Britney Spears

Proud papa Jamie Spears has been praised left and right for getting daughter Britney Spears back on the right track. But she's got a long way to go.

Case in point? Earlier this month, when the pop star was her typical c-r-a-z-y self with an insane and unusual request at her favorite L.A. boutique.

According to the New York Daily News, Spears puzzled staff at the Betsey Johnson on Melrose Ave. by turning up with a Dolce & Gabbana dress she wanted the store to copy stitch for stitch - in all white - to be ready that evening.

Ding dang, Britney Spears has been battlin' her some mental problems.

According to a source, "the staff explained to [Britney Spears] that they didn't have a dressmaker on call who could do it in time."

Never mind that the frock she wanted copied wasn't even their label.

"The only thing she wanted to buy in the store was the yellow wig on a mannequin in the window," laughs the source.

"The manager eventually agreed to offer it to her for $100."

OMG, How nuts is this girl? Sound off in our Britney Spears forum!

** - Said report comes from Star Magazine.

In the exciting world of celebrity news, you have sources that are at least somewhat believable, and then you have Star, In Touch Weekly and OK! Magazine.

Our point? There's celebrity gossip, and there's making up blatant lies, which is somehow not illegal. We've got to meet Star's legal team someday.

Anyway, according to Star, which already claimed Britney and Adnan married in Mexico, Ghalib is now bragging that she is going to have his baby.

The evidence: The pop princess' belly is bulging. OMG it's true! That can't be from sucking down pork rinds and Starbucks lattes all day long or anything.

"Britney is Adnan's dream come true. He knows that if he has a child with Britney, he'll be made for life," a friend of Ghalib tells Star.

But while Adnan may be pumped up, Britney's parents are not.

Father Jamie Spears has tried hard to stabilize his eldest daughter's life and the last thing he and her mother, Lynne, want is another grandchild. Casey Aldridge already assured they'll be getting another l'il mistake in 2008.

"Her parents know she can't handle more children," says a family source.

Well, they probably didn't make that quote up at least.

The LAPD is finally commenting on the record regarding the investigation first reported earlier this month. The subject? You-know-who.

As TMZ reported in early February, Sam Lutfi is under investigation by the Robbery Homicide division of LAPD for allegedly drugging Britney Spears.

LAPD officials initially said there was no such investigation, despite sources within the department saying that Sam Lutfi was, indeed, being looked at. 

Sam Lutfi: Shady doesn't begin to describe him. 

Now, Captain Kyle Jackson of the Robbery Homicide division has issued the following statement regarding the LAPD's investigation:

"The issues regarding Britney Spears are being considered by the department to determine if laws have been violated. Particular suspects have not yet been fully identified nor has a formal investigation into open charges officially commenced. At this time we don't know whether or not a formal investigation will be initiated."

Translation: Find the nearest cave and hide, Osama.

Britney Spears' mom, Lynne Spears, has been praising her ex-husband, Jamie Spears, who has taken control of their troubled daughter's affairs.

"Jamie had to change his whole routine. Lynne sings his praises. He has been such a rock. He has stepped up to the plate," a family friend says.

"Jamie has gathered a team of reputable people who are around [Britney Spears] now. She's not well, but for the first time in a long time she has people around her who really care about her."

As for how Lynne Spears is coping with having her daughter in and out of the hospital, the friend says, "She's up and down. It's a roller coaster ride as a mother."

On top of that, Lynne also has pregnant 16-year-old daughter, Jamie Lynn Spears, who lives in Kentwood, La., to take care of. Lynne, who has been shuttling between Louisiana and California, is currently back in Los Angeles.

Lynne and Jamie Spears also have a 30-year-old son, Bryan Spears.

"She has to spend time between L.A. and Kentwood. As a mother she feels needed in both places. She's doing whatever she can to help both girls. She's got that maternal instinct, and it's in high gear."

One big positive lately? The ostracizing of Sam Lutfi.

Another positive step for the family has been Britney Spears' recent visits with her sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1.

"Lynne talked to Jamie, and he said it was a good visit," says the source. "[Britney] slipped into that motherly mode. They picked up right where they left off. She still has a long way to go [to get better], but that's what we hope and pray for ... Lynne and Jamie want their child to be whole again."

A federal judge ruled the U.S. Courts have no business in Britney Spears' conservatorship case and kicked it back to California state court.

Federal District Judge Philip Gutierrez ruled that Jon Eardley, the N.Y. lawyer who claimed to represent Britney Spears, but who we think is working with Sam Lutfi, "had no authority to remove the case from state court."

The judge added:

"Mr. Eardley is not Ms. Spears attorney and acted improperly by removing her conservatorship proceeding to federal court."

The challenge to Britney Spears' conservatorship case was struck down.

The court did not award Spears' conservatorship - Britney's father, Jamie Spears, and his attorney, Andrew Wallet - attorneys fees, which they sought.

This means it will cost Britney around $40,000 in legal bills for what turned out to be a bogus case, but then again, she makes like $730,000 a month.

She'll live. Fortunately, thanks to her father and brother, Bryan Spears, stepping in of late, she'll live more normally minus bottom-feeders like Sam.

For Adnan Ghalib - who made upwards of $200,000 a year shooting celebs as a member of the paparazzi - it's a case of the hunter becoming the hunted.

Such is the irony of a member of the celebrity news media becoming involved with the paparazzi's biggest target - Britney Spears.

It seems that Adnan Ghalib - who was cornered yesterday by TMZ cameras - has truly pulled a 180 of late, dropping the same lines the celebrities used to tell him when he was out taking photos of them.

At least the celebrity photo agency member has enough sense to admit he's only famous "by association," in the TMZ video you can watch here.

His 15 minutes may not be up just yet, either.

Britney Spears returned to the dance studio last night - and afterwards, got an evening visit from her paparazzi pal.

Spears left her home away from home, Millennium Dance Complex, after a two-and-a-half hour workout, riding home in her chauffeured SUV.

A few hours later, none other than Adnan Ghalib was spotted rolling up to Summit Circle where she lives. Booty call, anyone?

Britney Spears saw sons Sean Preston and Jayden James Monday, as her father sought to end a civil rights challenge to his control of her affairs.

The singer's children, 2 and 1, were driven to her Studio House by her ex-husband Kevin Federline's bodyguard for a three-hour visit.

It was the second visitation in three days after Spears' attorneys worked out a structured visitation arrangement with Kevin Federline.

Meanwhile, attorneys for Britney's father, Jamie Spears, filed a round of paperwork in federal court on Monday, urging a judge to end a civil rights challenge to Jamie's control of his daughter's $100 million estate.

If granted, the motion would keep the co-conservatorship in state court.

Jon Eardley, an attorney who claims to represent the pop star, had been asked to file papers in Federal Court by February 22 explaining the civil rights challenge.

Eardley, who we assume is working in cahoots with the shady Sam Lutfi, told the judge on Friday he needed more time to formally file.

In legal documents, Eardley claims that Britney retained him February 12 before her phone was taken away and the line disconnected.

Jon Eardley also continued to maintain that the current conservatorship case in state court violates the singer's constitutional rights.

But the conservatorship attorneys say Eardley, in addition to failing to meet the deadline, has not proven that he qualifies as Britney Spears' attorney, nor has he addressed the most fundamental legal issues in the case.

The conservatorship motion asks that the case be immediately returned to Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz, and that Eardley be forced to reimburse upwards of $43,000 in attorney fees.

While the civil rights issue remains unresolved in federal court, the conservatorship case in state court is stalled. Stay tuned.

While other celebrities were at the Academy Awards, Britney Spears and her father, Jamie Spears, had a quieter night out. Probably a good thing.

As we've talked about at length Jamie Spears has been instrumental in getting Britney Spears help since he re-entered the picture last month.

While she gets treatment for bipolar disorder, Jamie and mom Lynne are helping Britney Spears steer clear of invasive, negative influences.

Namely Sam Lutfi.

Even her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, is delighted to see her getting her life back on track - and crediting her father. This weekend, Britney reunited with sons Sean Preston and Jayden James for the first time since January 3.

K-Fed's publicist recently said in a statement:

"Jamie Spears went a long way in terms of stabilizing an environment that surrounded Britney Spears, which was wildly in a flux. It's clear that Britney is in a different place now than she was two weeks ago."

For the first time in almost two months, the troubled Britney Spears was reunited with her little sons - for about three hours - on Saturday.

After lawyers for Spears and Kevin Federline reached a visitation agreement Friday, the star saw her children Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1.

Britney and K-Fed hammered out a new visitation deal.

The boys left Kevin Federline's Tarzana, Calif., house Saturday morning - put in their car seats by their father, according to photographers - and were driven by FedEx's bodyguard to Spears' home in Studio City.

A source involved in the case says, "The real hero was [Britney Spears' father] Jamie. He has taken charge, and she has visitation again."

Sources say Jamie Spears and Britney's psychiatrist were present for the visit - two requirements agreed upon by both sides' lawyers in court.

After a three-hour stay, Britney Spears' sons left again in the back of Federline's grey Dodge truck, which was driven by his bodyguard.

That's about it. It's no Zac Efron gay photo scandal, but it's still pretty big celebrity news. We're happy for Britney, Sean and Jayden!

Britney Spears will be allowed to visit her children "soon, very soon," after lawyers hammered out a structured visitation arrangement.

Kevin Federline's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, confirmed Friday that he and his partner Jim Simon spent two days working with Spears' legal team.

We don't know exactly when, but Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2, will once again enjoy "participation of their mother in their lives."

"We're pleased that ... the process of reinstating the children's mother as a participant in their lives can commence," Mark Vincent Kaplan said.

Britney Spears has not seen her boys, Sean P. and Jayden J., since a January 3 custody stand-off with police, leading to the first of two forced hospitalizations.

Under the terms of the new agreement, TMZ reports:

The kids can visit with Britney, provided her dad, Jamie Spears, and a psychiatrist are present. There are other strings attached, but at a minimum, Jamie and the shrink are requirements agreed upon by the attorneys.

Both sides are impressed that Jamie Spears has stabilized Britney - weeding out the trash like Sam Lutfi - and calming the whirlwind surrounding her.

That's a core reason why a deal was struck, as K-Fed never wanted to keep the boys away from her. It was only for their own safety before she got help.

Sources say Britney will begin seeing the kids again ASAP!