Despite Britney Spears' erratic behavior, most people think the troubled pop star should be allowed to see her two sons a few times a week under supervision while ex-husband Kevin Federline retains custody, according to an E-Poll/Reuters survey.
Spears, 26, lost custody of her children last year after a series of strange episodes in the wake of splitting from Federline including being photographed without underwear, shaving her head, and attacking a car with an umbrella.

She was barred from visiting her sons earlier this month after refusing to return the boys and being hospitalized for two days. She failed to make a custody hearing on Monday with another hearing scheduled for February 19.

Some people have written off the singer, with a survey by E-Poll Market Research (http://epollresearch.com), conducted for Reuters, finding 26 percent of those questioned believe she should not be allowed to see her children at all.

But the survey found some sympathy, with 51 percent of people said Spears should be allowed to visit 2-year-old Sean Preston and Jayden James, 1, a few times a week supervised.

Only 1 percent backed Spears getting full custody of the boys while the rest did not know or wanted unlimited visits.

But the overwhelming message from the survey of 1,941 American adults was that Spears needed to stop drinking and taking drugs, change her friends, and grow up. Others voiced opinion that she was suffering some mental illness.

"She needs to clean up her act and start acting like a responsible adult and mother and not like a spoiled brat," said one survey participant. "She will eventually be dead if she does not change her lifestyle."

The majority of people, or 62 percent, blamed alcohol and drugs for the downfall of Spears who was the world's top-selling female artist in the early 2000s.

Two out of 10, however, blamed the Hollywood environment while one in 10 thought her parents were at fault.

Opinion was divided when it came to the question of whether Spears could recover from this meltdown.

She enjoyed a brief comeback in October with her new single "Gimme More" and her first album in four years, "Blackout," which hit No. 2 on the U.S. pop album charts.

Two out 10 respondents thought Spears could restore her reputation with fans -- but two out of 10 did not think this was possible with men and younger fans less forgiving.

The survey found 45 percent said maybe she could recover while 11 percent did not know.

"Get help, get clean, start over. People root for the underdog so as long as she is trying she can come back," said one respondent.

Others weren't so sympathetic.

"Up until the children weren't taken care of, she had a chance to bounce back. I don't think there is anything she can do at this point," said another.

E-Poll Market Research provides consumer research for entertainment and media companies about celebrities, characters and brands using a proprietary research panel.
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No matter how much bad publicity she gains, Britney Spears will always have someone to stand by her - cousin and former assistant Alli Sims.

Sims said that the troubled pop-star is "not crazy" but shows fears that new beau Adnan Ghalib, is certainly not good company for her.

She has finally broken her silence on Britney without charging anything despite being offered lucrative sums earlier.

"I do not think Adnan is a good person. I think he only has bad intentions. He has given me a weird feeling and creeped me out. I wish he would just go away," Usmagazine.com quoted her, as saying.

When asked about Spears' adviser Sam Lutfi, the 26-year-old aspiring singer said: "When you go through your whole life just listening to what everybody tells you to do, you get to the point where you're not used to having to pick out yourself what is really important.

Sims claimed that the 'Toxic' star was not under the influence of drugs at the time of her recent hospitalisation.

"I do not think that is the issue at all. I was with her for eight months pretty much every day and never witnessed anything like that - and I lived there," she said.

Sims further said that Spears "adores" her two children and is quite upset and sad by her custody situation.

"I wish people would give her a break and lay off her," added Sims.
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American pop singer Britney Spears is planning to sue photographer Dani Brubaker for selling personal pictures of her with her two sons.

Dani had been hired to take a number of portraits of Spears with 2-year-old son Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James in November 07. The photographer, in turn, sold the pictures for 1 million dollars (GBP 500,000).

The pictures came out in last week's U.S. edition of OK! magazine, without Spears' permission.

A confidentiality agreement was not signed between Brubaker and Britney and the former holds the copyright to the photos. According to what a source told PageSix.com, she breached an agreement with Spears not to make the pictures public.

The photographer, who had refused offers of up to 500,000 dollars (GBP 250,000) for the pictures in December 07, saying that her "integrity wasn't for sale", went on to hire a manager to strike a deal with OK! magazine.

Rumor has it that Spears will be hiring top lawyer Howard Weitzman to sue Brubaker.

"All legal options are being explored at this time. Brubaker must be dealt with, and Britney will absolutely proceed, in the very least, to sue her," Contactmusic quoted a source as saying.

Brubaker reportedly plans to donate the money she made from the sale of the candid photos to a children's charity.
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