Spears In Hospital After Custody Dispute
Britney Spears was placed into an ambulance at her home and transported to a hospital late Thursday after a custodial standoff involving her small children that lasted nearly three hours.
Entertainment Tonight's Kevin Frazier told Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen Friday he had "learned that there were two ambulances that left Britney's house, one of them carrying her young son, Jaden James, and we don't know the condition of the child or Britney."
Aerial footage from KTLA-TV showed the pop star being lifted in a gurney into an ambulance. It was unclear where she was being taken.
Spears turned over her children around 10:50 p.m., Officer Jason Lee said. Police were called to the residence around 8 p.m., he said.
Lee said Spears was under the influence of an unknown substance. No injuries were reported.
A small army of photographers chased the ambulance as it drove away.
The call involved a "family custodial dispute that we are trying to resolve ... peacefully by court order," Lee said, declining to elaborate.
Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline are fighting over custody of their sons, 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James.
From the hospital, Frazier told Chen, "Kevin Federline's guard is standing in front of the emergency room door. He has some kind of veil blocking the door, so that people cannot see in. Inside, it is almost like an armed camp. Three police officers in the hallway, four more in the back room."
Lee said earlier that no injuries were reported, but declined to give more details.
An Associated Press photographer outside the gated community that includes Spears' house saw six police cars, an ambulance and a fire truck enter around 10:30 p.m. None of the vehicles was flashing sirens. A dispatcher with the Los Angeles Fire Department referred calls to the police department.
Federline, 29, has temporary custody of the children because Spears, who has limited visitation rights, has defied court orders. The two were married in October 2004 and divorced in July.
Calls to attorneys for Federline and Spears were not immediately returned.
Photos: Britney Goes To Court
Earlier Thursday, the 26-year-old singer appeared for a deposition in the custody dispute.
She was deposed for just 14 minutes, attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan told reporters after she left.
Spears called in sick for a Dec. 12 court-ordered deposition, but was photographed that day driving with a friend. She also failed to show up for a session Wednesday, Kaplan said.
Spears' attorneys from the firm Trope and Trope on Wednesday filed a court motion asking to be relieved due to a "breakdown" in communication with their client.
Kaplan said Spears' attorneys were present for what became a very abbreviated session.
"The deposition proceeding did go forward today. It was scheduled for 9:45 to 11:45," Kaplan said. "However, it wasn't able to commence until 11:32."
"You can imagine in 14 minutes there's not a lot of time to develop questions," he said.
Kaplan said another deposition will be scheduled.
All in all, it "doesn't seem to be the behavior of someone who's really out there trying to get her kids back," in Touch Weekly Senior Editor Kim Serafin remarked to Chen on Friday. "But, here she is, fighting to keep her kids and not wanting to let Kevin get them back."