Britney Spears’ Meltdown To Pay Incredible Dividends For Second-Tier Tabloid

Britney Spears, who’s now apparently handling her own publicity in addition to her styling and choreography, requested a sit-down interview and photo shoot with the tabloid OK!, which took place yesterday; according to sources, Brit Brit “looked dead” during the shoot, didn’t close the door when she went to the bathroom, and wiped grease from some fried chicken she was eating on a Gucci dress. (Which, we suspect, is tougher to get out of fabric than, say, Cheez Doodle dust.) Anyway, there was some question over whether OK!, which recently bought photos of Nick Lachey schtupping his girlfriend in a hot tub for the sole purpose of suppressing them, would even run the interview at all. But in the end, “journalism”–and not our culture’s fascination with the meltdowns of young women who at some point used to be considered hot, and definitely not OK!‘s desire to not look like a wimp in the face of a thousand gossip blogs–won out:

“OK! Magazine spent a heartbreaking day with Britney Spears and witnessed first-hand an emotional cry for help that will leave you shocked and sad. This week, on newsstands Friday, the truth will be told.”

You’d think if the truth needed to be told, OK! would have spoken up sooner, but we guess there are still a couple of advertiser commitments that need to be hammered out. Or maybe they’re timing the release of the issue to coincide with Britney’s latest video, which should be ready sometime soon … right?

OK! Goes for It!! [TMZ]