Britney Spears files for divorce in L.A.

By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, Associated Press Writer 12 minutes ago

Britney Spears filed for divorce Tuesday from Kevin Federline, officials said. The Los Angeles County Superior Court filing cites "irreconcilable differences," said court spokeswoman Kathy Roberts.

Spears, 24, married rapper Kevin Federline, 28, in 2004. They have a 1-year-old son, Sean Preston, and an infant son who was born Sept. 12. The divorce papers identify the baby as Jayden James Federline.

A message left with Spears' attorney, Laura Wasser, was not immediately returned.

Spears married Federline eight months after ending a 55-hour Las Vegas marriage to her childhood friend, Jason Alexander. Her second marriage has provided endless fodder for tabloids, which have speculated frequently that the union was in trouble.

Calls left for Federline's representatives also were not immediately returned.

The filing comes just a day after Spears, back in shape after the birth of her second child, made a surprise appearance on David Letterman's "Late Show" in New York by popping up behind him as he was sitting at his desk.

Federline appeared in the movie "You Got Served" and performed as a backup dancer for singer Justin Timberlake, Spears' former boyfriend. He was previously involved with actress Shar Jackson of TV's "Moesha." Federline and Jackson have two children.

As Usual, It's the Fans Who Suffer
Britney and K-Fed Split, Yet Somehow Life Goes On

By Teresa Wiltz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 8, 2006; D01

Of course we're all shocked that Britney Spears and Kevin Federline, now duly christened "Fed-Ex" in the blogosphere, have split. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised: After all, they have been separated since, um, Monday, according to court papers filed yesterday in Los Angeles. Then there's the little matter of Brit's first marriage, which lasted all of 55 hours -- not exactly the harbinger of an enduring union the second time around.

The reason behind her parting from K-Fed? "Irreconcilable differences," according to Britney's petition for divorce. Neither side would comment further. But the marriage of the pop princess and alleged rapper has resembled a circus train wreck ever since the couple hooked up in 2004.

They cranked out two kids in record time, and there have been omens of divorce since at least May, when Spears, 24, famously tossed out her man's booze supply and set ground rules against his posse's partying in her Malibu palace.

It's been a bad run of late for Federline, 28, who just released his aptly titled debut album, "Playing With Fire." (Rolling Stone called it "reprehensible.") He bombed at his concerts Friday and Saturday nights at Webster Hall in New York, performing to a woefully underfilled house. Gossip sites claimed he had to beg the club not to cancel the shows.

His wife failed to show up at either performance, according to In Touch Weekly, and Us magazine says they stayed in separate hotels. But Spears did make a surprise visit to David Letterman's show Monday night (no mention of the marriage), having magically lost all that baby weight, sporting tasteful designer duds (no track suits!) and looking ready for a comeback.

By filing for divorce on Election Day, did Spears hope to bury the news? It appears from the court papers -- widely available on the Internet as soon as the clerk's stamp dried -- that she was in a hurry. She faxed her signature to her attorneys in Los Angeles from New York. Perhaps she thought the world would be focused on something so meaningless as a national election, and not on the magnitude of her personal dramas.

Right.

After all, theirs was a made-for-the-tabloids union: They met at a Hollywood club in April 2004 and by July they were engaged, never mind that his baby mama, Shar Jones, also the mother of his firstborn, was rather inconveniently preggers.

By September, the two were married and soon starring in the ill-conceived but also aptly named reality show "Britney and Kevin: Chaotic." Then Spears announced that she was with child. Sean Preston Federline arrived in September '05 and almost exactly a year later out popped his baby brother. The tabs speculated on his name, but the divorce petition has solved that mystery: Jayden James Federline.

The filing of the divorce papers may come as a shock to Mr. Fed-Ex: Just last week he declared to People magazine: "Our relationship is strong. . . . We are going to last a long time."

In the bare-bones divorce papers, Spears asks for custody of the couple's two children, but with visitation rights for Federline. The filing lists as separate property -- off-limits to Federline -- Spears's earnings and assets (unspecified) and "miscellaneous jewelry and other personal effects."

Let the mud-wrestling over the prenup begin.