Talk about “the royal treatment” for celebs..now the Mayor has waived the usual $50,000 marriage fee in the castle! With all the celebs in town guess they felt Tom and Katie paid their dues! Also, the royal pain in the a** paparazzi has to pay $1500 to shoot far away from a balcony overlooking the castle..that’s funny! You know the windows are probably blacked out for this special occassion! I’m sure Tom and Katie will want to sell some pictures for a good cause! Although the’ll probably keep us in suspense for several months!
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The collapse of Britney Spears’ marriage to Kevin Federline was pored over by US media, with pundits and fans of the pop-queen welcoming their idol’s decision to file for divorce.
News of Spears’ decision to divorce Federline after two years of marriage, and only two months after the birth of their second child, emerged on Tuesday sparking a media fire-storm.
So far neither Spears nor Federline have broken their silence on the subject but gossip columnists, pundits and friends of the couple were only too willing to jump into the vacuum.
Many applauded Spears’ decision.
“It’s the day after and I just want to say I’m over the moon excited,” daytime talkshow host Rosie O’Donnell said. “It’s the biggest news of the country — Britney Spears is leaving K-Fed!”
After confetti had showered down on guests, O’Donnell added: “Let me just say on behalf of a happy America — ‘Welcome back Britney, we love you.’”
Spears’ marriage has been a favourite target for celebrity media in the US, with the 28-year-old former dancer Federline invariably being portrayed as a talentless gold-digger.
Late-night talk show host Jay Leno meanwhile couldn’t resist a swipe at Federline’s aspirations to pursue a hip-hop career. “Maybe (Britney) finally heard his rap album,” Leno said.
Internet websites meanwhile buckled under the weight of hits generated by news of Spears’ marital strife.
Perez Hilton of celebrity gossip site PerezHilton.com welcomed the news.
“Yesterday we reached our highest number of readers ever, despite periods of time where the website was down for a bit because too many people were trying to view it,” he said in a posting. “Thank you Britney!”
Defamer.com greeted the divorce with wry cynicism, describing it as “the tragic news the world has been patiently awaiting.”
Visitors to the site’s message boards could scarcely contain their glee. “There was cheering in my office when the news broke,” one message read.
People magazine in its online edition meanwhile quoted an unidentified friend of Federline as saying the divorce papers “came as a total surprise.”
“We’re all in shock. We’re hoping it might just be that she’s feeling a lot of postpartum emotions and this is something that will blow over,” he told the magazine.
People cited a source close to Federline as saying that Spears’ patience finally wore thin after her husband jetted off to Las Vegas for the anniversary of a nightclub just three weeks after the birth of the couple’s second son.
“This was her last straw,” the magazine quoted the source as saying. “He said, ‘I have to go to Vegas.’ He didn’t have to go to Vegas. He uses any excuse to party. She said, ‘I’ve had enough.’”
Reports have said that Spears — worth over 120 million dollars according to a 2004 Forbes survey — was protected against a costly divorce settlement through an “iron-clad” pre-nuptial agreement.
However, sources told the TMZ.com website late Tuesday that Federline may now consider launching a custody battle in an attempt to seek a greater slice of his wife’s fortune.
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 with “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 US music history.
NEW YORK - Faith Hill insists she’s no Kanye West. The country music superstar says she was just joking when cameras showed her screaming “WHAT?” in apparent anger when she lost the female vocalist of the year award to newcomer Carrie Underwood at the Country Music Association Awards on Monday night in Nashville.
“The idea that I would act disrespectful towards a fellow musician is unimaginable to me,” Hill said in a statement. “For this to become a focus of attention given the talent gathered is utterly ridiculous. Carrie is a talented and deserving Female Vocalist of The Year.”
Media outlets and blogs zeroed in on Hill’s reaction after Underwood’s name was announced at the ceremony. While other nominees — Sara Evans, Gretchen Wilson, Martina McBride — gave the typical gracious loser smile, Hill, who was standing backstage, turned to the camera and shouted “WHAT?”
Although her voice could not be heard, it was clear from her lips what she said. She looked visibly upset and then it looked as if she was storming off. The incident has been replayed endlessly on sites like YouTube.com.
However, Hill said it was all a joke, and her manager, Gary Borman, echoed that: “I’ve worked with Faith for many years now and the idea that she would ever insult or undermine another artist, let alone another human being’s success is absolutely preposterous. Those who know her know that she’s incapable of such actions,” he said in a statement.
“She was being playful while the nominations were being read and playful after.”
Underwood also didn’t take it seriously, according to her publicist, Jessie Schmidt, who said that Hill spoke to Underwood after the show and that the two were fine.
Underwood, the 2005 “American Idol” champ, has become a triple platinum success since releasing her debut album late last year. Hill is a longtime darling of country music with crossover pop appeal.
This is the second time in less than a week that an awards show loss has resulted in an (apparent) on-camera freakout by a loser. Last week, Kanye West stormed the stage at the MTV Europe Music Awards and interrupted the speech of the winners, claiming his video deserved the honor.
___
On the Net:
Associated Press
