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Britney goes to war… with her mom.
“Where are their parents?”
That was question on the tip of every tongue, and lining comment sections far and wide.
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As Lindsay Lohanhid in a Malibu treatment facility, mother Dina eyed a reality show. And as the wild child’s on-and-off pal Paristoiled in a tiny cell, Kathy Hiltoneagerly auctioned off her daughter’s impending interview.
But where the women responsible for Lohan and Hilton bore an uncanny resemblance - failed showbiz aspirations, particularly - Lynne Spears differed.
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The woman who birthed Britney didn’t dream of dancing like Dina, or acting like Kathy - rather, Spears sought a simpler life. “I really wanted to be a college professor,” the much-maligned stage mother told Vanity Fair. But reality would take her on a far different course.
Long gone were the days of mother-daughter books, as by the summer of 2007, the relationship between Lynne and the child she’d raised entered territory the Mississippi-born schoolteacher hadn’t foreseen. The once inseparable Spears duo was now at odds… and rehab was reportedly to blame.
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November 6th, 2006welcomed news the world had been waiting for: Britney wanted a divorce.
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As Kevin Federline learned of the split via text message, Lynne couldn’t be happier. The son-in-law she’d despised was now out of the picture, but an even shakier one would emerge. As fast as glossy magazines predicted Britney’s long-awaited return to form, the Internet would become littered with pictures of the divorcée roaming strips from Vegas to Sunset, and soon America became acquainted with a new image of the once-beloved pop star… one lacking underwear.
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“Whenever anyone tries to help [Britney], she shuts them out. She’ll disconnect her phone and get a new number,” In Touch reported. “Lynne fled the scene,” another tabloid claimed. As Britney swapped nights at home for commando club crawls and a concerning new set of friends, mother’s fears for her daughter were rising, and getting through to her seemed nearly impossible.
As the year came to a close, Lynne’s hope for her child had been vanquished by worry, but rockier road would only lie ahead. For Britney, 2007 started off just as she’d left 2006.
With a New Year’s club collapse, and subsequent tabloid covers begging the TMZ-dubbed “popwreck” to check into rehab a la Lohan, rock bottom seemed inevitable for the singer… and it would come before winter was done.
On February 16th, a friend phoned Lynne to turn on her TV: Britney was bald.
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The paparazzi shot seen ‘round the world left those around Brit with no other choice, it was time for an intervention. Lynne and Kevin joined Britney’s manager Larry Rudolph for an ultimatum: go to rehab, or lose your kids.
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A defeated Britney accepted their terms - Promises Malibu it is.
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Hours fresh of an umbrella-attack and full-scale meltdown, the wayward pop star entered treatment, and her inner-circle breathed a sigh of relief. As AA meetings and Church-runs began to replace nights at Les Deux and Teddy’s, anticipation for the new-and-improved Britney slowly grew again… but it would be short-lived.
A sense of betrayal began to fester in Brit as she recalled the intervention that led her behind rehab walls. Lynne’s siding with Kevin seemed a blow that was hard to erase - had Spears’ own mother turned on her?
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That was Britney’s belief, and the hurt feelings would only worsen with the weeks to come.
As Britney completed treatment in late March, a familiar face would convince her that help was the last thing she needs. Days out of Promises, paparazzi snapped a seemingly-rehabilitated Britney entering a WeHo bar, self-proclaimed “cousin” Alli Sims right by her side.
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Old habits die hard, and Lynne’s excitement for her daughter’s return was met with a cold shoulder.
By April, the internal feud brewing amongst the Spears clan worsened. Not having uttered a single word to her parents since she’d left Promises, Britney continued to leave those around her in the dark.
After canning manager Larry Rudolph on April 13th, the ex-rehabber taped a message to fans via an X17 photographer:
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But her family wouldn’t stay silent.
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The following week, Jamie Spears issued a statement to Page Six condemning his daughter’s post-rehab decisions, and defending ex-manager Larry:
“When Larry Rudolph talked Britney into going into rehab, he was doing what her mother, father and team of professionals with over 100 years of experience knew needed to be done. She was out of control. Larry was the one chosen by the team to roll up his sleeves and deliver the message, to help save her life.
The Spears family would like to publicly apologize to Larry for our daughter’s statements about him over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, she blames him and her family for where she is at today with her kids and career. Larry has always been there for Britney. For this, we will forever be grateful to him.”
But to return daddy’s blow, Britney issued her own statement:
“I am praying for my father. We have never had a good relationship. It’s sad that all the men that have been in my life do not know how to accept a real woman’s love. I am concentrating on my work and my life right now.”
Things were getting ugly - and fast.
Less than a day after the Post sparring session, Britney dealt her family further heartbreak by skipping brother Bryan’s 30th birthday party - opting to dine right down the street instead:
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And when it came time for mommy dearest’s own special day in May, Britney missed that family gathering, too.
“Britney has cut off all communication with her mother,” a source told Star, and even more shocking: she refused to even visit her in the hospital.
Shortly before Mother’s Day, the tabloid reported that Lynne had been rushed into treatment with symptoms of pneumonia.
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Britney’s response? “[She] didn’t bat an eye.”
It seemed like the bond between mother and daughter was beyond repair, but June would welcome a strange twist to the ongoing saga.
Weeks after Britney’s hospital snub, ABC listed Lynne as a guest on the June 6th episode of The View:
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While gossips sites speculated a televised extending of the olive branch from mother to daughter, Lynne pulled the pin last-minute.
To make matters stranger, days later photographers snapped the Spears women meeting at George Maloof’s Bel Air mansion - alongside Jamie Lynn, and her boyfriend Casey Aldridge.
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The occasion? Maloof’s newphew’s birthday party.
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With the duo seeming all smiles at the fête, fans wondered: Is the feud over?
It seemed to be true, and days later, a new issue of Us Weekly hit the newsstands - Lynne and Britney gracing the cover.
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Inside, Lynne praised her daughter as the “sweetest and most sensitive” of all of the Spears children, and dismissed Britney’s highly-publicized struggles as simply “trying to figure [herself] out.” After months of tensions, it seemed mother and daughter had finally buried the hatchet - but nothing can ever be so simple.
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Less than a week after the reunion, Britney was spotted exiting her attorney’s office. While many speculated it was to discuss the ongoing divorce with K-Fed, X17 caught wind of a different legal matter:
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The following day, the pop star updated her website with a red-colored dig:
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Could the rumors be true? Were the Spears women already back on the rocks?
Within days of X17’s original story, the website reported that Britney was set to file papers to keep Lynne away from Sean and Jayden - the supposed reasoning being Mama Spears’ addiction to prescription pain medication, but sources spilled that Lynne’s frequent visits to La Casa Federline, in addition to the Us Weekly tell-all, is what sent Britney over the edge.
As rumors continued to swirl around the web, camera-ready combat came on June 28th.
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That Thursday afternoon, photographers tailed Britney as she drove an hour north of Los Angeles to Valencia, where Jamie Lynn was busy filming Zoey 101.
As paparazzi watched, Britney exited her black Mercedes and stormed onto set with a mysterious little letter in hand:
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The smiling singer handed the paper to her mother before giving the cameras a quick wave and fleeing the scene, her two little boys sitting in the backseat - and witnesses scratching their heads as to what exactly went down.
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Within hours of the showdown, TMZ reported that Britney’s papers weren’t a restraining order, but actually a letter from an out-of-state lawyer telling Lynne to stay clear of her boys. X17 shot back that it was simply a handwritten warning that Britney would pursue legal action, if need be - and Star went as far to claim that the letter was actually a piece of slam poetry, aptly titled Dear Mama.
But as Lynne left set that day, she joked to paparazzi that Britney’s gift was nothing more than a “love letter.”
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Blood had trickled into the water, though, and the gossip sharks caught a whiff.
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The following days welcomed ongoing battle between mother and daughter, with the Spears’ issuing dueling statements to the paparazzi.
As Britney told cameramen that she was “praying” for mommy dearest - her go-to sarcastic dig:
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Lynne told photographers that she simply loves her daughter, and that “everything is going to be fine.”
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But the tabloids didn’t seem to be too sure.
By the following week, newsstands ripped into the war between Britney and Lynne, with some reporting a rumored mid-June slapfest between the two, and one site even claiming that Britney was booked on charges of aggravated assault after beating her mother with a broken beer bottle:
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Fortunately, that last bit wasn’t true.
Nonetheless, tensions between the two only escalated throughout July. While Britney partied in Vegas, Lynne flew over in an attempt to hash things out… only to discover her daughter was already back in Hollywood.
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And amidst the tall tales of brawls and harsh digs, gossip rags published claims of dueling multi-million dollar tell-alls from both Britney and Lynne - Star claiming Britney was excitedly penning a book on her “meddling stage mother from hell,” while other magazines snitched that Lynne was busy writing her own book: Pop Culture Mom: A Real Story Of Fame And Family In A Tabloid World - the rare rumor that would actually come true.
But with little hope of reconciliation in sight, it would be months before mother and daughter would come face-to-face again… their next meeting coming under far darker circumstances. And as the week came to a close, eyes began to shift from Britney to Lynne’s other daughter - Jamie Lynn:
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As rumors roared about her big sister, The National Enquirer alleged little Jamie had a secret of her own… and mother would now have not one, but two daughters to wrestle.
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I guess we’ll have to see how that plays out!
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