CrushDance
Banned
Or so the news says.
Bomba. From hero to zero, just like that.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) Britney Spears has been dumped by her managers as the troubled pop princess struggles to rebuild her career after a heavily criticized public performance earlier this month.
A statement from Spears's manager Jeff Kwatinetz said his company had severed its links with the singer, who has been the subject of frenzied tabloid attention following her concert at the MTV Video Music Awards.
"It saddens us to confirm media reports that we have terminated our professional relationship with Britney Spears," Kwatinetz said in a statement released late Monday.
"We believe Britney is enormously talented, and has made a terrific record, but current circumstances have prevented us from properly doing our job."
Kwatinetz was hired by Spears a month ago as the singer prepares to release her long-awaited new album in November.
After receiving a critical mauling following her performance in Las Vegas last month, several tabloid reports have said Spears's handlers grew frustrated at the singer's wild lifestyle and refusal to meet with them.
Meanwhile, Spears's lawyer Laura Wasser confirmed after a closed doors court hearing on Monday that she was no longer representing the star.
Wasser insisted however that the decision should not be perceived "that we're dumping Britney."
Spears's management and legal woes come amid an increasingly bitter custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline over their two young children.
On Monday it emerged that a former bodyguard had lodged a statement with the court making allegations of nudity and drugs and expressing concern about the welfare of the two boys, Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1.
Separate media reports have speculated that Spears, 25, may even lose custody of the children.
Spears shot to superstardom in late 1998, with her smash-hit debut album "Baby One More Time," which she followed with another chart-topping success the following year, "Oops! ... I Did It Again."
According to Time magazine, Spears has sold over 76 million records worldwide and her 31 million albums sold in the US make her the eighth best-selling female artist in American music history.
She filed for divorce from Federline last year and has rarely been out of the tabloid headlines since before she entered a rehabilitation center in February.
Bomba. From hero to zero, just like that.