The pop superstar, 26, is coming unhinged — and in full view of the world, thanks to an unprecedented 24/7 media watch that makes her the only celebrity anywhere with this level of scrutiny.
Her outlandish behavior — lack of underwear, head-shaving, rehab, custody battle, psych ward — has been chronicled in mind-boggling detail. So has the mundane. On Tuesday, there was a hearing in her custody case over a gag order, which was denied. She went to a restaurant with her dad and kept getting up to go to the bathroom. It was all covered.
Expect her life to continue to unspool before us. One reason: There is big money to be made.
"The biggest news in the world right now is celebrity news," and Britney is the biggest story, says Gary Morgan, CEO and co-owner of Splash News, a paparazzi photo agency.
Helping to fuel the interest: dramatic changes in the media landscape. The number of celebrity media outlets, journalists, photographers and bloggers has soared. News-delivery technology — the Internet, cellphones, podcasting — has rapidly expanded, and the revenue derived from covering celebs has multiplied.
Portfolio magazine recently calculated the value of what it called "the Britney Industrial Complex" and found that she and her travails are worth $110 million to $120 million a year to the economy. The Britney paparazzi alone take in $4 million annually, or about 20% of the overall paparazzi business...READ MORE
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