LOS ANGELES - A judge has ordered Britney Spears to undergo random drug testing in the latest twist to the fallen pop singer's bitter custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline, court documents showed Tuesday.
Los Angeles Superior Court judge Scott Gordon said that, according to evidence presented in closed door hearings, Spears remains a "habitual, frequent, and continuous" user of "controlled substances and alcohol."
"The petitioner (Spears) is ordered to undergo testing for the use of controlled substances and alcohol," the court order stated. "Testing shall be conducted twice per week on random dates and times."
The judge however did not make any changes to the existing shared custody arrangements between Spears and Federline regarding the the couple's two baby children, Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1.
On Monday it emerged that a former bodyguard had lodged a statement with the court making allegations of nudity and drugs and expressing concern about the welfare of the Spears' sons.
Reports have said Federline had been seeking a 70/30 arrangement in his favour instead of the 50/50 agreement the couple have.
The court's order also ruled that Spears and Federline were to be "restrained from making derogatory remarks about the other party and the other party's family or significant other."
Spears, 25, filed for divorce from former back-up dancer Federline last year and has rarely been out of the tabloid headlines since before she entered a rehabilitation center in February.
Her stint in rehab followed a series of lurid tabloid headlines chronicling Spears' wild lifestyle.
She was repeatedly photographed in nightspots without wearing any underwear, and was also captured bizarrely shaving her head in a hair salon and attacking a photographer's car with an umbrella.
The order to undergo drug testing is the latest blow to Spears' image as she attempts to rebuild her sagging career ahead of the release in November of her first album for four years.
On Monday, Spears' management company terminated a contract with her after just over a month. It followed a heavily criticized public performance by the singer at the MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas.
"It saddens us to confirm media reports that we have terminated our professional relationship with Britney Spears," manager Jeff Kwatinetz said in a statement.
"We believe Britney is enormously talented, and has made a terrific record, but current circumstances have prevented us from properly doing our job."
Spears shot to superstardom in late 1998, with her smash-hit debut album "Baby One More Time," which she followed with another chart-topping success the following year, "Oops! ... I Did It Again."
According to Time magazine, Spears has sold over 76 million records worldwide and her 31 million albums sold in the US make her the eighth best-selling female artist in American music history.
rcw/ch
09/19/2007 01:20 GMT