Monday, February 25, 2008

New Britney Pictures!

New pictures of a motivated Britney exiting her car and heading into Millennium Dance Studios for some dancing. Possible rehearsal for her next music video for "Break The Ice?" We'll just have to wait and see!

See them all here!

Source: Breathe Heavy/Wenn

Brit Dances Again

The following italicized article is taken from www.jfxonline.com:

We at the JFX offices are wondering why Britney’s not smiling in these photos. She had a great day after all. She saw her kiddies and no one’s mobbing her. Plus, she got a chance to dance to her heart’s content. Brit was once again at Millenium Dance Studio in North Hollywood, getting toned up and ready for her comeback. Britney’s been on good behavior lately and it has obviously been earning points with K-Fed and daddy Jamie. Let’s hope she stays on the road to recovery.

See more pics here!

Source: JFX Online

Britney Spears Gets a Visit From Her Sons Again

The following italicized article is taken from www.people.com:

Britney Spears saw her sons again Monday, while her father sought to quickly end a civil rights challenge to his control of her affairs.

The singer's children Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1, were driven to her Studio House by Kevin Federline's bodyguard for a three-hour visit.

It was the second visitation in three days; on Saturday, Spears saw her children for the first time since Jan. 3 after working out a structured visitation arrangement with Federline.

Meanwhile, attorneys for Spears's father Jamie filed another round of papers in federal court on Monday, urging a judge to quickly end a civil rights challenge to Jamie's control of his daughter's $100 million estate and keep the co-conservatorship case in state court.

Lawyer Needs More Time

Jon Eardley, an attorney who claims to represent the pop star, had been asked by U.S. District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez to file papers by Feb. 22 explaining the civil rights challenge. Instead, Eardley on Friday told the judge he needed more time to formally file.

In legal documents, Eardley claims that Britney retained him Feb. 12 before her phone was taken away and the line disconnected. Eardley also continued to maintain that the conservatorship case in state court violates her constitutional rights.

But in motion filed Monday, the conservatorship attorneys say Eardley, in addition to failing to meet the court's filing deadline, has not proven that he even qualifies as Britney's attorney or addressed the most fundamental legal issues in the case.

The conservatorship motion asks that the case be immediately returned to Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz, and that Eardley be forced to reimburse $43,000 in attorney fees.

While the civil rights issue remained unresolved in federal court, the conservatorship case in state court is stalled.

"There's nothing for this court to do today. We're in a holding pattern," said Goetz at a hearing Friday.

Source: People

Brit's Conservators Fire Back at Civil Rights Challenge

The following italicized article is taken from www.ok-magazine.com:

Attorneys for Britney Spears' conservators filed another round of papers in federal court on Monday, urging a judge to quickly end a civil rights challenge to Jamie's control of his daughter's $100 million dollar estate and keep the co-conservatorship in place.

Attorney Jon Eardley claims to represent the troubled pop star. In legal documents he said that Britney hired him on Feb. 12, six days after her conservatorship was put in place. He claims he has "learned that there have been significant verbal attacks" made against Britney by her father, Jamie Spears, and is concerned for her "emotional and physical safety."

Eardley goes on to say that during one phone call with Britney, someone snatched the phone out of her hands and disconnected the line a day later. He insists that Britney is unhappy with her father as her conservator and he claims that the case in state court violates her constitutional rights.

But in a motion filed on Monday, lawyers for Britney's conservatorship said that Eardley has failed to prove that he even qualifies as Britney's attorney (under Brit's conservatorship, she no longer has the authority to choose her own counsel) nor has he been able to address the most fundemental legal issues in the case.

U.S. District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez had asked Eardley to file papers by Feb. 22, explaining the civil rights challenge. However, Eardley told the judge he needed more time to formally file.

The conservatorship motion asks that the case be immediately returned to Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz, and that Eardley be forced to reimburse $43,000 in attorney fees.

Source: OK Magazine

Spears' Lawyers Say Brit Ain't No Cash Register

The following italicized article is taken from www.tmz.com:

TMZ has obtained documents filed today in Federal court in the Britney Spears conservatorship case and her lawyers have made it clear -- Brit's not the Bank of America.

Jamie Spears' lawyers claim attorney Jon Eardley, who filed the motion to remove the case to Federal court, has triggered a flurry of legal moves that have already cost Brit more than $40 grand.

For his part, attorney Jon Eardley claims he was retained by Britney on February 12 and has spoken with her on several occasions. He says the last time she attempted to call him, "the telephone was taken away from her, and the number was disconnected the next day."

Eardley says Brit has "never been and is not now on comfortable terms with her live-in father conservator" and claims that he is "concerned for the emotional and physical safety of Britney."

See the documents here!

Source: TMZ

Britney's Visitations "Going Very Well"

The following italicized article is taken from www.ok-magazine.com:

While the rest of Hollywood was getting over their Oscar hangover on Monday morning, Britney Spears was enjoying the second visit from her two young sons in three days.

"It went very well," a source close to the pop star tells OK! about this second visit, which lasted from 9am to noon PT on Monday. "The boys are really happy to see their mom."

Even those who you'd expect to be most skeptical about the visits, like Mark Vincent Kaplan, lawyer for Brit's ex-husband Kevin Federline, seemed upbeat on Monday. "These visitations with the boys will help to normalize the family environment," Kaplan told OK!. "Kevin has always been rooting for Britney to regain visitation... and if these visits go well, they will ramp up over time."

In fact, says the Britney insider, the rumor around the Spears house is that Sean Preston, 2, and one-year-old Jayden James could soon be visiting up to three times a week — so long as the singer continues to follow the rules and as long as certain people are present for the visits.

Sources confirm to OK! that the people required to be on hand for the boys' visits to their mom include her father Jamie Spears, one of K-Fed's bodyguards, Britney's psychologist, the court-appointed monitor and a lawyer representing the conservatorship.

"It's a lot, for sure," one legal source explains to OK!. "But if she really wants those kids back, she won't complain about all the people looking over her shoulder."

And speaking of the ongoing custody battle for the two boys, Kaplan confirms to OK! that the original April 9 start date for the actual hearing will likely not go down as scheduled for several reasons, including the fact that the court needs to finish its custody evaluation of both parents. This evaluation will consider, among other factors, how each parent interacts with the children, each parent's personal behavior and lifestyle, and how the exes behave together in front of the children.

A more likely start date for the case, says Kaplan, who also requested the Britney undergo a psychiatric evaluation, would be in the early summer.

Source: OK Magazine

Jamie Lynn Spears Passes Her GED Exam

The following italicized article is taken from www.people.com:

Out of the spotlight after revealing her pregnancy, 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears is moving ahead with her life, passing her GED and thinking about college, a family friend tells PEOPLE.

The Zoey 101 star passed her high school equivalency exam about a month ago – scoring particularly well on reading comprehension – and is looking to take the ACT college entrance test, the friend says.

"She's already got her diploma," according to the friend. "She wants to take her ACT. She's not wasting any time. People don't know her. When she gets something in her head, she'll make it happen. Everybody is so supportive of her.

"Last month, Britney's younger sister was photographed in Hammond, La., carrying a GED book. She was accompanied by her mom Lynne outside a building that houses both the Tangipahoa Parish School System Adult Education Center, which is a GED preparation site, and the Title I Parent Center, which teaches parents how to help their children develop learning skills.

Source: People

Shar Jackson Calls Britney Spears' Reunion With Boys "a Good Thing"

The following italicized article is taken from www.usmagazine.com:

Shar Jackson is happy Britney Spears has reunited with her boys.

"I believe that kids need their parents and parents need to be with their kids," she told Usmagazine.com at the Night of 100 Stars party at the Beverly Hills Hotel Saturday night. "It is a good thing."

On Saturday afternoon, Spears' boys, Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 17 months, popped by her Beverly Hills, California, home, for nearly three hours after Kevin Federline agreed to restore her visitation rights. (She hadn't seen her boys in seven weeks since she was hospitalized at the UCLA Medical Center.)

Federline's counsel Mark Vincent Kaplan tells Us the reunion "couldn’t have happened without" the help of Spears' father, Jamie.

"We were able to get it to a point where everyone was comfortable,” Kaplan tells Us.

“We’re just very positive about it. Having her dad [Jamie Spears] stabilizing everything is a good thing."

Kaplan called Saturday's reunion "a major step," adding that “the goal” for the pair to share joint custody again.

“Whether that happens or not, I don’t know,” Kaplan tells Us, “but Kevin would love to be able to have a parenting partner in helping to raise these kids.”

Source: US Weekly

Britney With Her Babies!

There are reports that Britney has once again reunited with her babies this morning in her home at the Summit!

Kevin's bodyguard dropped the boys off earlier today, and are expected to be picked up in the afternoon. The visit is supervised.

Happy for you, Brit!

Source: Breathe Heavy

New Britney Pictures!

New pictures of Britney with her father visiting a housing community in Cross Creek.

See them all here!

Source: Wenn/Breathe Heavy

Mediabase Chart Update!

'Break The Ice' is currently at #48 on Mediabase with 629 spins and 9.192 million listeners!

Click here to vote for it on your local radio station!

Source: Break The Nice

A Show Business Fortune At Risk

Britney Spears’s klieg-lighted meltdown sent her to the psychiatric ward twice, and left her long-divorced parents, her brother, and a SWAT team of lawyers and accountants grappling with how to protect her from predatory hangers-on, from the paparazzi who dog her every move and from her own erratic behavior.

Britney Spears, performing in 2000 on Long Island, has been a breadwinner for her mother, Lynne, and sister, Jamie Lynn, as well as for her father, Jamie.

Beyond the psychodrama being played out on tabloid covers, celebrity-news shows and gossip Web sites is another serious subject for the Spears family: how to protect the millions of dollars that Ms. Spears, 26, has amassed over a decade as one of America’s biggest pop music, merchandise and endorsement engines.

It’s impossible to say how much money she has. Published estimates of her net worth have varied wildly, up to $125 million. But one of her former financial advisers, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of his relationship with his client, estimated her current fortune at around $50 million.

That’s an enormous amount, but, as Michael Jackson proved, being a wealthy cultural phenomenon doesn’t make one impervious to financial disaster. Celebrities, like athletes, often have a small window to make their money, typically at a young age when they are probably not thinking about the future.

As a result, many child stars like Macaulay Culkin are dragged into family squabbles over money while others — too numerous to mention — end up looking to revive their careers long after the money has run out.

Ms. Spears will not run out of money anytime soon, but her longer-term prospects have taken a hit in the last year because of bizarre behavior — her public scenes, questionable parenting skills and a shaky comeback performance at the MTV Awards — and her tortured personal life after her divorce from Kevin Federline, formerly one of her backup dancers.

According to court documents, her everyday finances seem to have fallen into disrepair as well. A Feb. 14 court filing put it starkly: “Members of Britney’s household,” it said, “have been paying for her basic necessities, including medicine, food, and other day-to-day needs.”

On Feb. 1, the day after Ms. Spears was involuntarily admitted for treatment at the U.C.L.A. Medical Center, her estranged father, Jamie Spears, was named her co-conservator, giving him control over her treatment, security, visitors and daily life.

Mr. Spears is sharing oversight of her estate with an independent lawyer, Andrew M. Wallet, to dispel the notion that Ms. Spears’s parents were making a grab for their daughter’s fortune. With the court’s permission, they immediately fired her business manager.

Another team of lawyers was hired for the conservators and quickly set out to assess the financial damage. Yet another lawyer was appointed by the probate court, as is routine, to look out solely for Ms. Spears’s interests. Ms. Spears’s brother Bryan, along with a lawyer, were given control of her revocable trust, which contains all her liquid assets, so they could begin paying her bills. And Ms. Spears’s criminal lawyer, Blair Berk, was said to be overseeing the whole Humpty Dumpty-like effort.

All the independent lawyers aside, one cannot ignore money as a motivating factor as the estranged Spears parents joined forces. Since she first became a pop star in 1999 on the strength of her hit “Baby One More Time,” she has been the primary breadwinner for the entire Spears clan.

The earning power of her 16-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn, the star of “Zooey 101” on Nickelodeon, probably suffered in December when she announced her pregnancy, which also helped sink her mother’s deal to write a book on parenting.

What little light has been shed on Ms. Spears’s finances came last May, when part of an income statement surfaced in her divorce case. It put her average monthly earnings at more than $730,000, mainly from royalties, but said she earned only $13,000 a month from investments. (Her spending, including $102,000 a month for entertainment, gifts and vacation and $16,000 for clothes, was more eye-catching.)

The nature of her investments might be unclear as well. Accountants are trying to learn whether her money was moved into overly risky investment vehicles, whether any business deals need to be undone and whether her assets were outright looted. (Her father filed a report of grand theft, according to The Los Angeles Times, asserting that paintings, jewelry and other valuables had been stripped from her Beverly Hills home).

Click READ MORE to finish the article.

Source: New York Times/Breathe Heavy

Dude! She made 8 million from June 2006 to June 2007 so she ain't running out of money any time soon!

Brit Goes Back Into Hiding


The following italicized article is taken from www.tmz.com:

She's known for wigging out and acting wild at the local Mobil, but last night Britney Spears did something truly shocking -- she hid her infamous mug! Girl's got Alba-ritis!

Spears put in some face time with her kids this weekend -- but apparently didn't want to do the same with the paps.

Source: TMZ

Britney Gets Sour Over Steak

The following italicized article is taken from www.tmz.com:

TMZ spotted Britney Spears over the weekend after dinner at Mastro's Steakhouse, but she was apparently a lot happier pre-meat-feast than post-.

People reports that the Britwreck "smiled and appeared in good spirits" as she went into Mastro's, and had quite the repast – steak, lobster, fries, mashed potatoes. But later, says People, "she seemed quiet," and kept getting up to go the bathroom and to smoke, just like her trip to Citrus at Social last week.

After dinner, she got the full white-coated escort to her car, which the chef described to People as "a war zone."

Source: TMZ
 

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