That is the reaction I had when I found this on page A20 of my New York Times today!
"Spears Loses Sons’ Custody to Ex-Spouse" by MIREYA NAVARRO
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 1 — Britney Spears has lost custody of her two sons after a Superior Court judge ruled Monday that her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, would take custody beginning Wednesday until further order of the court.
Ms. Spears, the 25-year-old pop star, and Mr. Federline, 29, had joint custody of sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, after their divorce last July. The same judge, Scott M. Gordon, ordered Ms. Spears last month to undergo random drug and alcohol testing twice a week, having found that she had engaged in “habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol.”
The latest order followed a motion by Mr. Federline’s lawyers and was handled in a closed-door hearing, The Associated Press reported. The judge’s order did not state the reason for the change in custody, The A.P. reported, and all transcripts of the proceedings were sealed.
Lawyers for Mr. Federline and Ms. Spears did not return calls.
The ruling was the culmination of a rash of bad news for Ms. Spears, whose erratic behavior on and off the stage, including shaving her head and diving into the ocean from a public beach in her underwear, had cast doubt on her fitness as a mother.
Los Angeles prosecutors recently charged Ms. Spears with misdemeanor counts of hit-and-run driving and driving without a license after she hit another car in a parking lot in August. And one of her former bodyguards, Tony Barretto, spoke out in recent weeks about seeing her take drugs on two occasions in a nightclub.
Mr. Barretto’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, said Monday that she agreed with the judge’s ruling.
“I believe that removing custody from Ms. Spears is the shock treatment that Britney Spears needs,” Ms. Allred said. “Tony and I believe that she loves her children and that the children also need their mother. We hope that this change of custody will give Ms. Spears the strong incentive that she needs to get help so that she can one day be the responsible parent that the children deserve to have.”
Ms. Spears was expected to make a flashy artistic comeback in a performance Sept. 9 at the MTV Video Music Awards, but instead she appeared lethargic and lip-synched wanly. Her talent manager, Jeff Kwatinetz of the Firm, subsequently dropped her, saying that “circumstances have prevented us from properly doing our job.”
Was nice knowing ya,' Times, when you were actually a real newspaper years ago!
R.I.P. buddy!
