Britney Faces Drug Testing & Parenting Evaluations

Spears must prove she’s a fit mother to keep her kids

Britney Spears gets to keep her kids, Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, but she’s got to jump through some hoops to keep them.

Court documents released today from Monday’s hearing reveal a host of rules Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline must follow.

Here are the facts in a nutshell:



All hearings will continue as closed hearings.


"Each party is ordered to serve and file an Income and Expense Declaration... within ten days of this date."


Attorneys for Spears and Federline have been "unsuccessful" in agreeing on a Child Custody Evaluator. Federline's attorney submitted a list of potential evaluators and now Spears' attorney has 24 hours to come up with three of her own, and the Court will now decide.


”The Court declines to modify the existing custodial timeshare.”


Neither party can take the kids out of the state, without prior written consent of the other parent or prior order of the Court.


If they do take the kids out of state, they have to provide a full itinerary of the trip complete with addresses, phone number and travel arrangements.


"Each party is restrained from making derogatory remarks about the other party and the other party's family or significant other, either directly or indirectly to the minor children, and from allowing anyone else to do so. This includes any person employed by the parties."


Both Spears and Federline are ordered to complete a "PARENTING WITHOUT CONFLICT" program and verify their completion of said course to the Court.


"Each party is restrained from using corporal punishment with the minor children and from allowing anyone else to do so."


Spears and Federline are both ordered "to engage in joint co-parenting counseling", which they'll split the cost of. If they can't agree on a therapist for this, the Court will assign them one.


"Neither party shall consume alcohol, or other non-prescription controlled substance" within 12 hrs of having custody of the kids.


Spears and Federline need to alert one another within 48 hours if they change the status of their employees who handle the kids; they have 24 hours to report any NEW hires.


Any employee on either side who has charge of the kids must hold a valid certification in Red Cross Infant and Child CPR and Basic First Aid.


Spears is ordered to meet with a parenting coach at least eight hours a week, who will observe her interacting with the kids and evaluate her skills.


The parenting coach will file a written progress report on Oct. 22 and appear in court Nov. 26.


Spears is ordered to undergo random drug and alcohol testing twice a week. "Based on the Evidence presented, the Court finds that there is a habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol by the Petitioner (Spears)."


The results of this testing will go directly to the Court and WILL NOT be released.


The next court date is Nov. 26 at 8:30 a.m.


"What the El" Editorial:

It is quite obvious from all of these stipulations by the court that the judge suspects she’s not a fit mother but there's not enough evidence to do something drastic like take the kids away.

This is a “give her enough rope to hang herself” situation.

She screws up even in the tiniest way, and those kids are going to live with K-Fed.

I’m glad she and Kevin have to take parenting classes!

I’m sad that she’s probably “on something” but maybe forcing her to undergo drug testing will clear her head enough to see that she’s completely screwing up her life and her career!

Dave Grohl Hates Courtney Love

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl hates Courtney Love more than anyone in the world.

The former Nirvana drummer - who has publicly feuded with Kurt Cobain's widow in the past, even previously calling her an "ugly f***ing b***h" live on stage - insists there is no one else he detests more.


Grohl said: "There are a lot of people that I've been angry with in my life, but the one that's most noted in Courtney. So it's pretty obvious to me that those correlations are going to pop up every now and again. I still remain little secretive about it all."


In new song 'Let It Die' - on the Foo Fighters latest album 'Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace' - Grohl sings the line "A simple man and his blushing bride/Intravenous, intertwined", an apparent reference to Love and his Nirvana bandmate Cobain, who suffered from heroin addiction before
committing suicide in 1994.


Grohl also revealed now he is a father, to daughter Violet, he is not afraid to write ballads instead of hard rock songs.


He said: "Violet's the light at the end of my tunnel. I'm not afraid to write anything anymore. A lot of that has to do with the big picture - having a child and realising that life's too short to be afraid of a f**king piano ballad."

Play it again, Blunt

James Blunt will be in Toronto October 1 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, 410 Sherbourne St. For tickets, go to www.ticketmaster.ca.


ALBUM REVIEW: All The Lost Souls - Rating 3 stars

Poor, poor James Blunt.

The pretty-boy British singer- songwriter must be feeling terribly anxious with the release of his sophomore album.

How does one live up to You're Beautiful -- one of the most simultaneously loved and reviled hits of 2006? How does one prove the success of their first album wasn't a fluke?

Well, by writing and recording an album that's very similar to the first, of course.

All the Lost Souls has all the Blunt trademarks that made Back to Bedlam the tremendous success that it was in 2005 and 2006. It has Blunt's unmistakably high (but not quite falsetto) voice, conveying a certain sensitivity that makes some women swoon. It has a sweet folky pop sensibility with songs like Shine On, which is sure to make certain listeners smile, turn up the volume and sing along. And then there are the few naughty bits that seem oddly out of place, but will fool fans into thinking they're listening to something edgier.

It's innocuous and fairly bland stuff, but also melodic and, at times, kind of catchy.

The opening track, 1973, is hard to ignore, with it easy touch-step beat (perfect for living room dancing) and its repetitive lyrics about the good times once had at a club. (The song was reportedly inspired by a club Blunt frequented while living and writing music in Ibiza.)

I'll Take Everything is another track that manages to stand out from the uniform sound on most of the other tracks. Blunt seems to be singing with legitimate conviction about getting the most out of life (did success bring with it an existential crisis, perhaps?).

Annie breaks out of the background tendencies of other songs on the album, but on closer listen, the lyrics appear to be just plain mean. The song is about a woman who has dreamed of being a famous star, but who will only make it into the spotlight by way of Blunt singing about her. And, just to insult her further, he sings, "But the walls came tumbling down down. Will you go down on me?" Not nice.

Blunt's sophomore effort is sure to satisfy his fans. And it will likely get significant pop radio play.

But, with the exception of a couple of songs, All the Lost Souls sounds like the product of someone on mood-stabilizers who is going through the motions of making another hit album.

Spears may not get her kids’ custody

Britney Spears is reportedly close to losing the custody of her two kids, after a Los Angeles attorney brought up a secret witness who has dished out accounts of her behaviour with her kids.

The man, who has observed the singer’s parenting skills, will appear at the closed door hearing of the custody battle between Spears and her ex-hubby Kevin Federline.

Last week, attorney Gloria Allred got a declaration signed by the man with the court, reports Fox News. The channel’s reporter Roger Friedman said that the man might blow Spears’ chances of gaining her kids’ custody.

”I am told that the witness could blow Spears's chances of keeping Sean Preston and Jayden James," News.com.au quoted Friedman, as saying. Friedman also said that the witness will reveal the singer’s drug usage in front of her two sons.

"The likely observations from the witness concerns drug usage by Spears in her home and in front of her kids." He added.
Allred has kept the identity of the man a secret to avoid a publicity war.

"You may or may not recognise him as we walk into court. He is not famous. He's just someone who's concerned about the kids,’ Allred said.

Britney 'just wants to be a mom'

Federline’s attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan, on the other hand, said that his client was faring well.

Pop diva Britney Spears’ lawyer has indicated that she is currently having a tough time dealing with frustration, which has sprung from her custody battle with former husband Kevin Federline.

Laura Wasser revealed this while she was talking to reporters outside the courtroom, after another hearing of her case on Friday.

"(She) just wants to be a mom," People magazine quoted Laura Wasser as saying.

"I believe this is a frustrating time for her," she added.

She, however, did not divulge details about what was discussed at the hearing.

When asked whether Britney’s frustration could be due to the negative reactions to her appearance last Sunday at the MTV Video Music Awards, Wasser said: "Yes. I think she just wants to be a mom, and both of her kids' birthdays are this week, and I think she would've liked to celebrate with them without having to worry about the entire nation - the entire world - being concerned about what's going on with her personally and her custody battle with Mr. Federline."

The attorney was resistant to accept the suggestion that Britney tried to offer Federline a settlement, which he was reluctant to accept.

"I don't believe that's true. They met and are trying to work it out so they don't have to have a judge make determinations for them regarding their kids. I don't know that he was resistant or she was resistant. They are both trying to work to come up with something together," she said.

Federline’s attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan, on the other hand, said that his client was faring well.

When Kaplan was asked whether Britney’s recent public appearance was hindering her case, he said, "I don't know what thing you are referring to, and I'm not going to talk about any strategy. I think how she is doing is something for her attorneys to address."

Britney & K-Fed come face to face

Britney had been hoping that the matter would not go to court.


Britney Spears and ex hubby Kevin Federline met for an unscheduled meeting to discuss their kids just five days before they are due to face each other in family court.

According to People magazine, the singer was the one to ask for the meeting at Century City offices of Spears's attorney Laura Wasser.

A source revealed that though Britney had been hoping that the matter would not go to court, her hopes were dashed by her former hubby.

"Britney asked for [the meeting]. She wants to put an end to this public debacle. However, Kevin [has] refused. He needs more money so he's determined to win this," People quoted the source, as saying.

A source close to Federline confirmed the meeting, but said that Federline going got additional child support.

"He's not going for additional child support in the court papers that were filed. It's not about the money," the source said.

Kanye Krazy?

Blaming the music channel for Britney Spears' public meltdown, West put the network on blast, saying, "They exploited her, they played me and I really don't mess with MTV." West was upset because he says he wanted to perform his new single, "Stronger," on the show's main stage, but was relegated to a "suite" performance by the network, even though Justin Timberlake, who also performed in a suite on Sunday's show, ended up "on the big stage" to close the broadcast. Hold up, hater!

A source connected to the awards show tells TMZ that Kanye was offered the main stage, but opted for the suite, claiming he wanted to "feel the excitement and energy" of a smaller venue, rather than people just sitting there at tables. In addition, Kanye's "Stronger" performance was pre-taped Friday night -- to give it a "night" look -- as the actual show went live Sunday night at 6:00 PM, while there was still daylight in Vegas. Our sources say Kanye "loved" his act and expressed that to the MTV execs who were all there. We ain't sayin' he's a golddigger...

For their part, MTV says it "has a long and collaborative relationship with Kanye and we hope and look forward to continuing that meaningful relationship."