Hey, didja hear about this Britney Spears girl? Apparently she's some kind of singer or leper or something. Anyway, she's in all the papers, with people seemingly unable to focus on anything today beyond the horrors of 9/7. (Never Forget.) Here's a roundup of what's taking up valuable column inches:
– VH1 will air a 30-minute special tonight featuring pop culture pundits weighing in on Britney's "most shocking year ever," covering her "umbrella wielding, pantyless partying, and her already historic performance at the Video Music Awards"—although it's not clear how exactly this will differ from their current hourly examination of Britney's various foibles via Best Week Ever, Celebrity Eye Candy, 101 Biggest Celebrity Oops!, 100 Most Awesome Celebrity Meltdowns, etc etc.
– Kanye West has finally (finally!) shared his icky feelings about the VMAs, which he said he should have kicked off himself with a performance of "Stronger." Saying MTV made a "bad move" by picking Spears to open, West added, "Man, they were just trying to get ratings, and they knew she wasn't ready and they exploited her." West's comments seem to echo the brewing conspiracy theory over at Idolator hypothesizing that MTV was counting on Britney to bomb in order to goose their ratings.
– Speaking of Idolator, check out this creepy Zapruder-esque deconstruction of Spears' performance for the "true story" behind what happened, which argues that the heel on her shoe came loose, causing her dignity to go back and to the left.
– Ever the iconoclast, Sean "Puffy/Diddy/P. Diddy" Combs was quoted by columnist Liz Smith at a VMA after-party as saying Spears is just "a sweet girl who needs some respect" while watching Spears and her "posse dance atop the booths of her VIP cage."