Britney Spears’ bodyguards allowed paparazzi to take photographs of the star at her most vulnerable points and ‘probably got kick backs,’ a new documentary will reveal.
Britney Spears: Breaking Point, which airs Sunday at 9pm on Channel 5, tells of the fragile connection between the singer’s super stardom and her battle with mental health.
It delves deep into the devastating 14-month period when the life of the biggest pop princess on the planet was at its most tumultuous between 2006 and 2007.
Hairdresser Esther Tognozzi, who owned the salon where Britney shaved her head, has revealed one of her two bodyguards was opening the blinds to allow paparazzi to get a snap of the infamous ‘Britney Shears’ moment.
Esther, who was closing up her LA salon when Britney came in and shaved her head, explained: ‘She had two bodyguards, supposedly keeping an eye out to make sure the paparazzi were not getting any pictures and one of them kept opening the blinds.’
In the shocking documentary, Esther Tognozzi (pictured), who was closing up her LA salon when Britney came in and shaved her head, revealed: ‘She had two bodyguards, supposedly keeping an eye out to make sure the paparazzi were not getting any pictures and one of them kept opening the blinds.’
The hairdresser told how she tried to change the subject to get the star out of whatever mode she was in. Pictured: Britney on the night she shaved her head
She added: ‘I had blinds at the side of the salon back then. I had a sliding glass door and I kept saying: “There’s nobody over there, why do you keep opening up the blind?”.
‘Well, I found out days later why he was opening the blind because a photographer was hiding there to take pictures.’
Rob Shuter, former executive editor of US Hello! Magazine, continued: ‘I wouldn’t be at all surprised if people around Britney weren’t getting a kickback. They [the bodyguards] were allowing the paparazzi to take pictures.’
Recalling the night in question, Esther revealed: ‘We were cleaning up and there was a bunch of flashing outside lights and we were wondering “Oh-oh, what happened, police, ambulance?
‘We looked out and it’s a bunch of white lights flashing and somebody knocked on the door because we always keep the door locked saying: “Hey, open the door, Britney Spears wants to come in” and of course, I said: “What for?”
‘And they proceeded to come in, she sat on my chair, I said: “What’s up, can I help you?”, she said: “I want to shave my hair off”, I said: “No, you don’t”, she said: “Oh yes, I do”.’
In what became one of the most famous moments in pop culture history, the hairdresser who owned the salon where Britney shaved her head (pictured), revealed that one of her two bodyguards was opening the blinds to allow photographers get a snap of the infamous ‘Britney Shears’ moment
Discussing the paparazzi, she continued: ‘I thought they were going to kill each other. They were trying to pile up on top of each other to get a picture and the one bodyguard was actually covering the front door with a cape.
‘And then the minute they heard her going out the side door, I mean, if you seen my shop, I have gates on both sides, they were climbing the gates trying to get the first picture of her. I felt someone was going to get hurt, for sure, it was crazy.’
Esther went on to say how she kept getting phone calls from her brother as she was supposed to be meeting up with him.
‘By the time I came back to her she had grabbed a buzzer and she was testing to see how it was going to feel or look to buzz her hair,’ she explained.
‘So, I tried to talk her out of it and I said: “You don’t want to do that, tomorrow is a different day, you’ll feel differently tomorrow, let’s talk about it.” My phone rang again so, as I’m answering my phone I realise she went into that other room, sat in that chair and buzzed half her hair off.’
Rob Shuter, former executive editor of US Hello! Magazine (pictured), added: ‘I wouldn’t be at all surprised if people around Britney weren’t getting a kickback. They were allowing the paparazzi to take pictures’
Not knowing much about her and believing she only had one child at the time, Esther tried to change to subject to talk about him.
”I tried to get her out of whatever mode she was in because obviously she was convinced to do this that night,’ she added. ‘I couldn’t convince her. I thought we could do a comb-over maybe a fix it.
‘What I said to her was: “Do you realise what all the young teenagers are going to want to do tomorrow – shave their hair off to look like you?” She didn’t care.’
Former paparazzo and documentary-maker Dano Ramos revealed that the photographer and the agency must have made a tremendous amount of money, hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not into the millions.’
Giving a unique insight into Britney’s mindset that night, Esther added: ‘She said, “My mom’s gonna be p****.”‘
Britney was spotted in a series of wigs when she was out in LA following the infamous head shave instances. She is pictured left in July 2007 and right in August
The documentary features firsthand accounts and never before heard interviews from people closest to her, and those she crossed including Perez Hilton, her childhood agent, and paparazzi that followed her around. Pictured in LA in August 2007
‘She was like a cool cat, she knew what she wanted to do, she was zoned out, she was on a mission, she came in, she buzzed off all her hair and then she walked right out.’
The documentary also explores what lead Britney to that very moment – including her bitter custody battle with her ex-husband, Kevin Federline.
The documentary features firsthand accounts and never before heard interviews from the people closest to her and those she crossed, including Perez Hilton, her childhood agent, and paparazzi that followed her around.
There are also appearances of her contemporary Noughties stars, including members of S Club 7, Blue and 5ive.
Britney Spears – Breaking Point, Sunday November 3, 9pm on Channel 5