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Even someone with a passing interest in entertainment probably remembers that wild night in 2007 when Britney Spears, sporting a freshly shaved head, attacked a paparazzis car with her umbrella while screaming f*** you!

There was no question at that time that the worlds biggest pop star had reached a breaking point. That incident and others led to her family members successfully putting Spears under a conservatorship led by her now estranged father, Jamie Spears. Few people questioned if it was necessary at the time because it so clearly was.

Fast forward 16 years and things are a little murkier. Following the momentum of the FreeBritney movement, led by fans who insisted Spears should be freed from her conservatorship, the 41-year-old pop singer is finally free to do as she wants again. But at what cost?

Now that they got what they wanted, fans are worried all over again as the Toxic singer continues to behave in bizarre and unpredictable ways. She hasnt brandished any umbrellas recently or shaved her head. Still, there are quite a few fans who wouldnt be too shocked if she did.

The new documentary TMZ Investigates: Britney Spears, The Price of Freedom delves into whats happened in the year since Spears was freed from the conservatorship. Some of the claims are based on rumors, but plenty can be supported with evidence posted on social media.

According to the TMZ series, Spears has been living in virtual isolation since having her conservatorship dissolved. They claim the singer spends her days reading fiction, suntanning, and driving around aimlessly.

Sometimes shell drive to a quiet dirt path, park and just kind of meditate, TMZ news director Brad Appleton said.

She hangs out at her pool because she loves to tan. She works out in her gym, and she dances wildly and a lot, TMZ producer Katie Hayes explained. This claim has plenty of evidence to back it up.

Followers know for certain that the Gimme More singer has been posting strange videos of herself on Instagram. Spears has become notorious for sharing clips of herself dancing, often while dressed in skimpy outfits. The pop star follows that up by deleting her social media accounts and reinstating them over and over again.

These provocative posts are one suspected reason that Spears allegedly hasnt seen her two teenage sons, Jayden and Sean Preston, in over a year. The boys were not present at her wedding to Sam Asghari in June 2022. They are supposedly embarrassed by their mothers posts and are living full time with Spears ex-husband Kevin Federline.

By the end of last summer, tensions between them had gotten so bad, the boys werent even responding to her texts, one source claimed in the documentary. And she was furious.

I dont think I would have wanted to worry about all of my friends and schoolmates accessing social media and seeing pictures of my mother half or full unclothed, a source alleged.

The Price of Freedom discusses several other rumors about Spears, including one about how those closest to the pop star were instructed to keep knives away from her. The documentary also alleges that Spears drinks copious amounts of caffeine, which keeps her awake for days at a time.

TMZ founder Harvey Levin said multiple sources discussed how Spears drinks coffee, Red Bull, Celsius and dandelion tea by the gallons, and that contributes to her manic episodes.

Spears previously refuted claims that she was addicted to caffeine.

My mind gets busy and sometimes that can be an easy target to mess with. Anyways, Im sticking to watermelon juice, which is the weirdest thing ever but I was told for years I cant have coffee and now that I can its my pride I cant even look at it !!! And green tea is my prized possession !!! You clever little turds she wrote in a lengthy Instagram post.

Sorry but I never stay up late with Red Bull !!! It is absolutely the worst drink ever, she went on. I dont like people in media bullying me and saying hateful things.

Sources in the documentary also put the spotlight on Spears marriage to Asghari. They allege that the relationship is in deep trouble and that the celebrity has become physical when fighting with him.

Hes a big guy and were told pretty passive, so he just takes it, so he does get angry, and screaming matches are not infrequent, managing editor Fabian Garcia said.

The documentary also claimed that Asghari doesnt sleep at the house very often.

Asghari, 29, said these rumors are all lies. I found it absolutely disgusting that people that were in her life at the time, when she didnt have a voice, they went and told her story like it was theirs. It was absolutely disgusting, Asghari said in a video he posted to Instagram stories.

Asghari went on: How are you gonna take the most influential person of our generation, the princess of pop, Americas sweetheart, and put her in prison where her father tells her what to do, what water to drink, who to see, and use her as a money-making machine?

Then, all the sudden, after 15 years when shes free, after all those gaslighting and after all those things that went down, how are you gonna put her under a microscope and tell her story? No. Thats also disgusting.

In February, Spears addressed the multitude of unauthorized documentaries being released about her.

With 4 documentaries released about me last year with people I adore speaking about my past !! she wrote in an Instagram post which praised Pamela Anderson. Unfortunately, the way my past was portrayed in those documentaries was extremely embarrassing !!! It felt semi-illegal !!!

So far Spears hasnt responded directly to the TMZ documentary or its validity. And though her fans are nervous, theyre still wildly supportive, which becomes immediately evident in the comments of anything she posts on Instagram. They may worry about Spears but theyre still clearly rooting for her.

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Ichiro shows funny side, joins CC, Wagner in HOF

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Ichiro shows funny side, joins CC, Wagner in HOF

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese-born player to be enshrined into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, one of five new members of baseball’s hallowed institution.

After enduring the baseball tradition known as a rain delay, the five speeches went off without a hitch as the deluge subsided and the weather became hot and humid. Joining Suzuki were pitchers CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, and sluggers Dick Allen and Dave Parker, both of whom were enshrined posthumously.

“For the third time, I am a rookie,” Suzuki said, delivering his comments in English despite his long preference for conducting his public appearances in Japanese with the aid of an interpreter.

For the American audience, this provided a rare glimpse into Suzuki’s playful side. Teammates long spoke of his sense of humor behind the closed doors of the clubhouse — something the public rarely saw — but it was on full display Sunday.

When Hall voting was announced, Suzuki fell one vote shy of becoming the second unanimous selection for the Hall. He thanked the writers for their support — with an exception.

“Three-thousand [career] hits or 262 hits in one season are achievements recognized by the writers,” Suzuki said. “Except, oh, one of you.”

After the laughter subsided, Suzuki mentioned the gracious comments he made when balloting results were announced, when he offered to invite the writer who didn’t vote for him home for dinner to learn his reasoning. Turns out, it’s too late.

“The offer to the one writer to have dinner at my home has now … expired!” Suzuki said.

Suzuki’s attention to detail and unmatched work ethic have continued into the present day, more than five years since he played his last big league game. That was central to his message Sunday, at least when he wasn’t landing a joke.

“If you consistently do the little things, there’s no limit to what you can achieve,” Suzuki said. “Look at me. I’m 5-11 and 170 pounds. When I came to America, many people said I was too skinny to compete with bigger major leaguers.”

After becoming one of the biggest stars in Japanese baseball, hitting .353 over nine seasons for the Orix BlueWave, Suzuki exploded on the scene as a 27-year-old rookie for the Seattle Mariners, batting .350 and winning the AL Rookie of the Year and MVP honors.

Chants of “Ichiro!” that once were omnipresent at Mariners games erupted from the crowd sprawled across the grounds of the complex while the all-time single-season hits leader (262 in 2004) posed with his plaque alongside commissioner Rob Manfred and Hall of Fame chairman Jane Forbes Clark.

Despite his late start in MLB, Suzuki finished with 3,089 hits in the majors and 4,367 including his time in Japan. Suzuki listed some of his feats, such as the hit total, and his 10 Gold Gloves.

“Not bad,” he said.

Sabathia’s weekend got off to a mildly rough start when his wife’s car broke down shortly after the family caravan departed for Cooperstown. They arrived in plenty of time though, and Sabathia was greeted warmly by numerous Yankees fans who made the trip.

After breaking in with Cleveland at age 20, Sabathia rocketed to stardom with a 17-5 rookie season. Alas, that came in 2001, the same year that Suzuki landed in the American League.

“Thank you most of all to the great players sitting behind me,” Sabathia said. “I am so proud and humbled to join you as a Hall of Famer, even Ichiro, who stole my Rookie of the Year Award in 2001.”

Sabathia focused the bulk of his comments on the support he has received over the years from his friends and family, especially his wife, Amber.

“The first time we met was at a house party when I was a junior in high school,” Sabathia said. “We spent the whole night talking, and that conversation has been going on for 29 years.”

Parker, 74, died from complications of Parkinson’s disease on June 28, less than a month before the induction ceremony. Representing him at the dais was his son, Dave Parker II, and though the moment was bittersweet, it was hardly somber.

Parker II finished the speech with a moving poem written by his father that, for a few minutes, made it feel as if the player nicknamed “The Cobra” were present.

“Thanks for staying by my side,” Parker’s poem concluded. “I told y’all Cooperstown would be my last rap, so the star of Dave will be in the sky tonight. Watch it glow. But I didn’t lie in my documentary — I told you I wouldn’t show.”

Parker finished with 2,712 hits and 339 homers, won two Gold Gloves on the strength of his legendary right-field arm and was named NL MVP in 1978. He spent his first 11 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates and entered the Hall representing the Bucs.

Wagner, whose 422 career saves ranks eighth on the all-time list, delivered an emotional but humorous speech about a small-town guy with a small-for-a-pitcher 5-foot-10 stature who made it big.

“I feel like my baseball life has come full circle,” Wagner said. “I was a fan before I could play. Back when baseball wasn’t so available on TV, every Saturday morning I watched Johnny Bench and so many of the other greats on a show ‘The Baseball Bunch.'”

In one of the moments of baseball serendipity that only Cooperstown can provide, the telecast flashed to Bench, sitting a few feet away from where Wagner was speaking.

Allen’s widow, Willa, delivered a touching tribute to her late husband, who died in 2020 after years of feeling overlooked for his outstanding career. The 1964 NL Rookie of the Year for the Phillies, Allen won the 1972 AL MVP for the Chicago White Sox.

“Baseball was his first love,” Willa said. “He used to say, ‘I’d have played for nothing,’ and I believe he meant it. But of course, if you compare today’s salary, he played almost for nothing.”

Willa focused on the softer side of a player who in his time was perhaps unfairly characterized for a contentious relationship with the media.

“He was devoted to people, not just fans, but especially his teammates,” Willa said. “If he heard someone was sick or going through a tough time, he’ll turn to me and say, ‘Willa, they have to hear from us.'”

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Braves get starting pitcher Fedde from Cardinals

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Braves get starting pitcher Fedde from Cardinals

The Atlanta Braves acquired veteran starting pitcher Erick Fedde from the St. Louis Cardinals for a player to be named later or cash, both teams announced Sunday.

As part of the deal, the Cardinals will cover the majority of what remains of Fedde’s $7.5 million salary for 2025, a source told ESPN.

Fedde, 32, is a free agent at season’s end, making him a surprising pickup for a Braves team that was swept by the Texas Rangers over the weekend and is 16 games below .500, trailing the first-place New York Mets by 16½ games.

But the Braves have sustained a slew of injuries to their starting rotation of late, with AJ Smith-Shawver (torn ulnar collateral ligament), Spencer Schwellenbach (fractured elbow), Chris Sale (fractured ribcage) and, more recently, Grant Holmes (elbow inflammation) landing on the injured list since the start of June.

Fedde reestablished himself in South Korea in 2023, parlaying a dominant season into a two-year, $15 million contract to return stateside with the Chicago White Sox. Fedde continued that success in 2024, posting a 3.30 ERA in 177⅓ innings with the White Sox and Cardinals.

This year, though, it has been a struggle for a crafty right-hander who doesn’t generate a lot of strikeouts. Twenty starts in, Fedde is 3-10 with a 5.22 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP.

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Dodgers go to 6-man rotation amid Ohtani return

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Dodgers go to 6-man rotation amid Ohtani return

BOSTON — Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani is expected to start on the mound Wednesday as he continues his buildup from elbow surgery that kept him from pitching all last season.

Manager Dave Roberts said Sunday before the Dodgers faced the Boston Red Sox in the finale of their three-game series that the plan is for Ohtani to work four innings at Cincinnati, with an off day to recover before hitting in a game.

With the Japanese superstar working his way back along with left-hander Blake Snell, who pitched 4⅔ innings on Saturday in his fourth rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City, the Dodgers will be using a six-man rotation.

They currently have Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Emmet Sheehan in the rotation.

“Shohei is going to go on Wednesday and then he’ll probably pitch the following Wednesday, so that probably lends itself to the six-man,” Roberts said.

In Ohtani’s last start, he allowed one run and four hits in three innings against Minnesota on July 22. He struck out three and walked one, throwing 46 pitches, 30 for strikes.

Roberts said this season is sort of a rehab year in the big leagues and doesn’t foresee the team extending Ohtani’s workload deep into games for a while.

“I think this whole year on the pitching side is sort of rehab, maintenance,” he said. “We’re not going to have the reins off where we’re going to say: ‘Hey you can go 110 pitches.’ I don’t see that happening for quite some time. I think that staying at four [innings] for a bit, then build up to five and we’ll see where we can go from there.”

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