Britney's libel suit packed off

A while back, after she ceased to make any music but before her husband started, Britney Spears embarked on a libel action against Us Weekly after the magazine published claims she'd made a sex video. Judge Hart Cole has dismissed the case:

"The article is libelous on its face, since it maliciously and recklessly portrays (Spears) as acting 'goofy' while watching" the video with their attorneys, the suit said.

The judge disagreed.

"It is clear that plaintiff did not bring this lawsuit because she was falsely accused of acting goofy," Hart Cole wrote. "The issue is whether it is defamatory to state that a husband and wife taped themselves engaging in consensual sex."

The judge went on to conclude that Spears has "put her modern sexuality squarely, and profitably, before the public eye" in a way that would make it unlikely for the magazine article to be found defamatory.

To be fair, though, if your husband is Kevin Federline, the thought of you having sex with him would tend to make you be held up to ridicule by the average man in the street.

Cole pointed out that the pair had been happy to yammer away about their sex life on their reality TV show, Chaotic, implying that if you don't want people to shut their eyes and imagine you doing it, you shouldn't encourage them to do so.

music britney spears kevin federline