A day after Adnan Ghalib took to the airwaves to defend his relationship with Britney Spears as being "far from over" comes word that his relationship with his wife of four years is far from on.
Azlynn Elizabeth Berry filed for a legal separation from Ghalib in Los Angeles Superior Court Friday, citing the ever-popular irreconcilable differences.
Per the court filing, Berry, who has chosen to represent herself in the separation proceedings, is seeking spousal support from Ghalib, as well as to have her hubby of four years foot the bill for any and all legal fees stemming from the action.
In her filing, Berry stated she and the 35-year-old FinalPixx photographer tied the knot on Dec. 18, 2003, and separated on Jan. 18, 2008—the same day the papers were filed in the courthouse—and that they shared no children together.
While Berry's court documents did not elaborate on the nature of the irreconcilable differences, even the most casual of Internet perusers may be able to hazard a guess as to one potential relationship sore point: the increasing amount of time Ghalib has been spending with Spears, his once and future, at least from the looks of things, cash cow.
Though he was keen to deny any payment changed hands, Ghalib at least got a cut of the limelight Tuesday night, when he spoke publicly about his relationship with Spears for the first time in the inaugural installment of a multipart interview with Entertainment Tonight and the Insider.
During the televised tell-all, Ghalib denied reports that his involvement with the "Gimme More" superstar was motivated by anything other than genuine emotion, calling foul on tabloid insistence that he ever had plans to sell private photos of Spears or to seek in any way to make money off of his association.
"In time, I think people will understand that," he said.
For his part, Ghalib has had the tables turned on him in recent months, getting photographed alongside Spears everywhere from late-night joyrides to pregnancy-test pit stops to a dinner date at Malibu's Taverna Tony restaurant Tuesday night, which ended when the duo inadvertently sideswiped a motorcyclist attempting to get close to the duo's vehicle. (See Brit mouthing off about the collision in the Hum.)
"Did y'all f---ing see that?" Spears said shortly after the sideswipe. "He f---ing went into the f---ing car!"
While Ghalib got out of the vehicle to inspect the damage, Spears changed her tune slightly and expressed concern for the hit cyclist, who suffered a scratched leg in the incident.
"We're cool," she said. "I just hope he's okay...I'm good, baby."
Conversation during the brief pit stop, however, soon turned to Spears' relationship with Ghalib, something she protested was more than platonic just as the paparazzo himself took to the airwaves professing quite the opposite.
"I'm not with him!" Spears said, adding, when asked why not, "Because...he's my friend."
Meanwhile, in his pair of TV interviews, Ghalib said his relationship with the pop star had in fact "turned romantic" just before Christmas.
When asked if he ever thought about marrying Spears, he said he'd "be lying if I said no."
To further stress their commitment, Ghalib went on to say their now infamous amble through the pregnancy-test section of a Los Angeles Rite Aid this month was not, as pal Sam Lutfi has said, a joke they were playing on paparazzi. (Ghalib's own FinalPixx agency sold the pictures of the excursion.)
Rather, he claimed that Spears genuinely believed she might be expecting—"She was feeling a lot of things she said she felt when she was pregnant. I think she was hoping she was pregnant with my child."
However, the paparazzo denied reports that Spears was less than mentally stable.
"She is not crazy at all," he said. "She never has suicidal tendencies. You've got to understand the love she has for her kids outweighs anything else."
As for her Jan. 3 custody standoff and subsequent hospitalization, Ghalib said Spears' seeming laughter while being transported via gurney into the ambulance simply came from the singer's dismay at the entire unfolding of events.
"She didn't understand why she was taken to the hospital. She didn't feel the need to be there. I think she was just afraid of what was going to happen. It doesn't mean you are crazy."
As for her relationship with her kids, Sean Preston and Jayden James, Ghalib said the boys are her "primary focus."
"She doesn't talk about a strategy to get them back. That's something that's very private to her. She loves those kids—it pains her a lot."
Time will tell if Spears feels like chatting about the tots later today. The singer is due to appear in court for an emergency hearing later this morning to request the court commissioner restore her visitation for her two children with Kevin Federline.