Troubled pop star Britney Spears has fired her new assistant just days after her disastrous photo shoot and interview with America's OK! magazine, according to reports.
The 25-year-old raised fears for her mental health earlier this week (24Jul07) when OK! editor-in-chief, Sarah Ivens, revealed the meeting with Spears had been "heartbreaking".
Reports later claimed the interview had ended with the singer storming off after two hours with more than $15,000 (£7,500)-worth of designer clothes and jewellery, which had been hired for the accompanying photo shoot.
But Spears is allegedly blaming her recent negative publicity on her personal assistant Shannon Funk, who was hired earlier this month (Jul07).
A source tells U.S. magazine Life & Style, "Britney felt a lot of her recent troubles started and stopped with Shannon. Britney thought she was talking badly about her.
"She was very rude and Britney felt she was letting business emails fall by the wayside."
Funk replaced Spear's cousin Alli Sims as the mother-of-two's assistant after they fell out in June. They have since reconciled.
