Britney Spears is being a good girl these days:
"She's boring. She doesn't even have a boyfriend," said Francois Navarre, the co-owner of X17, the photo agency that set the standard for aggressive 24/7 coverage of Britney Spears.
The Spears of today may not be any more boring than dozens of celebrities who fill magazines, but she is decidedly duller than her former self. Photographers who relied on her for hourly material for the gossip blogs are confronted by a lack of access and a lack of drama. She rarely goes out and when she does, she behaves herself. No umbrella attacks. No head shaving. No fake British accent. No panty-free car exits.
Agencies that dispatched SUV-loads of freelancers to track her every move last year have downsized their Britney teams.
"At the height of the story, we had maybe six or eight guys on it round the clock," said Chris Doherty, owner of INF, which sells pictures to magazines, websites and TV shows. "Now we would have at most two. There's no real point to being there all the time."
Spears' allure remains, as evidenced by two paparazzi arrested last week near her residence, but the coverage does not compare to the intense stakeouts that proceeded her confinement in a psychiatric ward in January.
A commissioner in Los Angeles County Superior Court subsequently named her father, Jamie, co-conservator of her and her estate, giving him and a lawyer control of the 26-year-old's medical care, finances and day-to-day activities.
Out went the paparazzi-friendly advisor, the British-accented outbursts and the aimless driving excursions that sent caravans of photographers coursing through the city. In came meals at home, family talks, conferences with attorneys and, on a good day, dance class.
The structure and supervision transformed Spears' life for the better, her representatives say.
..."Her father is doing what a good parent would do, but that doesn't help the paparazzi," said Bonnie Fuller, who was editor of Star magazine and Us Weekly when Spears was a staple.
"She's not going out with her former BFFs Paris and Lindsay anymore," Fuller said, referring to Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.
...She dated a paparazzo. Her closest friend and advisor, Sam Lutfi, allowed photographers into Spears' house and provided them with information about her comings and goings, according to her mother, Lynne.
Her spacey ramblings and constant wardrobe changes made her a tabloid photographer's dream. Every rant meant salable video; each new outfit meant fresh photos. The prices that photos fetch are often overstated, but Navarre said an exclusive photo of Spears today would only bring a 10th of what it did during her most erratic times.
"Then it could sell for $10,000 to $15,000, but now it would be hard to get over $1,500," he said.
Others who sell photos disagreed, saying the smaller number of paparazzi has kept the prices relatively stable.
Navarre's agency, X17, had 25 people assigned to Spears duty earlier this year. Now it's fewer than 10, he said.
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