Did you hear that Justin Timberlake tried to steal Beyonce’s thunder at the Super Bowl? Sort of. Justin made a big appearance at the pre-Super-Bowl party thrown by Mark Cuban in New Orleans. There are some reports that claim JT was paid $3 million for a one-hour performance, and Page Six’s source claims that JT is going to donate the money to charity (we’ll see). Justin performed some of his old hits and some of the new songs on his new, as-yet-unreleased album. YouTube is lousy with some poor-quality videos from the performance… here’s one:

Anyway, JT performed one of his biggest hits “Cry Me a River” at the gig too. And he introduced the song by saying “Sometimes in life, you think you found the one. But then one day you find out that she is just some bitch.” Which is pretty epic considering almost everybody believes that the song is about his relationship and breakup with Britney Spears after he found out she was screwing around on him. That’s what the video made it seem like too! So… did JT really refer to Britney as “some bitch”? Well, JT got on Twitter and “corrected the record”.

[Via JT’s Twitter]

I don’t really get that. First of all, “Wouldn’t disrespect ANYONE personally. Ever”??? O RLY? Why does it seem like that’s a blatant friggin’ lie? Oh right, because just hours earlier Justin had slammed his ex-girlfriend… whom he dumped a decade beforehand. Justin is STILL holding a grudge!! As for “#Relax #ItsBritneyBitch I do love that saying though *with accent* #Respect” – Yeah. He’s saying that he was in fact talking about Britney, and that he thinks it’s okay to call her “some bitch” because she says “It’s Britney, Bitch.” That’s how I’m reading it. This is not Justin “apologizing” for calling Brit-Brit “some bitch”. He’s saying she’s some bitch AND that he wouldn’t disrespect anyone personally.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

These are some new photos of Britney Spears out shopping yesterday, during which she changed from a sheer ruffled top to another cream top with a pearl studded collar. Her hair looked unkempt and was pushed back in a style reminiscent of Jessica Chastain’s Golden Globe disaster. If she was having a bad hair day she should have brushed it back into a sleek ponytail, as she did in the photos we saw yesterday. I’ve been doing that a lot lately as I’m trying to wash my hair every other day. It’s been so dry this winter! I don’t have extensions but I’ve heard that it’s better not to wash extensions daily, which may be why Britney’s hair is messy so often.

A lot of outlets are making a big deal out of the fact that Britney is no longer wearing her engagement ring following her broken engagement to Jason Trawick. The thing is, Britney hasn’t been wearing her engagement ring for at least a couple of weeks, which predates the announcement of her breakup. So either her split with Jason happened before it was announced (likely) or she switches up her jewelry every day. Britney is said to have given the $90,000 sparkler back to Jason.

I get worried about Britney when she’s papped so often. That sounds counter-intuitive, like I should be reassured by seeing her looking so happy, but it reminds me of that period before her breakup, when she was hounded by paparazzi and would drive around aimlessly. In this case she’s probably just showing everyone that she’s doing fine. Yesterday she even showed some sideboob, which I missed – my bad! I was so focused on her fug brown boots. She switched them out today for grey boots, which are still fug.

In our story yesterday on Britney’s breakup, the comments were somewhat evenly divided on whether Britney was being used by Jason, whether they had a business arrangement rather than a personal relationship, and whether their breakup was predetermined from the start. A lot of you mentioned that Jason was a great influence on Britney, regardless of whether he had ulterior motives. I would just like to see her happy and in a legitimate relationship, but given her level of fame, wealth and near-constant supervision that may be unrealistic.

I’ve been surprised by how many stories People Magazine has run about Britney Spears and Jason Trawick’s breakup. There were four stories in People just last week. The first couple of reports framed the split in terms of normal couple problems, like habituation and too much time apart. Then the last two seemed to place the blame squarely on Britney, claiming she was jealous, insecure and “treats him like a friend, not a romantic partner.”

People’s stories were in contrast to Radar Online’s accounts, which claimed that Britney’s father and Jason, her two co-conservators (Jason has since resigned as Britney’s conservator) conspired for Jason to break up with Britney, and that they sugar-coated the version he told her, so much so that Britney wasn’t sure their relationship was even over. I mentioned that the timing was suspect to me, particularly since Britney had just left X Factor after the season wrapped, and was on the verge of signing a big contract, reportedly worth over $100 million, for a residency at a venue in Vegas.

US Weekly had a story I wanted to mention which jibes with Radar’s version and seems to sum it all up for me. They claim that Jason was behind the big new gig for Britney, that he planned to ditch her “for months” and that he waited until he had a nice cut of her would-be earnings to end the relationship. That’s so cold. Here’s their report:

Britney was blindsided! Though the singer, 31, said in a statement January 11 that she and fiance of one year Jason Trawick had “mutually agreed” to end their engagement, sources insist Britney Spears never saw it coming. “He had been planning to break up with her for months,” says an insider. Trawick, who also comanaged Spears’ career, “was using her. He made a big deal for her to get a residence spot at Caesars in Las Vegas, then finally had enough money to end it.” He also cut ties as her coconservator, resigning just hours after split news broke. Adding to Spears’ angst? Her exit from The X Factor, announced less than 24 hours earlier. Though Spears says leaving was her decision, she was, in fact fired, as US first reported in December. Still, the embattled singer is trying to move past the drama. “She has her kids and a lot of work coming up,” says a pal. “And she’s going to be set up on dates with cute guys soon!’

[From US Weekly, print edition, January 28, 2013]

Doesn’t Britney have anyone in her life who isn’t using her? As usual, I came away from this story just feeling sorry for her. Plus she’s going to be “set up on dates with cute guys.” I expect a photo op soon.

Incidentally, as Britney’s co-manager, Jason probably made around 5-10% of her contract with Ceasars. (If it’s gone through, we haven’t heard about that yet.) That’s 5 to 10 million dollars. Not a bad payoff for a two year relationship. The creep.

Britney is shown in the header in a file photo with Jason. Other photos are of Britney out on 1-19-13. Oh no, brown boots! Credit: FameFlynet and WENN.com

We’ve been wondering what’s next for Britney Spears’ career now that she’s not returning to The X Factor next season. Britney may be richer than ever, bitch, because she’s about to sign a $100 million plus contract for a residency in Vegas, one that would earn her more than even the reigning queen of Vegas, Celine Dion. Does that seem fair? Celine Dion has some serious pipes, and Britney, well, she’s a lip syncer. According to TMZ, at least three large venues in Vegas are currently in a bidding war to try an earn the rights to Britney. They claim that Ceasar’s palace is interested, as well as “two other properties.” As part of her contract, Britney would both perform and make appearances at events for the casino.

This actually sounds like a great career move for Britney. She’s done two successful tours since her breakdown, and although she isn’t the dancer she used to be (due in part to a knee injury) she’s shown that she can still perform. This would be as lucrative as a big tour without all the stress of traveling. I can see it happening. I mean I don’t think Britney is as together as she used to be, but she’s more with it than she was, and she’s shown that she can work.

In related Britney news, People Magazine has run three separate stories in the past week on her split with Jason Trawick. You can assume this is the version of the breakup that Britney’s people want out there, and it’s all about normal couple stuff rather than the “Jason got tired of his ward and Britney has no idea what is happening” version that Radar was running. The weird thing in these People reports is that they contradict each other. There’s a story on Saturday that Britney wanted more kids and that Jason didn’t, and that’s followed up by a story yesterday that Jason did want kids. It’s like Britney’s team didn’t coordinate their stories, or they put out the first one without consulting Jason. Here are some excerpts:

January 12 article: Britney wanted more kids and she wanted Jason home more
“Britney had a lot of issues with Jason doing his own thing – in business and seeing his friends,” another source says. “In her perfect world he would have been home with her twenty-four/seven, so that was a point of contention; something they were always working on.”

Another source of tension? Kids. “Britney wants to grow her family,” says a source close to the couple. “Jason loves her boys but he is not in a place to have his own.”

January 15 article: they fell out of love and had normal couple problems
“Britney spent Christmas in L.A. with [sons] Preston and Jayden. Jason was around for parts of the holiday, but it was very obvious that they were not really together anymore,” the source says.

“They were not affectionate and instead just seemed to keep things going for the boys’ sake. Britney looked a bit gloomy and tense over the holidays.”

“They love each other, but like any relationship, and especially this one, there were some major challenges and hurdles and constant work that needed to be done. At the end of the day, it just wasn’t working, and things were’t going to change, so it was time to let go.”

January 16: Jason loves Britney’s boys and he is open to having his own
“Jason adores [Britney's] kids; he loves them,” a source tells PEOPLE. “He was like their ‘other dad,’ so he’s not just going to walk away from their lives. He’ll be involved as much as makes sense.”

As for Spears’s two boys, Preston, 7, and Jayden, 6, the source says they “are doing great and [their father] Kevin [Federline] is actually a huge help and is a wonderful person in their lives.”

Despite reports that the former X Factor judge’s desire to have more kids was a reason for the split, the insider says, “Jason is genuinely open to kids of his own.”

But the source adds, “There were so many issues in their relationship that Jason really wanted those worked out before they could ever move forward with a wedding or more kids together.”

[From three stories on People]

I believe that they were a real couple and that they had normal couple problems like anyone else, but these articles are leaving out the fact that Jason had legal control over nearly everything about Britney, and that she still struggles with mental health issues. I do think she’s improved now, but I don’t know if she’ll be able to have a full committed relationship until she’s in control of her daily life and business decisions. It doesn’t seem like that’s ever going to happen for her and she’s already 31 years old. Still, she’s making a ton of money for a lot of different people.

Here are some file photos of Britney and Jason. They were a cute couple!

“Love” sweatshirt photos of Britney are from 1-14-13. Other photos are file photos. Credit: FameFlynet

These are photos of Britney Spears out wearing a “Love” sweatshirt and some Uggs yesterday in the wake of her split from fiance Jason Trawick. Britney and Jason were together for years, and it’s got to be hard on her to go through a split now, particularly when she’s just stepped away from the X Factor and doesn’t have firm plans for her next career move. Maybe Britney likes it that way, though. She looks like she’s very well put together here and doing fine, and communicating that to the public was probably the purpose of this little outing.

Radar has several insider-y stories that make it sound like Britney is not as together as she’s seemed lately, and that she’s still very much in need of both a conservatorship and being handled with kid gloves. The thing is, I lost faith in Radar’s sources when they ran that hoax story about Britney’s ex brother-in-law claiming he’s the father of Britney’s oldest son. It was all based on a fake lawsuit (US Weekly was also fooled by it) and it made me wonder how much information they have on Britney, and how much is conjecture. So with that caveat, here is some of Radar’s latest news. They claim that Britney is still holding out hope that Jason will be coming back, that she’s not entirely convinced that it’s over, and that the split was orchestrated by Britney’s dad and Jason. If this is true it makes me sad for her. Here’s more, and these are excerpts from a couple of different stories on Radar:

“It really wasn’t Britney’s decision to announce the split last week, it was Jamie who made the call,” a source tells RadarOnline.com exclusively.

“Jason wanted out, and in the fragile state that Britney is in, it’s not like he could have a rational conversation with her about it, so it was really between him and Jamie. They decided how the relationship needed to end and how to go about the technicalities, such as removing Jason from the conservatorship, when he would move out and how to announce the split. Britney was left out of everything and really didn’t even know what was going on.”

When it was finally time to break the news to Britney, the source says the two men did it in a controlled and safe environment and were very careful explaining the situation to her, because they were afraid she wouldn’t take it well.

“Jason and Jamie wanted to make sure that Britney didn’t lose it, so they had to water things down for her a bit,” the source says. “She knows that the engagement is off and that Jason has been removed from the conservatorship, but she still hasn’t exactly grasped yet that the relationship is totally over.”

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“Jamie will be keeping a very close eye on Britney now she no longer has Jason in her life. He loved Jason like a son and trusted him to look after his daughter. Now that Jason is gone, Jamie is concerned that Britney doesn’t have any true friends to look out for her outside of her immediate family members, and he believes it is more important than ever right now to keep the conservatorship in place to protect her. As part of his conservatorship duties, Jamie controls who Britney interacts with, she isn’t free to go out and meet people on her own. It’s actually a really sad situation for Britney because she is extremely lonely, but Jamie wants to ensure there’s no repeat of the Sam Lutfi situation and that his daughter is not taken advantage of.”

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“[The split] has really been in motion awhile. Jason has been very stressed and concerned for Britney and what she might do if he left,” an insider told FOX411′s Pop Tarts column. “He is worried about her and really loved her, but it started to take a real toll on him. The burden of taking care instead of a partnership where she also takes care.”

“Jason took on the role of ‘parent’ and Britney the role of ‘child’ when he agreed to conservatorship. This makes an uneven balance of power, typically kills intimacy and creates a dynamic of conflict in the relationship,” explained licensed psychotherapist, Stacy Kaiser.

[From two stories on Radar and Fox News]

These reports are similar to what Kaiser has been saying about this relationship – that it’s not fair to Britney to have her romantic partner be her co-conservator, and that it speaks to Britney’s fragile mental state. The thing that is starting to bring me over to that side of the story is that Jason broke up with Britney (if it went down that way) right when The X Factor was ending. It’s like he was acting more like a business manager than a boyfriend, and when that aspect was over he stepped aside. (Both as her fiance and as her co-conservator.) Or maybe it was all a coincidence. I don’t believe that he only had a business relationship with Britney, though. Do you remember that creepy video he made for her, in bed, in which he was encouraging her? He was her boyfriend, but he was also in control of her, and it was all quite strange. I’m just wondering what’s next for Britney, and if she’ll have to do another album and tour. She seems like she’s in a better place now, but like she’ll never be the one making decisions about her daily life.

Update: We may know what’s next for Britney. TMZ reports that she’s very close to signing an “astronomical” deal with an unnamed venue in Vegas that would earn her more than Celine Dion’s $100 million a year. It’s up in the air whether she will be performing or making appearances, or a combination of both. Maybe that’s why she looks so damn happy here.

Photo credit: FameFlynet

Wow, buried after 6 pm (EST) on a Friday night – the Friday before the Golden Globes! Yeah. Why didn’t they want us to pay attention to this mess? TMZ reports that Britney Spears and Jason Trawick are finally, totally over, thus confirming widespread rumors and tabloid reports and my personal suspicions about the state of their relationship and engagement. Here’s TMZ’s report:

Britney Spears and Jason Trawick have broken up … TMZ has learned.

The couple got engaged back in 2011. Trawick started out as Britney’s agent, the duo started dating and he eventually became her co-conservator along with her dad, Jamie Spears.

Multiple sources connected to the couple tell TMZ … Jason didn’t want to make the announcement until he was taken off the conservatorship. Interestingly, lawyers for the conservatorship are in court right now, along with Britney’s dad, Jamie Spears, so it’s possible Jason will be removed today.

Sources say it was a “friendly breakup” and Britney and Jason will remain friends. As for why they split, we’re told they just “grew apart.”

The timing’s pretty interesting considering Brit recently changed agencies, heading to CAA … an indication Trawick was no longer involved in managing her career.

[From TMZ]

That’s interesting about the conservatorship, because that was the first question I had – “I wonder if Jason is still going to have financial and legal control over Britney?” As for the breakup… it’s not shocking, but it’s still sad. I always thought Jason was more Britney “handler” and “wrangler” as opposed to her life partner and lover, and it sketched me out when Jason was made her co-conservator.

This also comes on the heels of Britney formally “quitting” The X-Factor, although I don’t know why EVERY site and outlet ran the story like it was some huge news – Britney’s contract was for one year. She didn’t want a second year, and neither did Simon. It wasn’t a situation where someone “quit” or “got fired”.

So, Brit-Brit is single again, and she’s doesn’t have a job. Jamie Spears better get the cheese grits ready.

UPDATE: People Mag has everyone’s official announcements. Her rep says: “Britney Spears and Jason Trawick have mutually agreed to end their one-year engagement… As two mature adults, they came to the difficult decision to go their separate ways while continuing to remain friends.” Um, she’s not legally a “mature adult,” thus the conservatorship. Brit-Brit gave her statement too: “Jason and I have decided to call off our engagement. I’ll always adore him and we will remain great friends.” Jason’s official statement: “As this chapter ends for us a new one begins. I love and cherish her and her boys and we will be close forever.” Yeah. We’ll see.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

OK! Magazine points us to some new photos of Britney Spears out getting a Frappuccino (natch) while wearing sweatpants, her engagement ring from Jason Trawick conspicuously absent from her left hand. (We don’t have those photos, you can see them here.) Now, an argument could be made for Britney going casual and leaving her jewelry at home. However, I also found photos of her in sweats less than a month ago, wearing her engagement ring. I’m thinking that Hollyscoop’s report before the holidays, that Jason and Britney were on the rocks, was accurate. Radar had a follow-up before Christmas claiming that it was make or break time for Britney and Jason. They’ve been together for three years, engaged for over a year, and they haven’t set a wedding date yet. So I believe that they’re having trouble. According to Radar, the only thing keeping them from breaking up was the fact that Jason is still Britney’s co-conservator, and it’s complicated legally. Here’s that older report:

“It’s a make or break holiday for Britney and Jason,” a source close to the Toxic singer told RadarOnline.com.

“Things have been getting worse and worse with their relationship for several months now, and they know they have to figure things out once and for all because they can’t keep going on like this.”

However, as Jason is a co-conservator over Britney’s estate and contractually has to be on set with her at all times during taping of The X Factor, the decision to stay together or not isn’t an easy one to make for either of them.

“If they do decide to call off the engagement for good, things are going to be tricky, legally and financially, so it isn’t just the state of their relationship they have to think about,” the source said.

“If there wasn’t those considerations involved they would of split a while ago.

“They hope to come to a decision before the new year,” the source divulged.

Meanwhile, it seems Spears may already be laying the groundwork to appear as the dumper, not the dumped!

A close source tells Radar that Britney has said she and Jason have been fighting because he wants to have kids and she doesn’t!

“Britney said Jason wants to be a father, and while he’s happily taken on the role of adopted dad to both Jayden and Sean, he still wants Britney to have his kids,” the insider says.

“Britney says she’s happy with just her two children at the moment and wants to concentrate on her career, which doesn’t sit well with Jason.

“Which is kind of bizarre as just a few months ago she would of JUMPED at the chance to expand her family with Jason. There seems to have been a marked turnaround in Britney’s thought process and emotions recently, and quite frankly, it doesn’t ring true!”

[From Radar Online]

If that’s true, and Britney did take a stand at not wanting to have more children now, good for her. She really struggled with motherhood, to say the least, and that’s probably for the best that she not plan for more kids.

Meanwhile, Radar has a related story about Britney’s career. Her schedule is open now that The X-Factor has wrapped and she’s not expected to return for another season. Radar claims her people are hoping to get her a recurring television guest spot. Their source spills that “Britney’s manager, Larry Rudolph, is reading television scripts that the singer could accept. Britney’s dad, Jamie feels that having his daughter on a sitcom would be a good fit for her. Britney needs to be kept busy, and a structured environment such as a television sitcom would be a natural fit for her.” Britney has guested on How I Met Your Mother and Will and Grace, and an ongoing guest spot wouldn’t be a bad idea for her. It’s not like she can act, but she’s passable.

I hate that Britney’s handlers are saying she “needs to be kept busy,” though. It’s like she can only be busy on their terms and has no say in how she spends her time. Maybe that’s why it ultimately didn’t work out with Jason, he was just another person telling her what to do. Are Britney and Jason going to announce a split, or are they waiting to see if they can work things out? I get the sense they have broken up and gotten back together a few times.

Britney out on 12-15-12 with her engagement ring. Credit: FameFlynet. Other photos credit: WENN.com

Does anyone else think Simon Cowell’s face is morphing into Jabba the Hut’s face? It’s weird, right? I feel like we don’t talk about this enough: Simon is doing some really weird and gross things with his face these days, and it is not cute at all. Maybe we end up with the face we deserve, though. Because Simon is now trying to “manage” Britney Spears’s departure from The X-Factor like it’s something brand new, and like he was the one to “fire” her. Take a trip down memory lane with me – wasn’t it ALWAYS just going to be one year for Britney? Wasn’t that what her management team wanted? Just one year, and Simon wanted more, and he didn’t get more and now that her contract is up, he’s all “Yeah, I fired her!” Bulls—t.

Looks like Britney Spears’ X Factor gig will be a one-and-done kind of deal. As the new issue of Us Weekly reveals, the “Hold It Against Me” singer is on her way out as a judge for Fox’s hit reality competition, which wrapped its second season on Dec. 20.

“Britney will get the boot,” an insider tells Hot Stuff of the pop star, who joined the show in May, along with fellow newcomer Demi Lovato. “Producers wanted her for the long haul, but it isn’t working.”

One reason? Spears’ $15 million contract, which sources say the low-energy mentor hasn’t earned.

“They paid all that for her to say ‘amazing’ and offer half-claps,” a second insider tells Us
Adds a third source of show co-creator Simon Cowell, who is leading the charge to axe the performer: “He wanted crazy Britney, but he got boring Britney.”

Spears’ firing would be the latest in a long line of departures over the show’s short lifespan. In the space of just two seasons, the series has lost or let go of Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger, Cheryl Cole and — most recently — L.A. Reid, who announced his decision to leave earlier this month.

Spears is likely next on the chopping block, but Cowell, 53, hasn’t always had it out for her. During a conference call in October, he told reporters that she had been “a lot better than everybody thought…She’s very engaged…She has been, I think, a very, very good judge.”

Alas, their professional relationship seems to have soured some, as has the singer’s personal relationship with fiance Jason Trawick. Sources tell Us that the mom to Preston, 7, and Jayden, 6, has been increasingly butting heads with her beau.

“They are pulling away from each other,” a pal explains to Us. “Unless things change, they will split for good.”

[From Us Weekly]

For the last time, SHE WASN’T FIRED. Her contract expired and no one wanted to negotiate a new contract for another year. The wording does matter, damn it. And yes, she wasn’t magic-crazy Brit-Brit. She was subdued and prone to walking off whenever she felt weird or uncomfortable, which is how she has learned to cope. I really hate the way her management team, The X-Factor producers and Simon in particular have used Britney throughout the past year, and how they’re still using her now.

Anyway, who will replace Britney? Demi Lovato is going too, right? So Simon is going to need a bunch of new people. I wonder if Paula Abdul will get a call? Oh, in all seriousness, you know who I was thinking about, someone who would do well as a reality show judge? Shania Twain. For real. She would be a great judge. Ooo… I totally wrote that before I even saw that Shania has allegedly made Simon’s shortlist. I can’t believe Simon and I are on the same page.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

When I first read this story on Radar Online, I’ll admit that I fell for it. I would have reported it like it was real. Radar has this way of phrasing gossip that gives it a distinct air of legitimacy. Plus they’ve broken plenty of stories to date. Then I read the alleged “restraining order request” from Britney Spear’s “ex-brother-in-law” on US Weekly and thought “this can’t be real.” It turns out it wasn’t, and Radar and US Weekly got duped.

To recap: Radar reported that the National Enquirer was in possession of a restraining filed against Britney Spears by her ex-brother-in-law, Christopher Federline. In the request, Christopher allegedly claimed that Britney stole his credit card, ran up $4,500 worth of charges on it, and also, incidentally, he’s the father of Britney’s oldest son, Sean Preston Federline. In Us Weekly’s posted version of the document, Britney used the credit card to buy $4,500 worth of comic books, I sh*t you not. The “lawsuit” was riddled with errors and included laughable details like Britney telling “Christopher” he had a small penis. It’s all the work of a known fraudster who regularly filed ridiculous lawsuits against famous people, including Britney, when he was in jail. Now he’s using the identities of relatives of famous people to file bogus lawsuits. He’s done this recently to Angelina Jolie, Selena Gomez, and Justin Bieber, among others. The Smoking Gun uncovered the truth:

Since his release from prison in late-April, Riches has continued filing lawsuits, though he has used names other than his own, like “Gino Romano.” For example, posing as the father of actress Selena Gomez, Riches filed an October 2012 federal complaint accusing Justin Bieber of stealing his credit card and using it to pay for a “penis enlargement.”

News of the phony Bieber lawsuit came in an “Exclusive” story on the gossip site TMZ, which apparently was unaware that the complaint was concocted by Riches (whose Facebook page lists his occupation as a “Creative Writer” for TMZ).

Riches’s latest hoax victim is gossip site Radar Online, which today posted a front-page story reporting that Britney Spears was being sued in federal court by the brother of Kevin Federline, one of her ex-husbands and the father of her two boys…

Riches, who himself was a credit card fraudster, referred to the “Federline” complaint in a December 19 Facebook post.

The “Federline” lawsuit, filed December 18 in Tampa, Florida, was dismissed two days later by Judge Steven Merryday, who cited three prior 2012 cases in his order. Two of those cases were filed by “Gino Romano” and named various members of the Kardashian family as defendants.

The third case was filed by a “Jonathan Jolie,” who sued Brad Pitt, John Travolta, and the Church of Scientology for, among other things, assaulting him. “Jolie,” who claimed to be Angelina Jolie’s cousin, wrote that he was “hiding at the Italian Embassy in New York for protection and I’m wearing a mask.”

[From The Smoking Gun]

There’s more about this Jonathan Lee Riches character on The Smoking Gun if you’re interested. He just got out of jail in April, and is currently in jail again, after traveling to Newtown, CT to impersonate an uncle of one of the murdered children there. It’s all pretty despicable. I just feel sorry for Radar and The National Enquirer. Maybe if this story hadn’t come out around the holidays when everyone is working half-assed this lawsuit wouldn’t have passed the sniff test. US Weekly fell for it too, and they also had access to the original document.

Photo credit: FameFlynet

I don’t think there’s any doubt that all of us, collectively, want the best for Britney Spears. She is a very sympathetic figure, and when we debate her career and life options, I feel like we’re all trying to assess what’s best for her and her state of mind. Many of you have had mixed feelings about Jason Trawick and whether or not he was good for Britney. My take: yes, Jason has been good for Britney overall, if you’re just taking him as her caretaker and manager, as someone who cares about her wellbeing and tries to help her out. But I’m so wary of Jason because he “proposed” to her (possibly as a reward for getting through her tour) while she is still very much under her personal and professional conservatorship. Not only that, but Jason is now Britney’s legal co-conservator, jointly with Brit’s dad Jamie Spears. Some said it was love. Some said it was a money grab. Some said it was just sketchy.

Anyway, Hollyscoop has an interesting exclusive about Jason and Britney and whether or not this engagement is going to last.

Hollyscoop has learned exclusively that Britney and Jason are about to split and get this, Britney doesn’t know about it! A source close to the couple has told Hollyscoop exclusively that Jason has had enough and wants out of the relationship.

“Jason has told Britney’s entire family that he’s planning to leave her, so that Britney will have a support system when he breaks the bad news,” the source tells us.

Jason is reportedly waiting for “The X Factor” to be over, because he and her whole family think Britney will take the news real hard, and would rather not have her deal with it while she’s trying to film the show. But here’s the weirdest part, Jason reportedly wants to remain her manager after the break-up. So basically their relationship will become strictly business. Pretty sure Britney won’t want him on payroll after he dumps her, but he has been great for her career, so who knows.

Jason used to be Britney’s agent, but when they became a couple, he left his agency in 2011, dropped her as a client, and solely became her manager.

A second Britney source added to Hollyscoop, “I haven’t heard anything about [the split], but I do know they are going on vacation together for the holidays.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean they are staying together. Jason could just be taking advantage of their last vacation as a couple or he thinks a post-vacation break-up will soften the blow. If memory serves us correct Brad Pitt and Jen Aniston dropped the big bomb on us a week after the holidays as well.

[From Hollyscoop]

So, is Jason looking for a way out? Did he simply take on more than he could handle with this engagement? Does he miss the “business” side of managing Britney, and he’s tired of the day-to-day struggles of managing her? Or is this just a random split story, signifying nothing? Well… my gut says that Britney and Jason probably won’t end up getting married. I could totally be wrong, but I feel like Jason and Jamie kept organizing these “rewards” for Britney to get her to do all of this stuff (record an album, go on tour, sign on to the X-Factor), and it’s gotten beyond their control.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.