Britney Spears' manager quits

Sep 18, 2007, 12:48 GMT

08/31/2007 - Britney Spears - © Terry Thompson / PR Photos

Britney Spears' manager has quit.

Jeff Kwatinetz, chief executive officer of management company The Firm, announced he would no longer be representing the troubled singer on Monday (17.09.07), citing "current circumstances" for his decision.

A statement released by The Firm said: "It saddens us to confirm media reports that we have terminated our professional relationship with Britney Spears.

"We have represented Britney for the past month. We believe Britney is enormously talented, and has made a terrific record. But current circumstances have prevented us from properly doing our job.

"We wish Britney the best."

Britney - who split from her long-term manger Larry Rudolph in April this year following her stint in rehab - hired Kwatinetz to help engineer her career comeback.

However, despite initially receiving favourable feedback about her new single 'Gimme More', she failed to impress critics with her disastrous lip-synched performance at the MTV Video Music Awards two weekends ago.

Kwatinetz - who previously represented Kelly Clarkson - was the second person to leave Britney's team on Monday.

Hours earlier, the singer's lawyer Laura Wasser announced she was quitting following a custody hearing concerning Britney's children with husband Kevin Federline, Sean Preston, two, and one-year-old Jayden James.

(C) BANG Media International