Digest

Spears back in rehab, but not in court

By TIMES WIRES
Published February 23, 2007

Spears back in rehab, but not in court

The family court appearance Kevin Federline wanted in his custody dispute with Britney Spears was canceled Thursday as reports surfaced that she was back in rehab for a third time. The one-time pop princess returned to the Promises Malibu Treatment Center late Wednesday, according to reports from TMZ.com and TV's The Insider and Extra, a day after leaving the California facility less than a day after checking in. Mama Lynne Spears drove her daughter to the center, the TV shows said. Last week, Spears sought treatment at a center in the Caribbean but also checked out after a day, according to various reports. Spears and Federline reportedly agreed Wednesday night that he would keep their two young sons, Jayden James and Sean Preston, while Spears was in rehab, a program that takes between 30 and 45 days. Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini told the Associated Press that Federline's attorney had contacted the court Wednesday and asked to make an appearance in which one side in a dispute can come into court without previous notice. He said Federline lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan called Thursday morning "and indicated nothing is going to happen today." The issue Federline planned to raise wasn't known.

The weird world of Jackson continues

A judge has ruled that 36-year-old Nona Paris Lola Jackson of London can't intervene in Michael Jackson's custody settlement with Deborah Rowe over the three kids caught in the middle of the fighting exes. The hitch? Lola Jackson claims to be the children's birth mother. She filed a motion in October demanding a role in the settlement, the Associated Press said, but a Los Angeles judge denied the motion in November and again Wednesday, saying she hadn't provided "credible evidence." Nona Jackson's court papers contended that "Michael and I are a sexually active couple and have been this way from the beginning." She also claimed to have written more than 3,000 songs for him.

[Last modified February 23, 2007, 01:05:53]