Casa Federline Up for Grabs

Tue., Jan. 30, 2007 1:44 PM PST by Gina Serpe

Kevin Federline may be postponing his burger-flipping days—his actual burger-flipping days—by at least a few more months.

The failed rapper is getting the opportunity to milk a few more million more out of his relationship with estranged wife Britney Spears, who has placed the Malibu pad they shared in happier times up for sale.

Spears officially put the formidable property on the market on Jan. 18 with an asking price of $13.5 million—half of which could potentially line Federline's cargo pockets.

The profit could be sizable for Spears as well. The 25-year-old mother of two plunked down a comparatively paltry $6.9 million for the exclusive address in 2004, shortly after making official her union with the "PopoZao" mastermind.

According to the Multiple Listing Service, the price hike is due to some "recent updating"—the removal of some 175 pounds of debris, presumably—and will buy the new owner 9,200-square-feet of Spears-approved housing.

For interested buyers, or oglers of the rich and famous, the abode features seven bedrooms, eight-and-a-half bathrooms and a recording studio, which accommodated Federline's foray into rapping, an endeavor which has been met with the same level of enthusiasm in the fast-food industry as it did in the music world.

Federline, who gamely mocks his rise to and subsequent fall from the top of the Hollywood pecking order in a Nationwide Insurance commercial slated to air during the Super Bowl, has already drawn ire for the ad despite the fact that it has yet to be broadcast. (It has, however, already made the Internet rounds.)

In the commercial, Federline daydreams of being a celebrated rapper only to wake to the reality of working the fry counter at a fast-food restaurant.

The National Restaurant Association has deemed the spot "demeaning and unpleasant" to restaurant workers, while Nationwide Insurance defended the portrayal, saying the company's agency was simply doing a "humorous take on one person's life"—in other words, the only person they were out to offend was Federline himself.

This week, Federline defended his 30-second star turn to Reuters.

"We're really not trying to insult anybody."

Except, once again, himself.

"I was skeptical at first," he continued. "The whole idea of poking fun at myself—that's where I was iffy."

The spot is scheduled to debut during the Super Bowl this Sunday.