Britney Spears

A court ordered payment of nearly $400,000 to the numerous lawyers involved in Britney Spears' affairs Thursday - with the pop star footing the bill.

All the attorneys have been working on the case for under three months.

Samuel Ingham, Britney Spears' court-appointed attorney, will continue to receive a fee of $10,000 a week, Commissioner Reva Goetz ruled.

Andrew Wallet, the co-conservator of Spears' finances, will receive an advance of $100,000. Wallet had not been paid since becoming involved.

Britney Spears is feeling blue after the many thousands in legal bills she's just been slapped with by an L.A. judge. Or maybe it's just her top.

The firm which won Jamie Spears control of Britney Spears' legal affairs will be advanced $175,000, and a lawyer for Britney's brother Bryan Spears will get $22,500, while Stacy Phillips, Britney's new divorce lawyer, will get $75,000.

Jamie Spears, the singer's father, and Andrew Wallet will remain in control of her life until at least a July 31 hearing. They recently won a restraining order against bad seed Sam Lutfi until that date, as well.

A surprisingly upbeat (and pretty darn svelte) Britney Spears was seriously pumped up Wednesday at a Bally Total Fitness gym in Studio City, Calif.

It's great to see her smile, but you gotta wonder, what is Britney Spears so psyched about? Our interns came up with their Top 10 theories ...

1. Got invited out to In-N-Out Burger later.
2. She heard hair extensions were back in style.
3. Found an extra cigarette in her g-string drawer.
4. Kristy Lee Cook finally got voted off American Idol.
5. Heard pal Lucy Walsh is doing well on Rock the Cradle.
6. Remembered Jamie Lynn Spears' birthday (she's a tad slow).
7. Learned that her lawyers are currently giving K-Fed a hard time over his spending habits and trying to get her out of paying his legal bills.
8. Papa Jamie forgot to do his daily underwear check this morning.
9. Just remembered that she earns like $700,000 a month in royalties and no longer does any actual work.
10. Just realized that she is responsible for far more celebrity photos than any other star on The Hollywood Gossip dot com!

Good riddance, Osama! Britney Spears' former confidant and evil manipulator, Sam Lutfi, has agreed to stay away from the pop star through July 31.

This fact was revealed in a Los Angeles courtroom late Wednesday.

The epitome of a bad seed, Sam Lutfi was slapped with restraining order back in February, after Spears' mother, Lynne, accused him of drugging Britney, and her father, Jamie, became legally in charge of the pop star's estate.

Such orders can be extended to up to five years in certain cases.

No word on why Sam Lutfi declined to fight the restraining order.

Meanwhile, Jamie Spears and his attorney, Andrew Wallet, remain in legal control over her affairs, with Brit's brother Bryan Spears a trustee.

Their conservatorship will be reviewed by the court on July 31 - but it's expected that, given their recent progress, the control will be extended.

Another hearing regarding Spears' estate is set for today. The singer has been doing her thing, even returning to the recording studio yesterday.

Troubled pop singer Britney Spears returned to the recording studio this week with her former manager, Larry Rudolph. But it's nothing serious.

"We went into the studio, but it was just for fun - nothing more," Larry Rudolph said of their visits to a studio in Burbank, Calif., Monday and Tuesday.

"She just wanted to go in and tinker around," a source says. "She sat at a piano and got some ideas. She played the piano and sang a bit. She enjoyed herself."

Britney Spears, who used to be a pretty well-known recording artist, has not been in a recording studio, or pants, for much of the past year.

There, Spears played old and new tunes, the source says, adding, "she wanted to go in and get her creativity going. It was a really positive experience for her."

Spears and Rudolph, who produces MTV's Rock the Cradle, "are not at the stage where they are talking business," nor is this studio visit a start of a new project.

But stay tuned. In other Britney Spears news, she's got a hearing coming up May 6 that may allow her to regain some custody or visitation with her kiddies!

Well, first, she'll have to bring sanity back. As for bringing sexy back, that may be a lost cause, although some celeb gossip sites have been helping her out by using older, hotter Britney Spears pictures from 2003-2004 on their covers.

Bad jokes aside, the embattled pop princess may get a chance to return to more normal patterns of visitation with her sons Jayden James and Sean Preston.

The troubled star will appear before L.A. County Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon on May 6 - that is, unless she bails at the last second as usual - to plead for restoration of overnight visits with her two little boys.

Britney will be accompanied by her dad and lawyers, however, so as long as Jamie Spears does his customary underwear check, she should be good.

DRIVING MISS CRAZY: Will Britney Spears see the kiddies more often?

According to a source, Spears - who was hospitalized twice earlier this year after psychotic meldowns - may get one sleepover a week if things go well:

"Britney wants Sean Preston and Jayden James back and she will do everything in her power to make that goal a reality," said the insider.

It is widely believed that while he is worried about Spears' stability, her ex, Kevin Federline, is not trying to stop her from visitation or custody out of spite. In fact, he would welcome it - so long as Britney is deemed capable.

According to several sources, Britney Spears has reportedly been keeping a video diary chronicling all her problems for the last six months or so.

Oh, and she's is threatening to release them online or on MTV.

As well as rants about her mother Lynne Spears, father Jamie Spears, sister Jamie Lynn Spears, and friends, the singer reveals intimate information about her ex, Justin Timberlake, and her one-time rivalry with Christina Aguilera.

"Britney Spears' video diaries are currently the talk of the Tinseltown elite," said a source. "Her high-profile friends and exes - including Justin - knew what she was up to but assumed she was just filming herself as a form of therapy. If she does decide to go public with some of this footage, it will be explosive."

"Although some of it is really sad to watch - especially the parts where she's close to breakdown - others are dynamite. Not surprisingly both Justin Timberlake and Kevin Federline are terrified the material will end up all over the Internet. Or, even worse, Britney will agree to air then via another MTV documentary."

Of course, it's hard to envision the supposed "Tinseltown elite" caring too much, or at all, about a fallen star with multiple personalities, and Britney has been cut off from all friends, so this source sounds way more optimistic than he or she should be.

Also... remember some of the Britney Spears videos from back in the day?

Riiight. No way she says anything remotely lucid. Besides, K-Fed even did the filming for this one (below, what a classic)! Think Britney can actually operate a video camera? Or if she did, would she talk about anything but pork rinds?

This week's probably-made-up Britney Spears gossip story award goes to (drum roll please) ... In Touch Weekly! You've been dethroned, OK! Magazine!

On the cover of this week's issue, this fine celebrity news magazine boldly proclaims that a recovering Britney has relapsed, and has been ...

• Ripping her hair out
• Faking overdoses
• Talking to herself
• Obsessed with sex

First of all, Britney Spears boozin' with papa Jamie Spears and other family members around 24-7 isn't likely, and the picture below tells us nothing.

Is the photo actually from 2005? Is that just an iced tea? Quite possible!

A celebrity gossip rag's latest concocted Britney Spears story.

As for the rest of the bullet points, what sex obsession? Who exactly is she getting it from? The only times we've heard from Adnan Ghalib in the past month, he's been hanging with Kathy Griffin or the target of an attempted murder.

The "faked overdose" was probably just Britney Spears tweaking out after seven Starbucks iced lattes in one sitting, while talking to herself and ripping her hair out have to be par for the course at this stage. Girl is bored, y'all!!

Frankly, instead of this crap about Britney Spears falling off the wagon, we would have gone with the Jamie Lynn Spears baby bump / all-terrain vehicle story.

Possible headline: Jamie Lynn Spears, Casey Aldridge Ride ATV, Each Other. That would sell so many more copies. Get with the program, In Touch!

She wasn't drunk, but moments before Britney Spears caused a three-car crash on Saturday night, she was ... putting on her makeup behind the wheel!

Women.

How do we know? According to TMZ, the guy she hit was checking her out - admiring the white Mercedes and the gal putting on makeup while driving.

It wasn't until after she collided with his car at an estimated 10-15 mph that he realized the woman was none other than Britney Spears.

After the accident, Spears' bodyguard apologized, but Britney did not. She and the 21-year-old crash victim only exchanged a few words, however she did mention that she was on the way to dinner with her mom, Lynne Spears.

No word on whether they were planning on hitting up McDonald's.

A field sobriety test was then conducted by officers on Spears, and the crashee says that officers performed a "follow my finger test" on Britney.

This file photo of Britney Spears driving does not show her putting on makeup, but she does have Blackberry in hand, ready to do some furious texting. OMFG!

At first she was giggly during the test, but then she got real serious real quick. Good idea. Britney was the only person involved who was tested.

The CHP says it wasn't the Britney Spears factor that convinced them to perform the test after her accident - it was the timing of the wreck.

There was "no odor, nor any kind of erratic behavior" that suggested Britney Spears was under the influence, but after an accident, officers are inclined to "do a standard check on most drivers, especially during those hours."

While no injuries were reported on the scene of the accident, the man claims that he woke up with a sore back the next day. Hmm, lawsuit anyone?

Celebrity news readers are everywhere, from Hollywood to Boston's Fenway Park, where a Red Sox fan snapped these photos and sent them to us on Saturday.

Cheering on his beloved team as it hosted the rival New York Yankees, this fan (for some unknown reason) felt a strong need to make bold statements about certain celebrities we know and love. Hard to argue with him on this point ...

Yes, friends, Tom Cruise is indeed insane. Few things in the celebrity news world have been more evident in recent years. He married a hot robot in Katie Holmes and has a cute baby in Suri Cruise, but the Scientologist is certifiably nuts alright.

On the reverse side of the celeb gossip fan's sign was a separate proclamation, one which may elicit some strong reactions from devotees of Britney Spears ...

Britney Spears a terrible mother? Noooo way, you're joking. The little drawings of Sean Preston and Jayden James (top right) say it all. So cute, so innocent, so ... sad.

Maybe one day soon, once her mental issues subside and she stops crashing cars, Britney can regain some custody or visitation with Sean and Jayden.

For now, though, her mothering "skills" involve parading around in no panties during late night Starbucks runs, so maybe no custody is for the best.

Britney Spears was involved in a minor traffic accident Saturday night on a West Los Angeles freeway, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The two-car accident occurred about 8:20 p.m. local time on the northbound side of I-405 at the 101 freeway, CHP Officer Patrick Kimball confirmed.

"Britney Spears was driving a white Mercedes on the 101 Freeway, when she struck the rear of a Nissan that was in front of her," he said. "Britney Spears' car collided into the rear of a Nissan, which in turn hit another car."

In related news, it doesn't appear that Adnan Ghalib has collided with Britney's rear in some time, and he may even be with Kathy Griffin (!?) now.

Britney Spears was involved in a car accident... again.

No one was hurt, no tickets were issued, and all that good stuff. You may now safely return to the roads of Southern California, residents.

Prior to her latest auto accident, Spears - who somehow is still licensed to operate cars - spent most of the day at her Studio City home.

In any case, we're grateful that Britney is okay after this. And that Kevin Federline has full custody of Sean Preston and Jayden James.