Ruben Garay, the webmaster of World of Britney (worldofbritney.com) and
arguably her biggest devotee, has announced plans to shut down the
six-year-old site in the wake of the “Toxic” singer’s recent run of
questionable behavior.
“As Britney keeps losing her identity and credibility within fans and industry people, so is [World of Britney],” Garay writes.
“I believe Britney is unfortunately done (for me at least). No
matter what anyone thinks or how they may disagree, it’s very hard to
maintain the respect needed to keep things going.”
The Web shrine, which bears the motto “Dream, Create,
Deliver, Inspire” and has meticulously chronicled all things Spears for
the better part of the millennium, will continue to run until Jan. 31.
Garay insists that his newfound lack of respect doesn’t
specifically stem from Spears’ late-night, club-hopping, panty-optional
palling around with Paris Hilton. Indeed, Spears has been making
tabloid headlines for a variety of reasons–hardly any related to her
music–over the past few months.
Spears filed for divorce from Kevin Federline on Nov. 7, a month after giving birth to the couple’s second child.
In the days following the split, she garnered public goodwill
by reconnecting with her pre-Federline manager and announcing plans to
record tracks for a new album, Fear Within.
But then Spears reportedly skipped out on her recording
sessions–and undergarments–and hit the town with Hilton. (The photos of
which launched a thousand Web searches and likely provided the college
funds for countless paparazzi offspring.)
After a public outcry, including an onair chastening by the
View’s Rosie O’Donnell, Spears issued a statement via her own Website,
saying she took her “newfound freedom a bit too far” and sang the
praises of Victoria’s Secret’s new underline line.
“I look forward to a new year, new music and a new me,” she wrote.
But that apparently wasn’t good enough for Garay.
Still, while he’s pulling the plug on his Spears-centric
destination, he’s not completely abandoning the “Oops” purveyor. Garay
says he’s working on a new site that will encompass all of
celebrity-dom.
“No worries,” he writes. “Britney will still be covered and our relationship with her people…will remain intact.”
We’re sure her “people” would be happy to hear those
sentiments–that is, if they weren’t too busy trying to salvage the
Britster’s image.
In addition to the demise of one of her primary fan sites,
Spears was recently named World’s Worst Celebrity Dog Owner by New York
Dog and Hollywood Dog magazines after word got out that Spears had
chosen Federline over her pooches.
And, in a poll conducted by AOL, the former pop princess was deemed the Worst Celebrity Role Model, narrowly edging out Hilton.
In other words, panties or not, the World of Britney is hurting.