LAS VEGAS - Pop star Britney Spears married a childhood friend from Louisiana in an early morning ceremony, but quickly arranged to have it annulled, people close to the entertainer said Sunday.

The 22-year-old Spears and Jason Allen Alexander of Kentwood, La., "took a joke too far by getting married" Saturday, her record label, Jive Records, said in a statement released to "Entertainment Tonight."

"Ms. Spears and Mr. Alexander have filed for an annulment which will become official on Monday," read the statement by Sonia Muckle, Jive's vice president of publicity.

George Maloof Jr., owner and operator of the Palms Casino Hotel, said Spears and Alexander got married about 5:30 a.m. Saturday at a Las Vegas wedding chapel.

"Nobody knew it was coming," said Maloof, Spears' good friend.

The two arranged an annulment Saturday afternoon in the presence of several people, including a Las Vegas lawyer, said a source close to Spears who spoke on condition of anonymity. The signed annulment will be filed when the courts open Monday morning, the source said.

Spears and Alexander journeyed by limousine to the Little White Wedding Chapel on the Strip after a stop at the Ghostbar, a club in the Palms Casino Hotel. The chapel staff told the couple they couldn't get married without a license, so they were taken to get a license and driven back to the chapel, where they were married.

The bride wore a baseball cap and torn jeans down the aisle and was escorted by a Palms limousine driver, the source told the AP.

Maloof denied rumors that Spears was drunk and had to be carried out of the Rain nightclub inside the Palms on New Year's Eve.

"I was with her the whole night," he said. "None of those reports were accurate. She was just having a good time."

Spears was still staying at the Palms and was expected to leave Sunday. Employees at the chapel declined comment.

Alexander was back in his hometown Sunday, according to his grandfather, Robert Alexander.

"He'd been through a lot. We picked him up in New Orleans coming back and he didn't have much to say," the elder Alexander told "Entertainment Tonight."

"I wish them well," he said. "Whatever happens, happens."

He said Spears and Alexander had also spent Christmas Eve together.

Calls to Alexander's family home in Kentwood were answered by a machine. His grandmother said any details about the wedding would have to come from Jason or his father.

"We know about the wedding and stuff. It's all over the news," Betty Alexander said.

Spears released her fourth album, "In the Zone," last November. It debuted at the top of the album charts. She begins a concert tour March 2 in San Diego.

This has to be one of the most inane publicity stunts ever. Or maybe she was just shitfaced beyond all reason.

Oh, and does anyone else think she looks like a really old, really diseased whore? Monroe looked better at 36 in her final days than Britney does at 22. There are hotter girls at your local meatpacking plant. Something's not right there. Drugs, probably. Maybe she'll overdose before the year is out.

At 45, MADONNA looks better than Britney does right now.

Here's another look at her hair:



What's growing in there, exactly?
[This message was edited Sun Jan 4 16:29:04 PST 2004 by VoicesCarry]

As a gay man who, according to my government, can't get legally hitched, it's nice to see marriage being treated as such a sacred union between a man and a woman.

Can you say "bad weave"? That is one helluva bad weave. As for the marriage and the anullment, I hope Britney can find some kind of inner peace. The girl is obviously searching for something that making crappy songs and shitloads of money cannot fulfill.

Anxiety said:

tell me about it. this is a disgrace.

jessyMD32781 said:

The irony of it is that truly talented people like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison overdose while this chick will probably pull through and spend her latter days doing infomercials.

VoicesCarry said:

yeah, there's definitely more support out there for people with drug problems now. It's tragic to think that it wasn't there for the people you mentioned.

jessyMD32781 said:

Uhm, just MVHO of course, but i have little or no sympathy for talented and rich people who find nothing better 2 do with their lives than getting addicted to drugs and overdosing on them. It's not like they don't know.

As 4 Britney, what would U do when u hear the clock ticking: Tick: 14.51 ... Tick: 14.52 ...

SpcMs said:

"Britney" and "talented" should never be used in the same sentence. Webster's dictionary says so

I am just so tired of hearing about her or her name...

SpcMs said:

I'm not so sure she is addicted to drugs. Personally I think that she's suffering from the extreme boredom that happens when you have all the money in the world and no idea of what you really want in life. And that's sad.

look out, JLo, we've got a contender hot on your tail!

jessyMD32781 said:

She could just read a book and improve her mind. Oh wait, she can't.

VoicesCarry said:

didn't she write a book with her mom? my cousin told me that. I think that my cousin actually like Britney Spears. scary...

Aaaww, poor Britney doesn't have air-brushing to save her now! What is up with that blush? She looks like trailer trash. I'm surprised there isn't lipstick on her teeth!

VinaBlue said:

she's one of those people that make-up does wonders for.

Superficially speaking, without make up, she's not a very pretty girl.

lovebizzare said:

I know. I've said that from the beginning.

VoicesCarry said:

Thats funny . The guy should have got a divorce & took half of everything Britney owns

Anxiety said:

you beat me to it...

Her weave is sooo bad

jessyMD32781 said:

What Britney is addicted to is BOOZE.

There have been COUNTLESS reports over the last year or so of her getting completely shitfaced, puking drunk at clubs and bars to the point she's heaving her guts out in the bathroom and having to be carried out by her bodyguards.

I think this latest little escapade was a result of being trashed and of hoping for a little media attention to boost sales of her crummy CD.

Britney's a talentless bimbo who's realizing her career is rapidly flushing down the toilet and she (evidently) isn't intelligent enough to do anything else with her life so she's freaking out and becoming a drunk.

Anxiety said:

Exactly..

Those pictures are the perfect advertisement for not getting and maintaining a tan. Without all the air brushing her skin looks 10 years older than it should.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. When will pale skinned people learned... Us and sun don't mix!

Poor girl was not thinking

VoicesCarry said:

Nice 80s hooker makeover honey.

an open letter to Britney Spears---

congratulations Britney! Looks like your latest publicity stunt is a success.I'm sure you will be in all the supermarket tabloids next week.Quite a victory.You are one brilliant lady,aren't you? Your latest CD is steadily working it's way DOWN the charts,so you had to do something to get the public's attention.Why not a quickie,headline-grabbing wedding? Career move of the year.

I guess next week,you'll go ahead with the sex change operation that you've been pondering? That'll keep em' talking for about a month or so

rainman1985 said:

tell me about it, she should embrace her pastiness.

Christopher said:

Don't insult 80s hookers like that. At least they have some class!

Damn Britney. My respect for you has gone from 0 to negative 5 (on a scale of 1-10). Get it together. I actually kind of feel sorry for Jive, her record company. I know that sounds insane considering how much money they must have but it just so sad that they have to be her parents and make sorry excuses for her. I heard part of an interview with a spokesperson for them (or maybe it was the head of Jive, I don't remember) and the poor woman basically has to gett here and apolgize for this drunken whore's behavoir and try to laugh off the money they will be loosing on this album (I assure you this stunt won't help sell discs).

DavidEye said:

The expression there is no such thing as bad publicity is a lie. I hardly think (and I doubt very much that you think this and are probably just joking) that this was a publicity stunt to help sell the album. I think that her record company is mortified and if it weren't for the promise of sales would probably quitely drop her in a few months. It was just a drunken mistake. At least she didn't hurt no one with it and get behind the wheel or something.

"Jason Allen Alexander of Kentwood"

ok that's better. when I first heard she married "Jason Alexander" I thought she married George from Seinfeld. Talk abour being drunk.

lovebizzare said:

Best way to tell if a woman is ACTUALLY pretty is when she's wet.