It looks like the long, painful, over-saturated saga of Britney Spears might finally be coming to a head. It’s been about as entertaining as watching someone pull the wings off a fly. But, now that Britney has been held longer than 20 hours on 5150 lockdown, reputable healthcare professionals are finally able to assess her condition. It’s worse than we all suspected:

Sources at UCLA Medical Center tell TMZ Britney Spears has been classified as “G.D.” - Greatly Disabled. That is a huge and dangerous deal. That means the patient is unable to take care of basic needs, such as the acquisition of food, clothing or shelter. Being G.D. is one of the criteria for involuntary commitment.

Several health care professionals tell us Britney has fallen into a “manic state” due to her bipolar disorder. We’re also told, she arrived at the hospital this morning at around 2:15 AM but wasn’t admitted until 4:15 AM, because she was causing such a scene in the hospital.

We first reported that Britney accused her mother of sleeping with her boyfriend. Now we have more. We’re told Britney screamed, “the only reason she’s admitting me is because she wants to be alone with her boyfriend! She wants to sleep with my boyfriend!!” Britney never said exactly who she was talking about.

When Brit calmed down, she talked about her kids, how much she misses them and how it’s unfair that she doesn’t have them.

[From TMZ]

Earlier, it was revealed that Britney’s drug of choice is Adderall, the prescription medication used to treat ADD, and she has been using laxatives.

Lynne Spears, who has been estranged from her eldest daughter for most of the past year, said she was “devastated” by how badly Britney’s condition had deteriorated. Hopefully, the severity of Britney’s condition will give Lynne the strength to do the right thing and get Britney some help. Unless she commits her, Britney could voluntarily leave the hospital– and this time, she might not survive.

Days before Britney Spears’ “carefully orchestrated intervention,” her mother Lynne Spears “flew out” to L.A. Sunday and was shocked to see how badly the singer’s mental condition had deteriorated, a source close to the singer tells Usmagazine.com.

“Lynne was devastated,” a source tells Us. “She hadn’t seen her in a while and to see her deteriorated to this level – what mother wouldn’t be affected by that? It’s awful.”

Over the weekend, pal Sam Lutfi phoned The View’s Barbara Walters, saying that the the singer and her estranged mom were back on speaking terms.

Though the two appeared terse at a Beverly Hills Mercedes-Benz dealership Tuesday morning, Walters quoted Lutfi as saying, “her mother has been very supportive of whatever it is that Britney is trying to do.”

Last night the singer was taken to UCLA Medical Center in a “carefully orchestrated intervention,” the source says. (Lynne arrived with Spears’ latest beau, paparazzo Adnan Ghalib.)

The singer “had been up since Saturday without any sleep,” the source tells Us.

[From Us Weekly]

I truly hope that this is the end of the crazy and the beginning of the healing process for Britney. I’ve said some pretty harsh things about her on this very blog, but right now, I feel really sorry for her. I still believe that a lot of her problems were self-inflicted; and whether she is bipolar or not remains to be seen. She could also be a prescription drug abuser, and she is still a very spoiled young woman who has been out of touch with reality for quite some time. But she is a person– and she is going through hell right now. In front of the whole world.

There are also rumors that her family will be taking Britney back home to Louisiana to finish her recovery. That may be the best thing for her right now. It would be great if we didn’t have to report on the next crazy Britney episode here, and it would be even better if Sean Preston and Jayden James had a healthy, supportive mother in their lives.

Pictures are older ones of Britney, which means last week.

Like many parents, I like to joke that I want to book myself into a psychiatric hospital and get a break from my kids – and it seems that I’m not alone. Grey’s Anatomy star and father of five Justin Chambers (he plays Alex, for those of you who don’t watch it) has booked himself into UCLA psych ward this week for treatment of a sleep disorder.

Chambers, who plays Dr. Alex Karev on the ABC drama, checked into the facility on Tuesday, before promptly checking himself out the following day.

Chambers, 37, who is married with five children aged under 10, went in voluntarily, according to his publicist.

“[He is] exhausted and suffers from a sleeping disorder,” the rep said.

Celebrity Truth

Justin was only in for a short, unspecified amount of time earlier in the week, and missed the drama that must have been last nights admission (oh, you all know who I’m talking about!)

If reports in the New Zealand Herald are to be believed, than it was not necessarily the best place to get some sleep. They say that the hospital has all patients on 24 hour supervision, and that patients can be “quite agitated and screams being heard all hours of the night.”

That seems like a pretty scary place to be. The only psych ward I have ever visited was quiet and pleasant, with patients playing ping pong and watching the Today show. Although I think that people who need to be restrained are usually in a medical ward until they are calm in some hospital systems. Possibly it depends on where a bed is available.

I hope Justin had some good rest, and is ready to tackle the demands of a large family again.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Justin Chambers is shown at the Enchanted World Premiere on 11/17/07, thanks to PRPhotos.

Britney and Adnan at lunch earlier yesterday
According to the many, many articles about this available today, Britney’s family and her new psychiatrist have put her on a psychiatric hold for 72 hours at UCLA medical center. She was admitted to the hospital at 1:30 am this morning. This was done after she was witnessed driving erratically around her neighborhood, having stayed up for over a day and refusing to take her medication.

Britney has reportedly been undergoing treatment for bipolar disorder. There were rumors yesterday that she attempted suicide, but TMZ and The LA Times report that those rumors are false and that “it was apparent that the operation had been carefully planned over a period of time.”

The route to the hospital was blocked off to all paparazzi vehicles and The LA Times says that “The line of emergency vehicles stretched longer than a football field.”

Britney’s mother, her friend Sam Lufti, her psychiatrist, her boyfriend Adnan Ghalib and her assistant/faux cousin Alli Sims were all at the house when she was escorted away.

TMZ has more details of the incident, and says that Britney wasn’t resistant to the intervention, which was planned ahead of time and managed to shield Britney from photographers at a vulnerable time:

TMZ has learned the plan to get Britney into UCLA Medical Center had been hatched for days — it was aborted last night, but executed just minutes ago. And we’re told the plan was so intricate the FAA had cleared airspace in route to the hospital.

Back at her house, Britney’s psychiatrist told her she was going to the hospital. Her response was, “Is something wrong?” She was not resistant. She made hot chocolate and waited before paramedics arrived and placed her on a gurney.

We’re told the psychiatrist felt her condition had deteriorated. Britney had not slept since Saturday — a day and half longer than she stayed up in recent memory.

The reason she’s at UCLA is her new treating psychiatrist practices out of that medical center.

We’re told during her initial 72-hour stay she cannot be forced to take medication against her will. If, however, she refuses to take meds, the plan is for the the psych to go to court and have Britney held for an additional 14 days, during which time he can administer proper medications.

And get this ironic twist — Lynne Spears and Adnan drove to the Medical Center in the same car. A source tells us when Lynne found out Britney was being committed, she blamed it on Sam and was extremely agitated. When Brit heard that, she screamed to her mother, “Shut the hell up.”

[From TMZ]

Britney’s last hospitalization was on January 3 following a standoff with police when she refused to handover her youngest son for a scheduled visit with his father. She has since lost all visitation rights with her two boys and is only permitted to speak to them over the phone.

Britney is clearly affected by the crush of paparazzi who document her every move when she leaves the house. She has been behaving oddly and speaking in a British accent, and if you watch the videos of her interacting with photographers a lot of them are British, including her boyfriend Adnan Ghalib. There have been theories that she suffers from a type of “Stockholm Syndrome,” which is a psychological disorder that occurs when kidnap victims start to identify with their captors.

When you watch the videos of the paparazzi who surround Britney, you can see how it might be an environment that would make someone lose touch with reality. I’m not placing any blame here, she courts the press too and she’s clearly unstable, but this is a very disturbed person who has been exhibiting out of control behavior for a while. It seems she would have a much better chance at recovery if she could start over in another country or a more remote location where she can get some peace and quiet. A hospital in California where her every move will be leaked to the press is a start, but it doesn’t seem like enough for her at this point.

It seems like all the cool celebrities are going to the hospital these days. In fact I’m going to predict that hospitalizations are the new DUIs. Sad. First it was Britney, then a week later half a dozen celebs gave birth within about three days… though admittedly that’s a much happier hospitalization; at least once it’s over with. Now we find out that Gwyneth Paltrow was admitted to New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital late last night with what media outlets are calling a “mystery illness.” The only mystery is that she won’t share with us what it is. I’m guessing it’s no medical mystery though.

Hollywood superstar Gwyneth Paltrow was at the centre of a health scare mystery yesterday after reportedly being rushed into a hospital in a wheelchair. The actress was admitted into New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital late Monday - just hours after being seen out-and-about near her Manhattan home. But today, it is unclear what was behind the mum-of-two’s scare.

“She was slumped over in a wheelchair pushed by husband Chris Martin,” an eyewitness told a U.S. magazine. “She looked not well.”

At 6:30 p.m., a bag - labeled “Gwyneth Martin” - from NYC organic home supply store Organics Avenue was delivered to the hospital. A source said the star and Coldplay husband Chris were expected to spend the night in hospital. Yesterday Gywneth’s [sic] spokesperson was refusing to discuss the reports, stressing: “We are not commenting as it’s a personal matter.”

[From ShowbizSpy]

I love the integral eyewitness report that “She looked not well.” Generally people being admitted to the hospital don’t look like they’re going to the hospital. And I’ve seen pictures of Gwyneth Paltrow without makeup, and she looks a bit unwell in general. Especially if you’re expecting her to look like Movie Star Gwyneth Paltrow instead of Regular Person Gwyneth Paltrow. It will be interesting to see if we ever find out what she’s been admitted for. Is frigidness an actual medical condition? I kid, I kid. Gwyneth seems to have warmed up a lot in the past few years. Hopefully she’s alright. Not to sound like a hen pecking grandmother, but she appears very very thin and pale, which always makes me wonder. She also sticks to an extremely strict macrobiotic diet – though she did abandon it when she was pregnant. But I can’t help but wonder if she’s getting all the nutrition she needs that way. It’s unclear whether Gwyneth is still in the hospital or has been released. Hopefully it was nothing serious and she’ll be okay.

Update: The Huffington Post reports that Gwyneth was on one of Organic Avenue’s fasts before she was hospitalized.

Like the virtual Woodward and Bernsteins we are, we called Organic Avenue to find out what was in the bag. “She’s doing our five-day live-food fast,” an employee told us. Reaaaaaally, we drawled in our best gumshoe-detective voice. Could that be why she’s in the hospital, perhaps? The employee laughed like that was just crazy talk. Right, because whoever heard of anyone getting sick from not eating? “Oh, no,” she said. “She’s eating salads, there’s juices. There’s actually quite a bit of food there, it’s just all raw and organic.” And so our groundbreaking reporting reached a dubious but still satisfying conclusion. Because Gwyneth can’t actually be that sick if she’s still sticking to her diet.

[From the Huffington Post]

OK! magazine’s website says that Gwyneth has left Mount Sinai Hospital. Her rep has released a statement saying: “Gwyneth is fine and at home - we are not commenting further.”

Picture note by Jaybird: Gwyneth Paltrow on her way to dinner in New York on December 9t. Images thanks to Splash Photos.

An older image of Eminem performing
Did Eminem, aka Marshall Mathers, spend too much time drinking egg nog in the snow over the holidays? It seems he’s been hospitalized with pneumonia and a possible heart problem.

Hospital sources tell TMZ Em was taken to a Detroit-area hospital for a serious heart condition and severe pneumonia. Sources tell TMZ Em’s weight has ballooned to 212 lbs.

Eminem ’s publicist told TMZ: “Over the holidays, Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, was under doctor’s care at a Detroit-area hospital for complications due to pneumonia. He has since been released and is doing well recovering at home.”

TMZ

The publicist doesn’t acknowledge the heart condition or weight issue at all.

Now, I’m no doctor, but is it possible that the pneumonia could cause heart problems? The heart and lungs are both in the chest. Checking it out on Wikipedia, the symptoms include sharp chest pains. When you have pneumonia caused by bacteria it can also spread to other parts of the body including the kidneys, brain and heart. So what probably happened is that Eminem was warned that he had bacterial pneumonia and be aware of possible heart problems. Hopefully he was just erring on the side of caution and went to the hospital to be sure he was ok.

As far as his ‘ballooning’ weight goes, 212 pounds is about 97 kilograms, which is not exactly huge. It might not be a reasonable weight gain for Eminem, but it hardly makes him obese. Who didn’t put on a little weight over the festive season? I always do, which really sucks here in the southern hemisphere because it’s the height of bikini season.

I predict that Mr Mathers will be back to his regular weight in time for his next album release, which he’s been working on for some months at his Shady Studios in Detroit. The album is due for release in 2008. Get well soon, Eminem.

Note by Celebitchy: It’s impossible to find recent pictures of Eminem, I looked on the photo sharing sites and through the fan sites and there’s nothing. He did look a little heavy in December, 2006 at TRL with 50 Cent but those photos are old. Let me know if you can find anything of him from the past six months. Here are pictures of Eminem as a child, thanks to user Kendra on Flickr. He’s shown in the header performing on an unknown date.

Eminem is from 5′8″ to 5′10″ tall, it’s hard to tell, so 212 pounds would be borderline obese for him if he’s 5′10″, according to BMI calculations.

A photo of Britney and Adnan from December
Britney on vacation with photographer
Britney Spears is with photographer and new boyfriend Adnan Ghalib in Palm Desert, California, where she drinking champagne for breakfast and he’s presumably getting plenty of exclusive shots of the world’s most-watched fallen celebrity. There was a story this weekend that Ghalib approached British papers with intimate photos of Britney that weren’t that revealing and wanted an astonishing $5 million for his story and the photos. The snaps were said to just show Britney on the couch with Ghalib with her hand on his knee, and he should have aimed lower or had more compromising photos. We’ve all seen Britney’s kitty on multiple occasions so it’s not like photos of her relaxing in one of the many hotels she frequents are going to bring much on the open market. There are also a ton of stories floating around about her many exploits, told by the guys who were along for the ride, so one more is not going to shock anyone.

Dr. Phil overstated his visit with Britney, violated hospital policy
Britney managed to sneak away from Cedars-Sinai hospital, where she was placed on a medical hold and released earlier than the standard 72 hour wait time, without being photographed. Dr. Phil claims to have counseled her for a full hour before she left, and will surely bring in huge ratings for having her folks on his show on Tuesday. He of course wanted to have Britney on too, but she wasn’t having any of that. TMZ has a story that contradicts Dr. Phil’s statement in which they say that Dr. Phil showed up after Britney was released, tried to talk to her for 15 minutes, and was summarily dismissed. They also say the TV psychologist didn’t walk her to her car as he claims, either. Given that it’s Britney and she won’t listen to anyone, it seems like TMZ has the right story.

Criticism of Dr. Phil for entering Britney’s room without patient permission
There’s also a story that Dr. Phil’s visit violated hospital policy in that he entered a patient’s room without it being cleared with her. TMZ consulted medical experts who say this is highly unprofessional and that Cedars-Sinai must have been starstruck by Dr. Phil, because his unannounced visit violated the patient’s rights and would typically not be allowed.

For his part Dr. Phil says that the family requested that he be involved and that he spoke to Britney’s mother, father, and her older brother before going to the hospital. Britney’s family was worried that she wasn’t going to be held longer, according to Dr. Phil.

Rumors and false stories in the case
It seems like this outrageous story is opening the floodgates for papers to make even more incredible claims about the situation in order to move copies. News of The World ran a story that would be laughable if the subject hadn’t already defied all belief. They claimed that Britney had a gun the night of the police standoff, that she offered Federline $100 million to hand over custody of the children to her, and that she took over 100 pills that night. It was also K-Fed who called the cops, not the court-appointed monitor, according to their account.

The LAPD has denied that there were any firearms involved, and I think we can safely assume that the majority of that story was fabricated.

PageSix reported that Spears’ “cousin” and assistant, Alli Sims, used a hammer to break down the bathroom door where Britney was holed up with her youngest child, Jayden James. This contradicts earlier reports that had all the staff leaving at least an hour before Britney was escorted out. Indeed, Sims denies that she broke down the door and says that she wasn’t even threre.

Was Britney’s drug test really negative and was she on something or just off the deep end?
Many of you have said that there’s no way Britney’s toxicology tests could have come back as soon as the report in Life & Style that all her drug tests were clean. Some commentors mention a rumor that Spears’ camp is leaking these false stories to the press in order to clear her name.

Courteney Love has speculated that Spears is taking too much Adderall, an ADHD prescription medication that has speed-like properties and can cause erratic behavior at high doses. Another report has her on Clenbuterol, a dangerous horse steroid that is being abused as a quick-fix diet drug.

Whatever happened to Britney, she’s dominating the news again. Surely she’s mentally ill, but she seems aware enough to realize that her episode has managed to take the focus off her young sister’s pregnancy. Many are pointing that out, while others are saying it’s just not fair to hold a mentally disturbed person to the same standards as the rest of us who just watch in disbelief.

Britney Spears has once again managed to prove that the rules, no matter how rigid – apply to everyone but her. She’s managed to get herself released from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center mental ward, where she was placed on a 72-hour hold. According to most sources, Brit was admitted to the hospital sometime around midnight Friday morning, which means she should have been held until about midnight tomorrow night. But she’s managed to get herself released after only 31 hours – more or less. Brit was released this morning at 7am, after a visit from Dr. Phil. According to Page Six, Brit began acting out after Dr. Phil visited her, and then was released with him and her father Jamie Spears. That really doesn’t make any sense – she started misbehaving, so they released her? Regardless of what went down, Brit was definitely released this morning, and is now at home.

After being rushed to the hospital Thursday night and spending two nights there, Britney Spears has left the building. OK! can confirm that she was escorted out by four police officers at 7 am, but Brit Brit did not head to her lavish Beverly Hills pad. Instead she headed to her Studio City home.

Both Entertainment Tonight and The Insider were first to report that the mother of two left Saturday morning via an underground tunnel. A source told the television shows that there was no reason to keep her hospitalized despite reports she would stay for 72 hours.

Before she was released, Britney had an unexpected visitor. Dr. Phil was seen visiting the out of control singer and her father Jamie. Dr. Phil then walked Britney to her car.

[From OK!]

It seems like there’s a lot of confusing information out there – it’s hard to tell if it’s just because the stories are being written so fast. Britney left through an underground tunnel, but Dr. Phil also walked her to her car? She freaked out when Dr. Phil arrived at the hospital, but they also let her go because there was no reason to hold her? I have to say, the biggest reason to keep Britney Spears hospitalized is that her mood and behavior are super unstable and seem to change often, quickly, and unpredictably. Additional, a good reason to keep her for the full 72 hours is to teach her that there are consequences for bad behavior. Yeah I know that sounds like something you’d say to a child, but Britney has the intellect of a child, so that’s what works. Showing her time and time again that she is an exception to the rule will only reinforce her behavior. She needs as much structure and rigid toughness as possible. I’m really disappointed in the mental health system right now.

Britney not under the influence of illegal drugs
Life and Style reports that they have a source that claims that Britney’s blood test from Cedars Sinai came back negative for drugs and that she was not under the influence of illegal substances. So she’s just crazy and/or whacked out on prescription drugs. It occurred to me that she may have abruptly gone off a prescription medication or started a new one and that might explain her very erratic behavior. She could of course just be crazy, but if you start or suddenly stop using psychiatric medication it can dramatically affect your moods. You should wean off medication for depression and/or anxiety and start slowly to ensure that it’s the right dosage and medication for you.

Britney locked herself in the bathroom with Sean Preston and Jayden James, let SP go
Page Six reports that Britney locked herself in the bathroom with the boys, eventually letting one go:

According to reports, when Kevin Federline’s bodyguard showed up to collect Sean Preston and Jayden James, Britney locked herself in the bathroom with both boys and wouldn’t come out. She also refused to let the boys leave, so cops were called to the house. A source told PageSix.com that Britney was “hysterical and just wanted to keep the kids overnight.” The insider says that Britney wasn’t making any sense and “kept saying she wanted to stay with the kids.”

[From PageSix]

K-Fed’s lawyer refused to make a statement
I was watching TMZ’s “live feed” of the much-anticipated press conference with K-Fed’s lawyer, Mark Kaplan, and all that happened was that a co-worker of Kaplan’s came out and said that due to the sensitive nature of the situation he would not be making a statement. No questions about the welfare of the children or Britney were answered.

Jayden James is likely ok
Everyone is worried that something happened to Jayden James after he was taken to the hospital along with Britney, but PageSix reports that a source says he’s “going to be fine.” It seems like he was taken to the hospital for observation as they wanted to make sure he was ok after the “hostage” type situation he was in.

The rumor that Britney was screaming that she “Would rather die than let him have my babies”
This is based on an all caps unsubstantiated Oh No They Didn’t post from a “source inside Cedars Sinai” and might not be true:

brenden JUST RECEIVED A CALL FROM AN ONTD MEMBER/SOURCE THAT IS INSIDE CEDARS-SINAI RIGHT NOW. THE SOURCE SAID THAT - WHILE BEING TRANSPORTED DOWN THE HALLWAY AFTER HER ARRIVAL - BRITNEY WAS SCREAMING THAT SHE WOULD RATHER DIE THAN “LET HIM HAVE MY BABIES.” AFTER REPEATEDLY SCREAMING THAT SHE WANTED TO DIE, BRITNEY WAS APPARENTLY RESTRAINED BY HOSPITAL STAFF AND MAY HAVE BEEN SEDATED.

[From ONTD]

While that might not be exactly what she said and we have no way of verifying that, it is true that she was likely considered a suicide risk. She was deemed a “special case” by Cedars Sinai, which means that she was either suicidal or overdosed. No wonder they brought Jayden in for observation.

Videos of Britney and the media circus last night
Here’s a video of Britney’s cavalcade arriving at the hospital, thanks to Hollywood.TV via ONTD. It shows the circus that surrounded her that night. Britney is shown very briefly at 2 minutes into the video sitting up on the gurney looking around wide-eyed. She reminds me of a trapped animal. K-Fed is seen trying to hide in his car as he drives into the hospital near the end.

There’s also a video of Kevin Federline speeding and driving erratically trying to lose the paparazzi. The children were not with him at the time.

Update Another video from Celeb.tv that shows Britney briefly in the ambulance at 30 seconds before the end. The paramedics try to put a sheet over her head and she keeps pulling it down and smiling!

Cops called when Britney refused to hand over children
Just when you think that Britney Spears can’t get any more crazy she goes and tops herself. America’s favorite trainwreck just managed to bring more attention to herself while ensuring that her kids are scarred for life. She refused to hand over her boys to her ex Kevin Federline’s bodyguard at 7 pm as scheduled after their visit at her Studio City Los Angeles home. The cops were called an hour later to mediate the dispute and they ended up staying four hours while a media circus gathered outside. There were news and police helicopters, nine police cars, three fire engines, multiple paparazzi cars and three ambulances. There was no violence or injuries on the scene, according to the LAPD.

Britney taken to hospital for “evaluation” and was under the influence
Paramedics were in Britney’s house at 11 p.m. to “treat” her, but doesn’t seem that there was anything wrong with her besides the usual, and photos show her smiling and sitting up on the gurney. Police said she was detained as she was under the influence of an unknown substance. Britney was wheeled out of her house on a gurney, smiling maniacally. She arrived at Cedars-Sinai medical center at 12:30 this morning and is on a “medical hold” while her mental state is evaluated. She could be in the hospital for 72 hours as they try to diagnose what’s wrong with her.

Jayden James, 1, is in the hospital for unknown reasons. Sean Preston is with K-Fed
Sadly, at least one child was said to be in another ambulance accompanying her to the hospital, according to E! Online, but it seems as if they may have been using the ambulance to transport one of the tots since the police say there were no injuries. CNN reported that both Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2, were returned to Federline’s custody after the incident, but additional reports have Jayden in the hospital.

Pop star Britney Spears was taken to hospital for tests to see if she was under the influence of alcohol or drugs and for a psychological evaluation after police were called to her home Thursday night to mediate a custody dispute, a police spokesman said.

Spears appeared to be conscious as she was rolled out of her Studio City home on a gurney about three hours after police and ambulances arrived there.

The children were returned to their father, Kevin Federline, who has primary legal custody of the two sons, a police spokesman said.

Doctors at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles will decide whether to invoke a California law that allows a patient to be held for psychological evaluation for 72 hours, the police spokesman said.

Aerial video provided by local television station helicopters showed Spears on a stretcher and surrounded by police and paramedics as it was rolled to an ambulance near her home.

[From CNN]

K-Fed’s lawyer went to Britney’s house with court order, she just wanted to keep kids overnight
This story is a bit confusing to me due to the ongoing custody battle between Britney and K-Fed. Britney has visitation rights and Kevin has full legal custody, but why did Britney chose to hold onto the boys at this time? She was 90 minutes late to a court-ordered deposition that morning, and didn’t miss it as we first reported. She could only be questioned for 14 minutes. Maybe she realized at that point that she’s about to lose even supervised visits with her children and decided to stage a last stand off. K-Fed’s attorney did go to Britney’s house after she refused to hand over the children and was seen carrying papers that were thought to be the court order to show police. The court order could have just been the proof that the children should be with K-Fed and wasn’t necessarily new. K-Fed’s lawyer left before Britney was wheeled out.

Britney’s lawyer, who just quit on Wednesday, said “In a normal case when someone shows up with a certified court order saying the kids need to be somewhere else, the police see to it that the order is obeyed. But that is in a normal case.”

He meant that’s with a normal person didn’t he? If Britney wasn’t about to lose visits with her boys before, it seems like she is now. Maybe that’s what she wanted all along.

Update: E! Online reported that one child was transported in an ambulance, and Page Six says it was Jayden James:

Brit’s divorce attorney, legal ace and saint Anne Kiley drove Sean P. to Federline’s house and Jayden James has been taken to the hospital.

[From Page Six]

TMZ confirms that report that Jayden is in the hospital, but it is not known why.

Page Six also says that Britney was “hysterical and just want[ed] to keep the kids overnight.” She has also lost a lot of weight recently or something. I haven’t seen it, but whatever:

Our very well placed source has also told us that the stress and mental anguish of the ongoing custody battle and deposition has caused Spears to “lose a tremendous amount of weight in the past several weeks.”

Story details from Reuters, TMZ, MTV, CNN, and E! Online.

Photos from TMZ and Splash News.

Despite my recent lapse in judgment which resulted in believing the Daily Mail’s bizarre Tara Reid surgery story… and then repeating it… I believe that dignity is completely overrated, so I will now bring you more news that depicts Tara Reid in a bad light. This time I’ve triple-checked it (apparently my former double-checking system was not nearly as foolproof as I’d thought). And most importantly, my number one oath as a writer is to report any and all negative Tara Reid news I may hear. Number two is to eat as much oatmeal as possible, and for similar reasons: they’re both good for the soul. Reid, who has been looking scary-skinny lately – collapsed in a Bali nightclub and was rushed to the hospital.

The ‘American Pie’ actress was enjoying a night out on the island of Bali when she lost her footing and injured herself. A source said: “She was having a couple a drinks and then all of a sudden she lost her footing.”

She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was treated for cuts and bruises and she is now recovering at her luxurious hotel. The 32-year-old is in Bali promoting a new pajamas range with entrepreneur Peter Alexander. Earlier this month, Tara hosted a ‘Hookers Ball’ in Australia at Darwin’s Discovery nightclub. The club’s hospitality manager Guy Dunne said: “We thought Tara Reid would be a great choice for it. It was a kind of naughty night, like ‘pimps and prostitutes’. Tara was very enthusiastic to come and do it.”

[From Monsters & Critics]

Anyone who’s ever seen Tara Reid utter more than six words knows that she didn’t just “all of a sudden” lose her footing. She was have 38 drinks when she drunkenly fell over, losing her footing. Nineteen types of cocktails will do that to a 57 pound girl. Just when you think she can’t get any cheaper or tackier than hosting the Hooker’s Ball, she hosts the Hooker’s Ball and then stumbles around the greater part of the Southern Hemisphere for two weeks.

I have a big thing about not making fun of people’s bodies… although to be fair, my big thing is really about never calling anyone fat. So at the risk of being a bit unfair, Tara Reid REALLY needs to put on some weight. Since I don’t know the first thing about her, I’m in no position to call her anorexic… but I’m struggling to think of something else that could cause someone to become so gaunt so quickly. Tara has never been big, and has definitely gone through a few waif phases before, but she looks much worse to me here. The only reason I would say she probably isn’t anorexic is that she’s clearly very proud of her body, since she’s constantly flaunting it in unfortunate swimsuits and painfully tight jeans. My understanding of anorexics is that even when they’re gaunt, they normally think they’re still fat and thus hide their bodies. Those camel toe-inducing jeans certainly aren’t hiding anything. Tara, try putting some turkey into your mouth. It’ll let you drink more before you fall over.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Tara on November 23rd 2007, and here she is on November 11th, 2006 – a year earlier. The comparison is pretty astounding, . Images thanks to WENN and PR Photos.