The Sunday Mail
BRITNEY Spears and her husband Sam Asghari have reportedly separated after just over a year of marriage.
“They’re separated and it’s best for Britney,” an NBC News source said in a text message to the broadcaster — Sky News United States (US) partner network.
Asghari has filed for divorce, according to a second source, who said he has moved out of the home the couple shared and is living at his own place.
Spears posted a photo of herself on Instagram riding a horse on the beach last week, after several US outlets reported the relationship was ending.
In her Instagram post, the “Toxic” singer wrote: “Buying a horse soon! So many options it’s kinda hard!
“I can’t make up my mind. Should I join the camaraderie and put a pink cowboy hat on?”
Spears (41) and Asghari (29), tied the knot at a star-studded ceremony at the US singer’s home in Los Angeles in June 2022.
The couple originally met on the set of the “Slumber Party” music video in 2016 and became engaged in September 2021 as her controversial conservatorship — the legal arrangement that controlled her life and finances — looked to be coming to an end. Their wedding was attended by high-profile celebrities — including Drew Barrymore, Selena Gomez, Madonna and Paris Hilton.
In May last year, the couple revealed Spears had suffered a miscarriage.
In an Instagram post, the pop star wrote she had lost her “miracle baby early in the pregnancy”.
At the height of her fame, Spears was one of the biggest pop stars in the world, best known for hits such as “Baby One More Time”, “Oops! . . . I Did It Again”, “I’m A Slave 4 U”, “Toxic” and “Womaniser”.
She released her first single in six years last August — “Hold Me Closer” — a duet with Sir Elton John. Spears had previously been married to Kevin Federline, with whom she shares teenage sons Sean and Jayden.
She was also married to Jason Alexander in 2004 but it was annulled after just 55 hours. — Wires
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Madonna to kick off rescheduled Celebration world tour
Madonna has announced rescheduled dates for her upcoming tour, with her first performance to take place in London.
The Queen of Pop’s Celebration tour, marking 40 years in the music industry, will now kick off at the sold-out O2 arena on October14, three months after it was originally supposed to begin in Canada.
The 64-year-old singer was forced to postpone the North American leg of her tour after she came down with a serious bacterial infection in late June.
The “Hung Up” singer spent several days in intensive care and continued her recovery at home — but now her shows can go ahead as entertainment company Live Nation confirmed her tour dates.
Her European leg will be as planned, commencing in London over four days in October.
In less than two months, she will travel to Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Paris and other major European cities before culminating in the O2 once again with two more concerts in December.Madonna will then fly to North America, where New York will host her on December 13, before she takes the stage in Boston, Toronto and LA, ending up in Mexico City in April next year.
Due to the rescheduling, five North American shows were cancelled. They include a December gig in Nashville, Tennessee, and one in January in Las Vegas.
A week ago, Madonna had posted a positive update to ticketholders as she posed in front of the camera in several outfits.
She wrote: “All dressed up and nowhere to go. . . But soon, very soon, I’ll be traveling to you.”
Before that, Madonna expressed gratitude, saying she felt “lucky to be alive” following the health scare, and praised her children who had supported her throughout the ordeal.
On Instagram, the star wrote: “When the chips were down my children really showed up for me. I saw a side to them I had never seen before. It made all the difference.”
In a previous post where she was “on the road to recovery”, she thought of her fans as she said: “I did not want to disappoint anyone who bought tickets for my tour.”
Madonna has had a number of previous health scares impacting her performance schedule.
In 2019, she cancelled dates on her Madame X tour on “doctors’ orders” after suffering “overwhelming pain”.
She also pulled out of the first London show of the Madame X tour, scheduled for January 2020, after revealing she had been “plagued” with injuries since the beginning of the tour. — Wires
