Pop star Britney Spears formalized her union with dancer Kevin
Federline on Thursday just as she parted ways with the manager who had
been guiding her career since she was 13, her spokeswoman said.
"All the proper paperwork was dealt with today, filed, done. It's all
legal," Spears' publicist,
Leslie Sloane, told Reuters when asked whether the singer's marriage
license had been filed.
Spears, 22, and Federline, 26, exchanged vows in a secret wedding
ceremony in Los Angeles last month. But as People magazine published
exclusive photos of event, rival magazine US Weekly cast doubt on the legitimacy of the
nuptials, reporting it had
obtained documents showing the whole ceremony was fake.
Spears acknowledged then that the couple had yet to file a marriage
license -- as California law requires within 90 days of the ceremony --
but insisted their wedding was real.
She told People they had been legally advised to wait for a grace period after finalizing their
prenuptial agreement.
Also on Thursday, Spears' longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, announced
that he and the singer had "mutually agreed not to renew their nine-year
management relationship."
Rudolph is credited with discovering the Louisiana native when she was
just 13 years old, helping guide her early career and building her into
one of the most successful recording stars in recent years.
Spears has sold more than 60 million albums since she shot to fame with
her 1999 debut, "... Baby One More Time." With the subsequent releases of
"Oops! ... I Did It Again" and "Britney," Spears became the first female
performer in the history of Billboard magazine to have her first three
albums open at No. 1 on the pop album chart.
In a statement, Rudolph said, "Britney and I simply realized what we
have done all we can do together."
Sloane said the split was amicable
and added no decisions had been made about future
management for Spears.
Rudolph said he would be teaming up with the family-owned Maloof
Entertainment company, which owns and operates the Palms Resort &
Casino Hotel in Las Vegas to produce TV projects.
(Agencies) |