Staying with divorce news, which seems like a plan, Britney Spears and soon to be ex-husband Kevin Federline have sorted out custody plans for their two children. Well, they have for the next four weeks. After that is anyone's guess. But January is going to work like this - Britney will take 15 month old Sean Preston and four month old Jayden James with her to Miami this week, then for the rest of the month they will stay with her at her home in California, where Federline will visit every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from noon to 4pm to spend time with the kids. Spears has pledged to "use her best efforts to ensure that no third party visiting the home" at those times, though she hasn't actually committed to Federline's original request to ensure that only Spears, her assistant, the children's nanny and household staff be present during his visits. The current custody agreement runs until 31 Jan, when presumably a new agreement will be reached as the couple's messy divorce lawsuits rumble on. God I wish I was one these guys' lawyers. Actually, I want to be Britney's lawyer. Quite how Federline will pay his legal fees should he not get the settlement he is seeking is anyone's guess.
Elsewhere in always important Britney news, the singer has responded to the negative coverage that has surrounded her recent post-divorce partying-come-crotch-exposing-come-falling-over-in-clubs exploits, and in particular to the news that the people behind fan site World Of Britney are closing it down in response to her unforgivable actions (personally I'd forgive everything bar the hanging out with Paris Hilton - but then again, I don't run a Britney fan site, so I doubt my forgiveness matters).
Writing on her own website, Britney wrote this weekend: "The last couple of years have been very enlightening for me and now that I've had the time to be 'me', I've been able to sit down and think about where I want to go with myself as an entertainer with absolutely no strings attached. I am now more mature and feel like I am finally 'free'".
On the fan site closure, she continued: "I am sad to see it closing. If I were you I'd be unhappy too if I had to read what I've been reading every day. But trust me, I get it. I know I've been far from perfect and the media has had a lot of fun exaggerating my every move."
Of course the sudden apology has nothing to do with rumours that bosses at Britney's label Jive have been asking exactly how they are meant to sell Ms Spears' planned fifth album in light of all the negative coverage - especially given that early recordings for said album haven't been getting all that great a reaction. That said, a spokesman for the SonyBMG division tried to distance the label from those rumours last week, telling New York Post: "Jive's relationship with Britney is fine. She continues to be one of our biggest worldwide artists and we remain 1,000% committed to her career". Of course, given the mixed critical response to label mate Justin Timberlake's second solo outing, and given Ms Spears new single status, and Timberlake' rumoured return to the single life, perhaps a Justin / Britney duet is what's needed. Hey, if Peter Andre and Jordan can chart with their terrible duets, surely Timberlake and Spears could.