Britney Spears (R) and husband Kevin Federline earlier this year. Picture / Reuters
Britney Spears has finally thrown in the towel and filed for divorce from husband Kevin Federline, reports TMZ.com.
TMZ has obtained court documents from Los Angeles County Superior Court, in which Spears cites "irreconcilable differences" as the cause of the split.
Spears has requested legal and physical custody
of the couple's two children, one-year-old Sean Preston and two-month-old Jayden James.
The couple who married in September 2004 are reported to have signed an "iron-clad" pre-nuptial agreement, according to TMZ sources, and Spears is not requesting any spousal support.
Spears made a surprise appearance on the David Letterman Show last night, revealing her slick new blonde bob hairstyle and newly slimmed post-baby figure.
She appeared happy and confident, giving no clue of the divorce bombshell she was about to drop.
The split comes just days after Federline released his debut rap album Playing with Fire, which has been largely ignored by mainstream media and music industry insiders.
Spears' divorce announcement comes just hours after a Los Angeles judge ruled the singer could not sue an American magazine for defamation after publishing details of an alleged secret sex tape.
In October 2005, Us magazine ran the headline: "Brit & Kev: Secret Sex Tape? New parents have a new worry: racy footage from 2004."
The couple denied the existence of such a tape and filed a law suit against the publication saying the article was libellous.
However, Judge Lisa Hart Cole ruled against the celebrity pop star, saying the issue at hand was whether or not it was defamatory "to state that a husband and wife taped themselves engaging in consensual sex."
The judge went on to say that as Spears has "put her modern sexuality squarely, and profitably, before the public eye," she did not find the article libellous, and dismissed the US$10 million suit ($14.9 million).
- NZHERALD STAFF
