'Waiting for Britney Spears': 5 shocking (allegedly true) stories from a former tabloid writer
In his new book, "Waiting for Britney Spears: A True Story, Allegedly" — a mix of fact and fiction — music writer and L.A. native Jeff Weiss brings us back to the last gasp of the celebrity gossip-mongering machine of the early aughts. It was the prelapsarian age of the dumb phone, when we weren't all taking photos of everything all the time and paparazzi were commanding six figures for shots of Angelina Jolie's baby bump.
Fresh out of college and dreaming of Pulitzer glory, Weiss instead takes a job with Star magazine — called Nova in the book — to pay his rent and winds up being present during ugly episodes of the celebrity stalking era: Britney Spears' meteoric rise and career lows in the early 2000s, a few years before her personal and business affairs were placed under a court-ordered conservatorship controlled by her father, Jamie.
Weiss bears witness to this particularly gruesome episode with clenched teeth, filing dispatches for rent money alongside photographer Mel Bouzad (referred to as Oliver Bournemouth in the book), who acts as his Virgil, smoothing the writer's way through Hollywood's red velvet ropes. Weiss in short order is engulfed by Spears' world until it becomes his organizing principle. The writer becomes an unrepentant co-conspirator in the plot to knock down Spears, one breaking news item at a time. "We wanted more and more, until she had no energy left to resist and no place left to hide," writes Weiss. Here are some of the most shocking stories from the book.
Read more: Britney Spears' highs and lows — a timeline from 'The Mickey Mouse Club' to her tell-all memoir
As a cub reporter in 2004, Weiss gets a hot tip about Spears' wedding to Kevin Federline at the Studio City home of a Spears confidant. Accompanied by Bouzad, Weiss scouts a neighboring house and pays off its owner in order to witness the nuptials next door. 'An hour before the ceremony, the bridegroom swaggers in in his white undershirt,' Weiss writes. 'The groomsmen look like lost members of 98 Degrees, wearing squiggly goatees and gummy-worm braids.' After the reception, where Federline 'removes [Britney's] garter belt with his teeth,' the wedding party packs into black SUVs wearing monogrammed Juicy Couture sweatsuits: 'Britney's announces Mrs. Federline. His just reads, Hers.'
Weiss' Britney beat is temporarily placed on hold so he can dig up information on Ben Affleck's budding relationship with actor Jennifer Garner. In search of the duo, Weiss drives to Affleck's Brentwood house. He's in luck: Affleck materializes and hops into his car, prompting Weiss to tail him. 'My wobbling, elephantine car is no match for his agile V12 Mercedes, but I somehow keep up,' he writes. But Affleck is onto Weiss and swerves across lanes of traffic along the 101 en route to the San Fernando Valley. Weiss is nearly side-swiped by a Range Rover, 'and suddenly, it's over. [Affleck's] car heads into the parking lot of Bob's Big Boy.' When the visibly shaken driver emerges from the Mercedes, it turns out to be Affleck's brother, Casey.
On assignment for People magazine in 2005, Weiss attempts to sneak onto Brad Pitt's beachfront compound in Santa Barbara, hoping to grab some tasty morsels about the megastar's new relationship with Jolie. He has been tasked, alongside a two-paparazzi team, with monitoring Jolie's son's fourth birthday party. 'I'm on the verge of breaking open one of the decade's biggest stories,' he writes. 'For the last six months, you haven't been able to buy a Snickers at the supermarket without missing the all-caps headlines' about the love triangle between Pitt, Jolie and Jennifer Aniston. No sooner does Weiss climb a bluff and whip out his binoculars than he is surrounded by 'four goons' with Glocks tucked into their shorts. He is harassed and finally released, but not before Pitt appears. 'He shakes his head slowly, confidently, letting me know that I've lost.' The next day, Weiss himself becomes a tabloid story: In the U.K., the Daily Mail headline reads, "People Paparazzo Popped Trying to Snake Pitt." Weiss has his first 15 seconds of infamy.
Read more: Britney Spears' 13-year conservatorship is done. Here's how we got here
In 2007, Weiss and Bouzad chase Spears — recently divorced from Federline — to a nondescript hair salon in Tarzana. 'Shielded by her security, Britney scurries in like a frightened deer,' Weiss writes. From an open window, Weiss hears Spears tell the hairdresser, 'I want you to buzz my hair off.' When she refuses, Spears grabs the trimmer and clicks it on: 'The extensions are hacked into lifeless scraps … the stray hairs curl on the floor like writhing snakes.' Hours later, Spears' hair is auctioned on eBay. 'The bidding reaches $1 million before the online auction house removes the listing. The authenticity of the hair cannot be verified.' In her own memoir, 'The Woman in Me,' Spears explained the reason for the bold act. 'Shaving my head and acting out were my ways of pushing back,' Spears wrote.
That same year, Spears attempts a musical comeback with a new album and series of one-off performances. Weiss nabs an exclusive interview with the pop star at a rented mansion in the Hollywood Hills. It doesn't go as planned. A disoriented and agitated Spears shows up late, rejects the pre-selected wardrobe choices for the photo shoot and locks herself in the bathroom. Finally, Weiss' moment arrives. Over lunch, 'Britney shrugs and summons me like she has something to confess.' Weiss is about to get his first face-to-face with Spears, but it's a false alarm: She thinks Weiss is a production assistant. 'She hands me her empty plate filled with bones and fat to throw away.'
Get the latest book news, events and more in your inbox every Saturday.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
F1 Rookie Ranks Lewis Hamilton's Brazil 2021 Win the Greatest Moment Ever
F1 Rookie Ranks Lewis Hamilton's Brazil 2021 Win the Greatest Moment Ever originally appeared on Athlon Sports. F1 has turned 75 years old in 2025 and there are thousands of moments fans and drivers could choose from, but for one rising star on the grid, nothing beats Brazil 2021. Advertisement Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, F1 rookie Isack Hadjar was asked to name his favorite moment from all of F1 history. His response? Unfiltered and unforgettable. 'I'm going to be so controversial now. And I love it,' Hadjar grinned. 'Brazil 2021. I'm a big Lewis fan. That was a BIG weekend. That was big. That was an amazing, amazing weekend.' It's a pick that still gives goosebumps to Hamilton fans. At the 2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from qualifying, started the sprint race from the back, charged through the field to P5, then started the main race from P10 and still won the race with one of the greatest drives in modern F1 history. Lewis Hamilton arrives in the paddock ahead of the Saudi Arabian weekend, Hamilton pulled off 24 overtakes in total and reignited the title fight with Max Verstappen in spectacular fashion. The crowd in Interlagos erupted. Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff slammed his headphones in celebration. Advertisement And Hamilton held the Brazilian flag on the podium in a Senna-esque moment that etched itself into the sport's folklore. For Hadjar, it wasn't just a win — it was a statement. Now racing in F1 himself, the young French driver's admiration for Hamilton is clear. And picking Brazil 2021 over decades of iconic races only underlines how that performance has become legend — not just for fans, but for the next generation of drivers. Related: Lewis Hamilton Called Out 'BS Scenes' in F1 Movie Says Damson Idris This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Video does not show astronaut exposing 'fake' life in space
"Former Astronaut Karen Nyberg Shows How NASA Fakes Space Flights.." a June 16, 2025 post on X claimed. It shares a video of a woman in front of a space station-like backdrop watching a chip bag float away from her, side-by-side with the same footage being filmed in front of a green screen. A person in a green body suit is manipulating the bag. The video garnered thousands of interactions in posts on X, Threads, Instagram and Facebook. The clip also circulated in posts making similar claims about Nyberg in French, Spanish and Italian. Nyberg is a retired NASA astronaut who completed two spaceflights during her career, including a 166-day stay on the ISS in 2013 (archived here). But she is not the woman in the green screen video. Comments on the post on X included links to previous debunks from USA Today and PolitiFact who named the woman in the video as Paige Windle. In the clip, a person off-camera is heard calling the woman Paige. Windle is the founder of a lifestyle management company and the wife of David Weiss, known online as "Flat Earth Dave," the host of "The Flat Earth Podcast." Contacted by AFP, Weiss confirmed Windle is the one on-camera. "This video never dies. It keeps coming back," Weiss said in a June 17 email. The video was originally posted on Weiss's YouTube channel as part of a series titled "Globebusters," but made no mention of Nyberg (archived here). "Someone took that clip and presented it as Karen Nyberg and it went viral a bunch of times and now it has started again," he said. He said he has repeatedly addressed the false use of the video, sharing with AFP the cover image of a YouTube video he posted in response to the false viral claims (archived here). Astronauts onboard the ISS experience microgravity, causing them and objects to float (archived here). At the altitude of the ISS, gravity is 90 percent of the total gravity one feels on Earth, but an absence of air resistance causes all objects in the ISS to fall at the same rate, producing a weightless appearance. The ISS stays afloat because it moves at a speed that matches the curve of the Earth, causing it to "fall around" the planet while staying at roughly the same altitude. The moon's orbit works in a similar way. NASA uses the ISS in part to study how extended time periods in microgravity and other conditions in space impact the human body as it prepares for future long-term missions in space. On her website, Nyberg features a video she recorded on the ISS where she worked on a quilt (archived here). Unlike in the video filmed in front of the green screen, Nyberg's hair and necklace float throughout the clip due to the microgravity conditions. AFP reached out to Nyberg's representative for comment, but a response was not forthcoming. AFP has previously debunked claims that ISS astronauts faked a video from the station.
Newsweek
4 days ago
- Newsweek
Motorsports Fueling Women's Passion for Off-Track Car Experiences
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Today's car companies have many irons in the fire. Not only are they tasked with engineering, manufacturing and selling the cars of today and tomorrow, but they also have their hands in clothing and accessories collaborations, movies and motorsports. Motorsports have been a foundational interest in the auto industry since its advent. In recent years, the audience for car racing has hit new highs, thanks in large part to the widespread use of social media amongst drivers and teams, and the success of Netflix's Drive to Survive docuseries about Formula 1 (F1) racing. Jerry Bruckheimer's new film, F1, is looking to ride that high to box office success. The movie stars Hollywood's Brad Pitt, Damson Idris and Kerry Condon as well as F1 drivers Max Verstappen, George Russell, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton, who co-produced the film with Pitt, Bruckheimer and others. Mercedes-Benz plays a prominent part in the film, just as it does on F1 circuits across the globe. Its performance arm, Mercedes-AMG, is an official promotional partner of Apple Original Films and Warner Bros. Pictures. The company's SL, G-Class and GT are featured on screen, as are the Mercedes‑AMG Official FIA F1 Safety Car and Medical Car. Mercedes-AMG also worked with the production team to create the race cars used in the movie. A new model, the 2026 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 APXGP Edition, was created to align with the movie. Its name and styling celebrate the film's fictional APXGP Formula 1 team. Damson Idris stands next to the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 APXGP Edition on a track. Damson Idris stands next to the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 APXGP Edition on a track. Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz USA Chief Marketing Officer Melody Lee, who will be appearing on stage as part of Newsweek's Women's Global Impact event on August 5 in New York City, told Newsweek, "I think it's going to be a great classic American, July 4th blockbuster." Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Mercedes-Benz/Getty Lee sees the impact of the movie going further than just the box office. "I think that one movie is going to be great for the sport, for all fans of the sport, and I think it's going to bring new fans to the sport," she said. A study released late last year by Nielsen Sports revealed that F1 is the most popular annual sporting series with an audience of 750 million viewers. Over the last three years, interest in F1 has grown 5.7 percent globally, with approximately 50 million new fans following the sport since 2021. Women are at the core of that movement. Women comprise 41 percent of the F1 fan base, the study revealed. Further, 16–24-year-old females are the fastest-growing fan segment. Appealing to audiences young and old (and in between) is one of the reasons why Mercedes got involved in the film. "If you've been around for 140 years, like Mercedes-Benz has when it celebrates that anniversary next year, there's an understanding that the brand has to appeal to multiple generations. It cannot only sell to the ones that can afford the car. It also has to sell itself as a dream and as an aspiration to the younger generations," Lee said. "That's why I always talk about my 11-year-old, who has posters of cars that he has no money to afford. But, that kid is already dreaming about Mercedes-Benz. He's already dreaming about McLaren. He's already dreaming about other car brands. It's really incumbent upon us as an aspirational brand to ensure that we're thinking as much about the next generation as we are about the ones that are here now. So that's the only way we preserve the legacy of 140 years," she continued. Mercedes-Benz is leveraging its motorsports presence in new ways this year. The company activated at the Miami Grand Prix, creating a hub that showcased the strength of the brand while giving enthusiasts a trackside seat for a weekend full of action, including the F1 Academy race. Miami Race Day activation by Mercedes-Benz across from Wynwood Walls during the Miami GP. Miami Race Day activation by Mercedes-Benz across from Wynwood Walls during the Miami GP. Mercedes-Benz F1 Academy is a series where budding female race car drivers compete against each other on the same circuits where F1 competes. Its efforts are led by famed former racer Susie Wolff and supported by other global racing superstars, including Jamie Chadwick. Mercedes fields a team in that series, led by 21-year-old driver Doriane Pin, who finished with the Vice Champion title last season and currently sits atop the series' standings. This year, F1 Academy is getting the Netflix treatment that F1 has. It is the subject of its own docuseries, F1: The Academy, produced by Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine media company. Women's interest in cars off the racetrack is growing too. As part of her job, Lee has participated in Mercedes-AMG driving experiences throughout the U.S. "I went to the one in Sonoma [California] last fall, right before Pebble Beach, and then I went to the AMG's On Ice that we did in Crested Butte, Colorado this past February. And one of the most interesting things that I saw is that there are women who are signing themselves up for these programs. Melody Lee puts on a helmet at a Mercedes-AMG Experiences program. Melody Lee puts on a helmet at a Mercedes-AMG Experiences program. Mercedes-Benz "No longer, is it a partner or a spouse or a daughter that's tagging along with a guy for the program. There were women there who had brought themselves there on their own, and even drove by themselves... These women are coming out because of this rising interest in performance and technology and motorsports and all of it coming together. We will continue to use AMG Experiences as a platform for women," she said.
