The whole situation is, of course, tragic, though if you're Kevin Federline's lawyer, and your client wants full custody of his children despite divorce laws generally favouring the mother when it comes to such things, Ms Britney Spears must be a dream adversary.
The soap opera that is Britney's mental breakdown took a dramatic turn last week, as you no doubt saw, when a seemingly drugged up Spears locked her and her two children inside her hilltop mansion and refused to give up Sean Preston and Jayden James to representatives of ex Federline, even though her limited access time with them was up. A three hour stand off involving local police officers ensued, until the popstress finally handed over her kids, before be stretchered off to hospital.
Giving her increasingly unstable state, many had expected Spears to stay in hospital this week to receive some kind of treatment, but she checked out this weekend, leaving with one Adnan Ghalib, a paparazzo who is rumoured to be the singer's new boyfriend. Though not before TV psychologist Dr Phil McGraw managed to get sometime with her, and his diagnosis? Well, he told Entertainment Tonight: "She was released moments before my arrival and was packing when I entered the room. We visited for about an hour before I walked with her to her car. I am very concerned for her".
Following the stand off with police, the courts handling Spears and Federline's custody battle withdrew the singer's visitation rights, pending a new review on 14 Jan. Meanwhile the Fed has reportedly stepped up security at his property since Spear's departure from hospital, paranoid that the singer will try to kidnap the children from his home.
On the upside, word has it global sales of Britney's comeback album 'Blackout' have continued to prosper over the Christmas period, which is good news because all those drugs must be proving expensive. Good private mental health care also don't come cheap. Let's hope she spends it on that.