Spears, Federline in court together

Reporters who showed up Friday as Britney Spears and her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, appeared together for the first time in their ugly custody battle were chagrined to find themselves shut out of the downtown courtroom.

But the pop star still served the hungry media what they wanted when she repeatedly snapped at reporters and launched an obscenity-laden insult during her frequent breaks from the all-day hearing.

No ruling was made regarding custody of their sons, Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, but Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon heard testimony from both sides.

Federline’s lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, told reporters that the commissioner would wait until a custody evaluation was completed before making a decision. Kaplan said he expected to hear something from the court by Tuesday. The next hearing is set for Nov. 26.

The closed hearing had just gotten underway when Spears took her first break, leaving the courtroom and striding down the hallway to the ladies’ room. The trip took her past a phalanx of reporters staking out the hallway. When an Us Weekly reporter asked her how things were going, she chirped: “Everything’s great!”

Within half an hour, however, she was back outside the courtroom. The pop singer appeared somewhat shaken, her face flush behind dark sunglasses, and she seemed lost. When a reporter from TMZ.com asked her if she was OK, Spears barked: “Do I know you?”

About an hour later, Spears came marching out again with one of her attorneys and a few deputies in tow. When another Us Weekly reporter asked her how it was going, she blew up.

“Beat it! Snort it! [Obscenity] it!” she said, pressing her face close to the woman.

The outburst had some reporters shaking their heads. Others smiled and gaped.

“Britney, give us more!” one reporter said jokingly after Spears returned to the courtroom. “Give us more!”

Spears’ public appearances continue to feed an insatiable celebrity news cycle. (Most recently, she ran over the foot of an overeager paparazzi as she tried to escape the cameras.)

As a result, Gordon ruled Friday that he would not videotape Spears’ deposition for fear that it might end up on YouTube.com.

The commissioner also chided attorneys for Spears and Federline, suggesting that they have leaked gossip to tabloid websites such as TMZ.

Spears lost her visitation rights earlier this month after Gordon found that she had failed to comply with some conditions for shared custody.

He has said there is evidence that Spears is a “habitual, frequent and continuous” user of drugs and alcohol. He later withdrew the ban and allowed her to visit her sons -- but only in the presence of a court-approved monitor.

Spears was to undergo random drug and alcohol tests and meet weekly with a parenting coach who would report back to the court about her parenting skills.

Spears and Federline also were prohibited from making derogatory remarks about each other in their children’s presence and from using “corporal punishment” to discipline them. Both were also ordered to complete the court’s “Parenting Without Conflict” class.

On Thursday, another Spears lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her on a misdemeanor charge of driving without a valid driver’s license.

Attorney Michael Flanagan said Spears recently obtained a California license and hoped that the charge would be dismissed.

At the same hearing, a Superior Court commissioner dismissed a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge stemming from an Aug. 6 accident.

Flanagan said his client had paid an undisclosed amount to a woman whose car was hit in a Studio City parking lot.

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gina.piccalo@latimes.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.