Spears Completes Rehab Stint
After nearly a month of seclusion in a luxurious rehabilitation center, Britney Spears has moved on.
The pop star checked out of Promises Malibu Alcohol and Drug Rehab Treatment Facility "after successfully completing their program," Spears' manager, Larry Rudolph, said in a statement released by Jive Records late Tuesday.
He asked that Spears' privacy be respected. A source tells The ShowBuzz that the singer's two children are currently with her ex, Kevin Federline.
Spears, 25, entered the facility Feb. 22, after a bout of bizarre behavior that included shaving her head, getting tiny lips tattooed on her wrist and beating a car with an umbrella. Photos of the incidents were instantly beamed worldwide.
Spears' activities have been fodder for weekly magazines and entertainment Web sites since she filed for divorce from Kevin Federline in November, citing irreconcilable differences.Photos: Britney Spears
A source tells The ShowBuzz that Federline has had full custody of their boys, Jayden James, 6 months, and Sean Preston, 18 months, for the past six weeks. The strategy of Federline's lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, had been to get full custody of the children.
But a source says they have not yet reached a concrete agreement on custody.
"Apparently she went into rehab because she was afraid of losing her children. I think that when this story is ultimately told, it is going to be a story about a very young mother fighting to save her kids and hopefully getting better," People magazine Assistant Managing Editor and The Early Show entertainment contributor Jess Cagle said on The Early Show Wednesday. "Kevin Federline, her ex-husband, and the children's father, has been very supportive and has been bringing the kids to visit her. And suddenly he looks like not a moocher who married a rich woman but as a real hero."
High-Profile Healing
Federline, who released his debut album in November, is celebrating his 29th birthday on Wednesday. According to a report in the New York Post, Federline's Hollywood birthday bash was canceled after small sponsors allegedly pulled out of the event.Timeline: Britney's Meltdown
But a source tells The ShowBuzz that Federline canceled the event, saying, "Kevin decided the kids were more important."
A party at Pure Nightclub in Las Vegas was scheduled to take place on Saturday, according to his publicist.
Spears has not disclosed why she sought treatment at Promises, which offers detox, counseling and 12-step programs. A 30-day stay at the Mediterranean-style villa tucked in the Santa Monica Mountains costs $48,000.
"Shaving her head and getting a tattoo — it's the same as people cutting themselves with razor blades, cutters," Howard Samuels, a clinical psychologist at Wonderland residential treatment center, told The Early Show. "It's a way of acting out so you don't deal with the underlying issues that you're feeling at the time. To me, that's what that was all about."
With her stay there, Spears joined a long list of other celebrities who have trekked to the facility to overcome addictions. Promises alumni includes Ben Affleck, Charlie Sheen, Diana Ross and Matthew Perry.