It was the electric razor buzz heard ’round the world. A year ago on Saturday — on February 16, 2007 — just days after a 24-hour stint at Crossroads rehab center, Britney Spears marched into a California hair salon and announced that she wanted to shave her head. We thought that she’d hit an all-time low back then, but it turned out that the 26-year-old pop star had a lot further to fall. And here’s how she unraveled over the next 12 months.
After the head-shaving, the newly bald Brit rounded out the evening by getting two new tattoos. Days later she checked into rehab again, this time at the Promises treatment facility — only to leave less than a day later. Then came the bizarre incident on February 21, in which she attacked a photographer’s car with an umbrella.
The following day she was back in rehab, this time for a month, but Britney’s troubles were far from over. The next year would find the singer trotting out an assortment of odd wigs and hair extensions, often wearing short dresses without panties. She gave new meaning to the word "May flowers" last May when photographs surfaced showing her posing topless with little more than flowers covering her nipples. One hot summer day she pulled over on the side of the road, stripped down to her bra and panties and jumped into the ocean in front of a group of photographers.
It seemed as if the fallen pop star never forgave her parents for forcing her into treatment and refused to let them see their grandsons. In June, she even went so far as to serve her mother, Lynne, with a letter instructing her to stay away from her grandchildren.
Fans hoped for a comeback last fall with the release of her album Blackout and the announcement that she would be opening the MTV Video Music Awards. But Britney’s performance fell flat when the starlet showed up onstage looking dazed and lipsynched and stumbled her way through the song "Gimme More."
Her odd behavior culminated with her losing custody of her children to ex-husband Kevin Federline in the beginning of October. Even Britney’s neighbors turned against her. While out with her sister Jamie Lynn in October, a woman came up to Britney and made it clear that her presence wasn’t wanted. "Nobody wants you in this neighborhood Britney!" she shouted. "You are making this neighborhood very unsafe!"
Jamie Lynn lunged at the woman and screamed in her face, "Then move the f*** out of it!"
Later that month, Britney got her lips plumped and then ran over a photographer’s foot on the way out of the doctor’s office (and didn’t bother to check and see if he was OK).
Along the way there was a string of random men in the singer's life. She had her heart broken early in the year when her ex-boyfriend of six weeks, model Isaac Cohen, sold details of their sex life to a tabloid.
She hooked up with Mindfreak illusionist Criss Angel. She also had a brief dalliance with bodyguard Daimon Shippen, who had caught her older son, Sean Preston, the year before when Britney stumbled on the street and nearly dropped him.
She took on a man named Sam Lutfi as her manager and he quickly became her confidant, rarely leaving her side. She began dating married photographer Adnan Ghalib and brought Chad Hardcastle and paparazzo Filipe Teixeira into her entourage.
The new year brought even more drama. Britney started off 2008 with a three-hour custody standoff at her home. Eventually police had to be called — she was taken to the hospital via ambulance and spent a few days in the psych ward. After her release, she fled to Mexico with Adnan. But by January 31 she was back in the hospital for a week, undergoing mental evaluation. Over the past few weeks, her father, Jamie, has been granted conservatorship over her estate, prompting a turf war with Sam.
The next year is sure to bring more custody battles and theatrics in the life of Britney Spears, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel: She has nowhere to go but up.
Source: http://www.pagesix.com/
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