Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Britney's Media Gag Bid Refused


A Los Angeles court has decided not to stop attorneys involved in the Britney Spears' child custody dispute with ex-husband Kevin Federline, from talking to the press.

Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon has rejected miss Spears request, after Anne Kiley argued that all of the media coverage was "not only emotionally, but physically" dangerous to Britney.

Kevin Federline's attorney, Mark Kaplan, argued the absence of a gag order did not put the children in danger, and that Britney was more worried about the paparazzi that followed her.

Mr Kaplan also said that the paparazzi following her was happening before she filed for divorce in November 2006.

Britney and Mr Federline were not present at the hearing.

Miss Spears hasn't been allowed to visit with her sons Jayden, one, and Sean, two, since an incident that led one of her two visits to hospital psychiatric wards earlier this year, and a decision by another court to place her Dad James in control of her affairs.

Outside of the court, Mr Kaplan said Kevin would like the Britney to see her kids.

"Both sides desire to see a time that visitation can resume. It's just a matter of working out the details so it can happen," he said. "Kevin looks forward to his kids having their mom with them."

The gag order request was argued in open court before other items were heard behind closed doors.

Ms Kiley had said she wanted a "narrowly tailored" order that would restrict lawyers only from talking to the media.

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Britneys' Public Collapse: Whats The Media's Role


The media is all over Britney's every move. The girl can't even go to the bathroom without cameras snapping pictures of her. I wont say they are to blame for her actions, but they sure give her the stage to act out on. Heres what USA Today has to say...
When are the cameras going to turn away from Britney Spears? Maybe never.

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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