Storm of controversy swirls around Spears

The media furor over Britney Spears continued Wednesday, as thepop star reportedly left a live-in rehab facility.

U.S. celebrity TV shows and websites have been rife with reports that Spears checked out of a Malibu rehabilitation centre Wednesday morning after spending less than a day inside.

A spokesperson for the Promises Malibu Treatment Center had no comment on whether the 25-year-old pop singer had been at the facility or whether she had left.

On Tuesday, Spears's manager Larry Rudolph saidthe singer had voluntarily checked herself into an undisclosed treatment facility.

Rudolph did not respond to requests for further information about Spears on Wednesday.

Spears, who started outas a Mouseketeer on TV's Mickey Mouse Club, has been in themedia spotlight most recently for an incident late last week, when she burst into a Los Angeles hair salon and suddenly shaved her own head. She subsequently visited another location to get a tattoo and was later seen out on the town sporting a blond wig.

Spears shot to fame as a teen pop princess in 1999 with her debut album Baby One More Time. She became apop phenomenon around the globe but, musically, Spears has struggled to depict herself as a more mature and experienced artist onsubsequent albums, which include Oops! I Did It Again, Britney and In the Zone.

The Louisiana-born singer has had a very public coming-of-age, with the media documenting everything from her dubious fashion sense to outrageous antics, which included a Las Vegas wedding that was quickly annulled, a televised kiss with pop icon Madonna and hershort-lived marriage toKevin Federline, a former backup dancer. She has become better known for her tabloid life than her music.

After two years of marriage, Spears filed for divorce from Federline in November. The two share custody of their two sons: five-month-old Jayden James and 17-month-old Sean Preston.

Since her breakup with Federline, the young mother'santics have made headlines worldwide. She has been photographed on many occasions pantyless or dressed in skimpy clothing, partying with notorious hotel heiress Paris Hilton.