by an order that allows Ms. Spears monitored visits every other day, the site has run numerous updates, some as brief as a video of Ms. Spears making a left turn onto the Pacific Coast Highway.
The site heaps ridicule upon Ms. Spears — mimicking her “y’all” in most items that track her comings and goings, including when she checked into a Beverly Hills hotel the day she turned over her children, smiling and causing a paparazzi commotion.
Mr. Levin said interest in Ms. Spears outweighed that of any other celebrity among TMZ’s users. “There are people who love her and there are people who think she’s a train wreck,” he said, “and everybody wonders how it’s going to end.”
Yesterday’s News
TMZ.com and other paparazzi sites like X17online.com have owned the story; certainly they were able to move faster than celebrity magazines. Neither Us Weekly nor People, which arrive on newsstands Wednesday and Thursday, gave over its cover this week to the Spears story, citing the saturation of news already available.
But a competitor in the crowded celebrity glossy field, OK!, did play the story big on the cover (with the headline “Goodbye Mommy”), in no small part because of the fond memory of a summer cover, “Britney’s Meltdown,” which was OK!’s best-selling issue ever, at 1.2 million copies (compared with recent average sales of about 930,000), the magazine’s representatives said.
No. 3 With a Bullet
Staying in the public eye, even scandalously, has generated a high amount of interest in Ms. Spears’s artistic comeback. Despite her lethargic performance at the MTV Video Music Awards last month, derided by critics and viewers, her single “Gimme More” is selling strongly. It has been the No. 1 singles download on iTunes and sold more than 179,000 copies in its first week on sale on digital services. Largely as a result of those sales, the song pole-vaulted from No. 68 to No. 3 in the week ending Sunday, Sept. 30, on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, which tracks sales, radio airplay and other types of demand.
Ms. Spears's record company released a video of "Gimme More'' on Friday, which quickly moved into the top five downloads on iTunes.
Is controversy good for sales? Geoff Mayfield, Billboard’s director of charts, said the strong sales of “Gimme More” reflected pent-up demand since the single only recently became available after weeks of radio play. He and others in the music industry said it remained to be seen how all the attention Ms. Spears is getting for her personal life will affect sales of the album, which, they noted, must appeal musically if it is to sell well.
But one way her personal troubles are undermining a comeback is the time they take away from her ability to promote her music. “Without a doubt, her personal life has prevented her from keeping the focus on the video, the song and everything that should accompany the release of a worldwide superstar’s record,” Jeff Rabhan said.
Michael Pagnotta, a music manager and publicist who most recently represented the Olsen twins, said Ms. Spears, who has hired and fired numerous publicists, managers and lawyers, risks irreversible damage to her career. “There’s a tipping point and she’s close to it,” he said. “Michael Jackson found this out.”
Sympathy for Ex-Devil
Kevin Federline, Ms. Spears’s former husband, who at one point was one of her backup dancers, was the subject not long ago of much derision for his own questionable behavior.
After the judge in the custody case declared Ms. Spears a habitual user of drugs and alcohol and ordered regular testing, Mr. Federline is looking like the responsible parent. Some instant polls on the Web show that many people favor him for full custody.

A Sliver of Fame Right after Ms. Spears’s MTV appearance, Chris Crocker, a fan (above right), made a two-minute video for YouTube in which he rails against Ms. Spears’s detractors while sobbing. The “Leave Britney Alone!” video has become one of the site’s most viewed entries of all time, with more than 10.8 million viewers, and Mr. Crocker is making appearances on national talk shows.
A former bodyguard, Tony Barretto, who worked for Ms. Spears from March to May, hired the media-savvy lawyer Gloria Allred to inject himself into the custody case (and onto television news shows), by reporting that he had seen Ms. Spears snorting cocaine at a nightclub and driving unsafely with the kids, among other transgressions. On Wednesday, Mr. Barretto met with officials from the Department of Children and Family Services for about two hours and asked for an investigation of Ms. Spears’s behavior.
Ms. Allred said her client, the father of two young children, was motivated by concern over the well-being of Ms. Spears’ children, not personal gain.

The New Social Workers? It appears that the 24/7 coverage of Ms. Spears worked to her disadvantage in recent days. TMZ says lawyers for Mr. Federline subpoenaed one of its videos showing the pop star driving with her children last weekend without a valid license, in direct violation of an order by the judge presiding over the custody case.
Janice Min, editor in chief of US Weekly, said, “I’m not sure that the change in custody would have occurred so quickly had the press not actually been so closely following her role as a mother.”
Mr. Levin of TMZ said Ms. Spears needed “a wake-up call.”
“It’s not a frivolous story anymore,” he said. “This is a woman who loves her kids who doesn’t have her kids. It’s now taken tragic elements.”

Sinead feels Britney's pain

Sinead O’Connor, speaking out on The Oprah Winfrey Show, says she sympathises with trouble pop star Britney Spears, and that at a young age she struggled with thoughts of suicide and overwhelming fear.

The Irish singer said on the show that before being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she experienced despair and many dark thoughts, ultimately attempting to commit suicide on her 33rd birthday.O’Conner now takes medications that help her sleep and act as a mood stabiliser and antidepressant.

O'Connor also told Winfrey as someone who experienced severe criticism and great fame at a young age, she has sympathy for Britney Spears."She's only a young girl, really. She had two babies within the space of two years, [and there] doesn't seem like a terrible amount of support from the people around her," O'Connor said.

Britney Spears Enters the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 with her Breakout Smash 'Gimme More'

NEW YORK, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Jive Records recording artist Britney Spears' latest hit single "Gimme More" is shaping up to be another worldwide hit. Domestically, within just one week of its release "Gimme More" tops the iTunes Store's Top Songs chart at #1 with over 179,000 digital download sales and races up the charts with a meteoric jump from #63 to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. In Australia and Canada the single ranks #1 on iTunes while entering the Top 20 on the European Top 100 Airplay chart. "Gimme More" is Spears' highest charting hit since her debut single, " ... Baby One More Time."
The "Gimme More" video is scheduled to be on sale exclusively via iTunes on Friday October 5th and will officially premiere on all other video outlets on Monday, October 8th.
Additionally, the song is receiving critical-acclaim. Rolling Stone describes "Gimme More" as "sleek" and "catchy." It was produced by Nate "Danja" Hills, the hit-making producer who has worked with Nelly Furtado, Timbaland and more. The first single from her highly-anticipated album titled Blackout.
Britney Spears was very involved in crafting her fifth studio album, Blackout. She collaborated with top-notch producers and songwriters to produce an upbeat album with a nod to past musical influences and an ear toward the future. The album includes songs such as "Heaven on Earth," produced by promising newcomer Freescha and Kara DioGuardi whose credits include Kelly Clarkson's "Walk Away." People magazine describes the songs as "and early fave ... a throwback to [the] 'I Feel Love' era Donna Summer." Entertainment Weekly says the 25-year old singer "unleashes a more grown-up" sound, evidenced on "Radar" produced by the Swedish team Bloodshy & Avant, the duo behind Spears' Grammy-winning "Toxic." Bloodshy & Avant also produced the much-talked about "Piece of Me" which is one of her most "fierce" and "personal" songs with poignant lyrics according to EW. The album title, Blackout refers to blocking out negativity and embracing life fully and captures the dance-friendly nature of the songs.
Britney Spears is one of the top-selling artists of the last decade, ever since her 14x platinum selling debut album ... Baby One More Time (1999), she has led the resurgence of pop music and instantly changed the musical landscape. To date, she has sold in excess of 83 million units worldwide and has influenced the pop world with an ever-changing mix of cutting edge sound and forward thinking videos. With multi-platinum album sales that include Oops!...I Did It Again (2000), Britney (2001), and In The Zone (2003), seven #1 worldwide singles and four consecutive #1 albums, Spears is part of a rarified group of top-selling female artists in the SoundScan era that include multi-platinum superstars Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Shania Twain.

Britney Spears spends second night after loosing kids in a new hotel: photos

Britney Spears accompanied by cousin Alli Sims checked into the upscale Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel Wednesday evening and requested a 'private room'. (3 Sep 2007).

4 October 2007 - Britney Spears accompanied by cousin Alli Sims checked into the upscale Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel Wednesday evening and requested a 'private room'.

They were followed into the hotel lobby by a horde of paparazzi eager to see how Britney was reacting to the ruling in the morning by L.A. County Commissioner Scott Gordon denying her custody of her children but granting her monitored visitation rights.

Britney Spears accompanied by cousin Alli Sims checked into the upscale Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel Wednesday evening and requested a 'private room'. (3 Sep 2007).

Britney did not personally show up for the hearing in the morning. Instead, she chose to drive around aimlessly with her Yorkie London on her lap. She visited a supermarket, gassed up her SUV at a Shell gas station in the San Fernando Valley and then stopped by Starbucks before finally heading to her Beverly Hills house

On Monday Commissioner Gordon had suggested it would be a good idea for Britney and Federline to attend the hearing today.

Followup hearings have been set for October 26 and November 26.

Gordon has ordered Britney and K-Fed to be in court on October 26.

Britney Spears single Gimme More tops digital download chart

After all the trouble that Britney Spears has been going through in her life it is nice to hear that her music career could be on the up again as her new single Gimme More has managed to post 179,000 downloads in the U.S in its first week of release, the single has topped these single download charts.

Gimme More is the first track from Britney’s forthcoming album and managed to topple Soulja Boy’s single Crank That of the top spot, it is nice to see another single on the top spot as Crank That has been at number one for the past twelve weeks.

Spears single Gimme More has also shot to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, when you look back this is the highest ranking single for Britney Spears since her debut single Baby One More Time which reached number one way back in 1999.

Court says Spears’ kids to stay with their dad

A court in California has refused to restore custody of her two children to Britney Spears.

Instead, the singer was granted rights to visit the children after her former husband, Kevin Federline, was awarded sole custody earlier this week.

Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner Scott Gordon extended that custody order until a hearing on October 26 to review the situation.

advertisement

The couple previously shared custody, and no reason was given for the change.

However, Spears' lawyer said the judge acted after the singer was unable to prove she had complied with several court orders.

Last month, Mr Gordon said the 25-year-old showed "a habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol".

Spears wasn't in court though Mr Federline was. His lawyer said: "Kevin wants to maintain the custody as long as he can."

Britney has already been ordered to undergo drug and alcohol tests.

Britney Spears losing children was 'justified'

Britney Spears' former husband Kevin Federline believes the court ruling which gave him custody of their two children was "justified", according to his lawyer.

Britney Spears and former husband Kevin Federline
The couple's divorce came throught in July

Mark Kaplan made the comments after a hearing at a family law court attended by which Federline.

Spears was not at the hearing, which she was not required to attend.

On Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner Scott Gordon ordered that Spears, 25, must give custody of Sean Preston, two, and Jayden James, one, to Federline from "until further order of the court".

Flanked by bodyguards, Federline, 29, arrived in a blue suit and wearing a black patch over his right eye, covered by a pair of sunglasses.

He spoke with his lawyers before the hearing began.

Mr Gordon did not set out the reasons for his decision in the written ruling but it came 10 days after Spears was charged with a hit and run accident and driving without a valid licence.

The couple's divorce came throught in July

It also follows claims by a bodyguard who worked for the singer after she was released from a rehabilitation facility in March that she was still using drugs and posed a danger to her children.

After Tony Barretto submitted evidence to the court about the alleged drug use, Mr Gordon found Spears to be a "habitual, frequent and continuous" user of alcohol and controlled substances and ordered her to submit to random twice-weekly testing.

He also ruled that both Spears and Federline, could not consume alcohol or non-prescription drugs at least 12 hours prior to taking care of their children.

In addition, the singer was ordered to see a "parenting coach" at least twice a week for a total of eight hours and both she and Federline were told to complete the court's Parenting Without Conflict class.

The ruling came after lawyers for both sides met Mr Gordon in a private session requested by Federline's lawyer.

Federline, who met Spears when he was a backing dancer, recently launched a legal bid to gain full custody of their children, which they had shared equally.

He subpoenaed former employees of Spears, informing them they would be called to testify at a custody hearing.

The singer, who recently staged a much-ridiculed attempt to re-launch her career at the MTV video music awards in Las Vegas, was seen out with her children in Los Angeles at the weekend.

On Sunday, they had dinner at a restaurant in Malibu, trailed by the usual crush of paparazzi.

"She seemed fine," Tony Koursaris, the restaurant owner, told People magazine.

"She was very comfortable having dinner here with her boys ... The kids had a good time. Then we had to fight the paparazzi, of course."

Spears and Federline's relationship began while Federline's ex-partner, Shar Jackson, was pregnant with the couple's second child.

They married in October 2004. Spears filed for divorce last November and it became official in July.

Hearing Today in Spears Custody Case

LOS ANGELES — A hearing is scheduled today for more custody proceedings between Britney Spears and Kevin Federline.
Kevin Federline was professionally never as successful as his superstar ex-wife, but the 29-year-old former backup dancer now finds himself with a leading role in the upbringing of their kids.
K-Fed is now K-Dad full-time after a judge ordered Britney Spears to temporarily surrender custody of the couple's sons — Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1 — to Federline.
The one-time rapper's custodial gains may have more to do with Spears' decline than his own parenting skills. The 25-year-old pop star failed to produce a California driver's license and allegedly missed a drug and alcohol test as ordered by the court, her lawyer, Sorrell Trope, said Tuesday.
How well the kids will fare with Federline remains to be seen.
The 29-year-old father of four left his girlfriend, Shar Jackson, just months after she gave birth to their son, Kaleb. (Federline and Jackson also have a 5-year-old daughter, Kori.)
Federline first met Spears in passing in 1999 when he was a backup dancer for a boy band. The pair married in October 2004, quickly had two children and split just after their second son was born. (Spears filed for divorce last November and it became official in July.)
That track record aside, Dorian Traube, a professor of social work at the University of Southern California, said: "Lately, he's really kind of stepped up as a father. We don't hear much about how he parents his other kids. But with his children with Britney, he's gone to great lengths to keep them out of the public eye and he's gone to great lengths to keep the grandparents involved."
While Spears made her now infamous appearance on the MTV Video Music Awards, Federline hosted a birthday party for the couple's two boys. Spears bounces between houses and high-priced hotels, while Federline keeps a home in the family-oriented suburban community of Tarzana, Calif.
"He recently put a safety fence around his pool," said Traube, who has followed the couple's ups and downs closely through news reports. "He is genuinely worried about the welfare of his children and what they might be experiencing when they're with their mother."
It's a change from a year ago, when Federline was a party-circuit regular preparing to release his debut album. Even then, though, he talked about waking up with his children, tucking them in at night and building a home studio so he could stay close to them.
"I would just work out of my house the whole time and I could spend as much time as I needed to spend with my children," Federline told The Associated Press in October 2006. "But it's still never enough."
Spears has been spiraling downward since she and Federline split. She was photographed without underwear and appeared to be drunk and out-of-control. Then she shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella and ended up spending a month in rehab.
Monday night, after learning she would lose custody of her kids indefinitely, Spears showed up for a stay at a posh Beverly Hills hotel.
"Hopefully this will be the impetus for some positive change for Britney, and then for the kids as a result," Albright said. "It's really unfortunate because the kids are the ultimate victims."

Britney Spears finds Chris Crocker 'creepy'

Pop singer Britney Spears received immense support from Chris Crocker but the singer's pal has revealed that the star finds him 'creepy'. (Seen here is Britney Spears getting a coffee near her home in Malibu.) Photo Credit: Richard Beetham

Washington, Oct 3 : Pop singer Britney Spears received immense support from Chris Crocker but the singer's pal has revealed that the star finds him 'creepy'.

According to singer's pal, Crocker, who earned instant fame after posting his "Leave Britney Alone!" plea on YouTube, has left the pop star feeling 'insulted'.

"Britney does not think Chris Crocker is funny. She thinks he's creepy and that all his videos are an obvious attempt at fame. She finds it insulting and difficult to watch," the Usmagazine.com quoted Spears' pal, as saying.

On the other hand, Crocker defends his online tribute to the 25-year-old singer.

"It was to give Britney fans a voice. There is nothing insulting there. It was for her fans to show our support," Crocker said.

Spears, who lost the custody of her children, is being supported by Crocker and he is confident that the situation is only temporary.

"My mom lost custody of me when she was younger and she got it back. She can always get it together again," Crocker said.

"So it's just a bad time for her right now?

"She's not herself right now. It's a transitional time in her life. She's got time to change and she will," he added.

Britney Spears Does SOMETHING Right

Congrats to the pop tart for finally getting her California driver’s license today in Van Nuys. Took her only about 5 years, but she did it ya’ll! We all know how long it takes to get an appointment at those damn DMV offices, so it’s understandable that it would take her such a long time.

Meanwhile, K-Fed officially gets custody of SP and JJ Wednesday at noon. Another hearing will be held in LA at 1:30pm where, according to Sam Lufti,

[Britney] is hoping the judge will reverse the order Wednesday, now that she is making steps to follow through with what they asked.

Yes, because, ignoring the judge’s previous orders and waiting until the last POSSIBLE moment to take steps in the right direction make her look really good. Instead, bitch waits until her kids are actually taken away from her to start caring and really take initiative…

And then someone will come back with, “Well gee Carolina, it’s only when you lose something that you realize how much you love it…” Yes, I agree…BUT NOT WHEN IT’S YOUR FREAKING KIDS! Any sane, normal person will do everything in their power to keep such atrocity from happening. I have no sympathy for that shit.

Congrats to the pop tart for finally getting her California driver’s license today in Van Nuys. Took her only about 5 years, but she did it ya’ll! We all know how long it takes to get an appointment at those damn DMV offices, so it’s understandable that it would take her such a long time.
Meanwhile, K-Fed officially gets custody of SP and JJ Wednesday at noon. Another hearing will be held in LA at 1:30pm where, according to Sam Lufti,
[Britney] is hoping the judge will reverse the order Wednesday, now that she is making steps to follow through with what they asked.
Yes, because, ignoring the judge’s previous orders and waiting until the last POSSIBLE moment to take steps in the right direction make her look really good. Instead, bitch waits until her kids are actually taken away from her to start caring and really take initiative…
And then someone will come back with, “Well gee Carolina, it’s only when you lose something that you realize how much you love it…” Yes, I agree…BUT NOT WHEN IT’S YOUR FREAKING KIDS! Any sane, normal person will do everything in their power to keep such atrocity from happening. I have no sympathy for that shit.

Britney Spears' sex tape for sale?

A man claims he filmed himself having sex with Britney Spears – and plans to sell the tape on the web. He reportedly hooked up with the troubled star at a bar on Hawaii's Big Island before heading back to her hotel for a steamy session. He claims Britney took him to the Four Season's on the Kona-Kohala coast – where he secretly filmed their raunchy encounter. But the un-named man says he's annoyed with his poor performance - and admitted it didn't last very long. 'It was just normal sex, we didn't do anything crazy,' he tells the Daily Star. 'It was a little disappointing. It lasted for about 25 minutes and then we passed out.' The latest allegation could be the final blow for the troubled 25-year-old, who is struggling to coming to terms with losing her two sons.

Britney Spears filmed in 'secret sex video'

Britney Spears is allegedly the star of a new sex tape with a man she met in Hawaii in June.
The 28-year-old has said the only thing stopping him from releasing the video - made without Britney's knowledge - is that he was disappointed by his performance.
Scroll down for more
Latest drama: Britney allegedly stars in a new sex video

He says: "It was just normal sex, we didn't do anything crazy. It was a little disappointing. It lasted for about 25 minutes."
Britney reportedly made a four-hour sex tape with her then husband Kevin Federline in 2004 - a claim she denied.
Britney's personal has continued it's downward spiral in recent days - earlier this week she was forced to hand over custody of her infant sons to Federline.
According to Britney's lawyer, a lack of a valid LA licence was a factor in the decision to award temporary custody of her sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, to their father.
Britney was issued an interim licence from the California Department of Motor Vehicles yesterday, an agency spokesman said.
Testing times: Britney finally got a valid licence yesterday after losing custody of her sons