There was a lot of buzz about Britney Spears potentially being the surprise guest at the live lighting of the enormous Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center in New York City tonight. According to insiders quoted by OK! Magazine, Britney was originally scheduled to attend and to give a “live” performance moving her arms around and lipsyncing. Britney decided to scrap the performance though and at one point she wanted to tape it ahead of time, but then she decided not to perform at all. Instead of even showing up for the tree lighting she then cut her appearance down to just a taped message. She was over an hour late for her scheduled recording time, angering crew that had waited and changed things for her multiple times and seemingly on a whim:
“You have no idea how many times Britney has changed things on us, at least 14 times since I got here on Thursday,” a source connected to the TV special tells OK!. “It is Britney Spears and she can do that because they want her to boost ratings, but no one is happy putting up with this. I probably shouldn’t say this, but guys on the crew were making bets about whether she would show up at all.”
One eyewitness tells OK! that Britney had been scheduled to appear live on Wednesday night’s broadcast, but that plan was ultimately scrapped in favor of a pre-taped “message.”
“She was originally supposed to perform live and then she wanted to pre-tape her performance instead,” the source says. “Then she didn’t want to do that. She keeps changing her mind and now she’s not performing at all.”
Following her delayed appearance at Rockefeller Plaza, where it took multiple takes for Britney to record her “Happy Holidays” message, it was off to the Rainbow Room high atop 30 Rock.
[From OK! Magazine]
Maybe Britney is rebelling against her father’s control over her life by focusing on the things she can change, and promotional appearances could be one of the last things she has any say over. It’s not Groundhog Day every day if she switches a few things around according to her mood. She’s not helping her comeback by behaving like an entitled diva and not honoring her commitments though.
OK! also has details of Britney’s birthday dinner last night at the Rainbow Room. Britney’s parents, staff, and both of her sons were there. Jayden, 1, got upset and was calling for his dad and had to be taken away by his nanny. Britney literally snapped her fingers to get her security guys to follow her at one point. She seems to be getting back into the swing of things.
I can’t say I’m really looking forward to seeing much more Britney. We’ve already been bombarded with her repetitive music and bland image for months if not years. Maybe she doesn’t like being “normal” and “nice” all that much, either.
Britney is shown performing on GMA yesterday (credit: Fame) and pre-taping her holiday greeting at Rockefeller Center (credit: Bauergriffin)
She’s trying to do too much, too soon. The pressure is not good for her and she also needs say in what she can and cannot do, which could change at the last minute. She needs flexibility in her schedule and I’m thinking that’s virtually impossible for her in this line of work and she should probably be considering something else.
“Maybe she doesn’t like being “normal” and “nice” all that much, either.” – CB, I think this was really dismissive given Britney’s mental health issues.
Well said Baholicious…though, what else could she consider? Retirement, at 27? That’s not going to happen.
Her Dad said it best, “When I’m stressed, I go fishin’. She likes to sing and dance..”
As a dancer, I can totally relate. There is so much to be said for using sound and movement to release negative energy. Maybe she’ll retire after this tour, go back to LA and become a fabulous dance teacher, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Nicole, dance teacher was exactly what I thought too. I hope she considers it.
Backing out on appearances does not seem to be the best way to restart a career. Not that she should even consider restarting it anyway. I thought there was a possibility for awhile that she was going to teach dancing in that one school, but that sort of fizzled. I thought that would be a really good job for her.
All that aside, I still think her problems are as much spoiled bratness as they are mental illness.
@Syko: It’s hard to be at the pinnacle and fall off. I’m sure the climb back up is causing some resentment, which is understandable. It would think that would be the case for most anybody who was in a position of power and influence.
Having been a child star too is having its effect I’m sure.
I read somewhere (and well before she flipped out with bipolar) that she also has anxiety issues. That might explain it.
baho, she has legitimate issues regarding her mental health. she as syko pointed out, is a brat too…
regardless of how she has been reined in, she still complains and refuses to accept any responsibility for her behaviors and poor parenting skills.
at 27, now is the time to step up and take some responsibility for her actions. yes, she should step out of the performing light and “teach”. or perhaps she should stop talking smack in her interviews about the father AND PRIMARY CARE GIVER of her children. those in glass houses…..
regardless of what we think, she will do what the money machine demands, and the public will have to suffer watching her flail her arms about and mime, all the while wearing shorts that are WAAAYY too short for leg lifts. (we’ve seen her hoo ha too much, put it away)
Mentally ill, my ass. She’s a spoiled brat who’s been catered to for so long, she doesn’t know anything else. Snapping her fingers at the help? Imploring a nanny to calm her son when he wants his Dad? God forbid she, oh I dunno, be a MOTHER to her children. Unless there’s a camera pointed in their direction, those kids are just another obstacle between Brit and the party.
I really feel for Britney these days- no matter how trivial or how gargantuan a task, she’s perpetually damned if she does, and damned if she doesn’t.
Codzilla, I could not agree more. Ditto at dr.grrl.
@AJ: couldn’t agree with you more, she’s damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t. People who say she’s a spoiled brat don’t put themselves in her shoes. Yah, she had the fame and fortune but she was so young when she was at the height. When I saw her performances from the past week, it struck me that she’s actually starting to look older and at the age of 27, she shouldn’t be forced to be what she was 10 years ago. I think her performances are half hearted because she just doesn’t want to do it anymore. I think she really does just want to be a mom to her kids and not be forced to live up to the hype of this big comeback. In that MTV documentary, she said that no one really listens to her…there were so many red flag comments, like that one and how it’s easier to feel nothing than it is to feel happy, because when she’s happy she’s afraid that feeling will end. She’s not a spoiled brat, she’s a woman whose entire life was shaped and dictated and molded starting at a very formative age, and now that she’s pushing back, she’s called a spoiled brat. Damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t.
Atticus: If she really wanted to be a mother to her children, then why doesn’t she do it? She, unlike most parents, has the resources to stop working and enjoy her kids, but she clearly prefers the spotlight to motherhood. Nobody’s holding a gun to her head and forcing her into this “comeback” debacle. And if her idea of “pushing back” is to bitch about her current situation, which, unlike the past, includes custody of her kids, then she’s even dumber than I thought.
exactly codzilla…..
@ atticus….
if she wanted to be a mother, why would she fight so hard against the parent role? this is a woman who CHOSE to argue with the parenting coaches that were put in place UNDER COURT ORDER! she is the one who chose to IGNORE what the trained professionals had to say! IMO, that’s a definition of a brat.
This is all too much too soon for this girl. It was totally explained when she said she married Kevin for the wrong reasons and then started popping out babies. This girl has no idea who she is. She lost herself after she and Justin broke up (and she said that in an interview recently). She doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life, but this isn’t about her life anymore. She is a mother…it is about her boys life, and she is too selfish and immature to figure that out. Watching sections of her interviews was horrifying. She has never had to take responsiblility for anything, and she still hasn’t taken responsibility for her illness.
Yes, BiPolar isn’t an action you choose to take (I would know, I was diagnosed almost 10 years ago), but it is your resp. to learn how to deal with it and manage it. It isn’t easy and you have to accept that the illness won’t ever go away, but after awhile, the medication and the stigma become part of your life and you just live. If I had the money and the exposure that Britney does, I would be busting my butt to educate people on Manic depression and try and deal with the stigmas that go hand-in-hand with mental illness.
dr. grrl, I like your Chairman Meow avatar.
I had heard she was having money troubles due to reckless spending during her episodes? And DrGrll: I’m well aware she has mental issues (bipolar I believe), I said so in my initial post.
I’m not condoning nor am I excusing her behavior- but of course she isn’t going to listen to and abide by what parenting coaches and courts have to say- she’s clearly in the throes of mental illness. Her father was granted conservatorship for a reason… she demonstrated time and time again just how badly she could not function and needed someone to step in and take the reigns.
Regardless, if Britney shows up to the tree lighting, she’ll be blasted for “overexposure” or being there solely to promote her album or a bevy of other ignorant claims. But if she doesn’t show, she’ll still be ripped apart and called a spoiled, selfish brat. People have already made up their minds and are set in their ways. I guess it’s easier to judge someone without giving them a chance. Less time-consuming I imagine. She can’t win either way, and I find that sad.
everyone needs to back off of britney. poor thing has been through enough already. leave her alone. 🙁
She is simply not ready to take all of this on so soon. Shame on her family, promoters, record company and anyone responsible for stacking these appearances one after another. She is going to crack again. Watch and see.
If you watched the MTV special, you saw how hounded she constantly is by paps. Yes, it goes with the territory because she is famous and she has given them so much fodder over the past two years, but seriously. I want you to imagine right now that you just want to get in your car and go to Dunkin Donuts for a coffee. You’re going to be mobbed and followed and shoved. I went to the movies by myself the other night, and last night when I was watching part of the documentary again, I realized that Britney can’t do that. That has to be suffocating.
Maybe she cancelled the tree lighting for security reasons. Maybe she wanted to not perform again and just do the taping and go to dinner with her boys. Why wouldn’t she give the fussy kid to the nanny? At this point the nanny may know him better than Britney does.
No matter what, everyone is going to railroad this girl.
By the way, does anyone think that maybe OK! might want to trash her over that disastrous shoot she did before she got help?
thanks morgs!! good eye! 😉
we have sucked from the tit of brit for too long! Give her room to evolve.
NONE of us can move like we did 10 years ago.
i really do feel for her. yeah, she may be a spoiled brat, but theres a lot going on under the surface, obviously.
if youve never had anxiety problems (i do) or depression or any kind of mental issues, then you dont know how hard it can be to really take care of things head on.
i heard on the radio this morning that her dad pretty much made her go over seas to perform and that she didnt want to miss thanksgiving with her kids. they said that her dad took her cell phone away and when she wanted to call someone he would dial for her and moniter her calls.
they said when she got upset at her dad for not giving her phone back, he told her to “take a pill and go to sleep”. the dancer that was with her said that is her fathers answer to her all the time.
she needs PROFESSIONAL help. im sure her dad thinks hes doing whats best, but she needs to take a break from the spotlight and just take some time for herself.
but she doesnt look am-a-zing in the picture.
edit- i meant she DOES look amazing!!
those eyes look so sad, dead, at-a-loss, and lost. Look through these – do you see something different? She is trapped in a golden cage and knows nothing else. She is the cash cow of so many…i think she sees this as giving in to these expectations of her. I do think she’s a brat, with issues that are poorly managed by non-professionals. In her documentary, people were catering to her, saying yes – right and left. She seemed empty. The spark is gone. She has enough money to walk away . . . and she should. Vanity keeps her coming back – she will never walk away. She’ll just wait until people move on to something else and I fear her fragile ego won’t be able to handle it. Those poor children . . .
Look, this girl is not going to go within a mile of a live performance in the U.S. She’s not ready and she knows it. When you have to depend on multiple voice/sound/music back tracks which can and do often malfunction, and don’t have the option of re-shooting dance sequences, the word “live” becomes terrifying. She made a wise choice.