Celebrity Oops: Britney Spears

Looking Back

Brit circa 2003

Britney's celebrity star began rising at the very young age of 14. At the time, she was a media darling, a sweet girl from Louisiana that was transformed quickly into a pop star. Everything seemed to be going well, she had hit record after hit record, droves of fans and was making millions before the age of 18. No one could have predicted that just six short years later, her life would start falling apart.

Celebrity Oops Britney Spears: The List

By 2004 Britney Spears was a certified multi-platinum artist. She was earning millions not only from her music career but also from her various endorsement deals. Everything seemed to be going well for Spears professionally, but her personal life was beginning a fast and steep dive from the heights of fame, to the depths of infamy.

Brit's First Marriage

Jason Alexander

Is it technically considered a "marriage" if it lasts less than three days? Who knows, nonetheless, on January 3, 2004 Brit-Brit vowed "till death do us part" to childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander. He claimed that she had proposed to him, he said yes and the two ran off to a Las Vegas wedding chapel and got hitched vowing to stay together…forever. Well, forever is relative and 55 hours later, the Alexander-Spears wedding was annulled. Britney claimed that it was a "joke that went too far" -- he claimed that he really did love her.

Enter K-Fed

Marrying Kevin Federline is a big oops for Brit for the following reasons:

• Federline was expecting a second child with ex-girlfriend Shar Jackson, whom he had a relationship with for four years before breaking up. He reportedly dumped the eight-months pregnant Shar, for Brit.
• Britney paid for her own engagement ring, while she claimed, in the beginning, that he paid for the ring himself. Where he got the funds for the platinum and five-carat diamond ring is unknown. Various sources report that she bought the estimated $40,000 ring for herself before the wedding and K-Fed later purchased a ring from her after they were married for nine-months. Spears later confirmed these reports.

Celebrity Oops: Britney Spears 2006 to 2007

Here is short chronicle of other various Spears related debacles:

• February 2006 – Attempting to escape the paparazzi, Britney grabs five-month old baby Sean Preston, plops him in her lap and drives away.
• April 2006 – Sean Preston falls out of his high chair, prompting an inquiry by the Department of Children and Family Services of Los Angeles. Britney said it was the nanny's fault.
• May 2006 – Brit is photographed tripping with Sean Preston in one arm and a coffee in the other hand. Britney's bodyguard caught both Brit and baby before they hit the pavement.
• November 2006 – Out partying with Paris Hilton, a picture of Britney is snapped while getting out of a car, in a short dress, minus underwear.

February 2007

So much happened in the month of February for Brit that it deserves its own section:

• Britney checks into an Antigua rehab and checks out the same day.
• Inexplicably shaves her head bald.
• Checks into a Malibu rehab again and checks out a day later.
• Checks back into that same Malibu rehab. This time she stays.
• Brit pummels a paparazzo's SUV with her umbrella.

The Remainder of 2007

Moving on from her strife filled month of February, here are the highlights for the rest of Brit's year:

• September 2007–The judge in her ongoing custody battle orders that Britney must undergo random drug tests and attend parenting classes.
• October 2007 – Spears loses custody of her two boys as a judge awards K-Fed temporary physical custody.
• November 2007 – Britney is videotaped running a red light while using her cell phone with her kids in the back seat or her car.
• November 2007 – Spears is photographed driving while wearing sunglasses at night with a napping Sean Preston in the back seat.
• December 2007- The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services opens up an investigation of child abuse and neglect claims regarding Spears and her children.

A Final Word

Britney fans still fiercely defend her, which is more than can be said for most stars whose lives are on a steady downward spiral. Maybe Brit-Brit should take a cue from her fans and love herself as much as they do. In the end, she has no one to blame for what her life has become but herself and in the end she is the only one who can clean up the mess.