It took a couple of false starts, not to mention a shaved head, but Britney Spears has "successfully completed" her stay in her rehab.
The pop star checked out of the Promises Malibu Alcohol and Drug Rehab Treatment Facility on Tuesday, her manager, Larry Rudolph, said in a statement released by Jive Records.
Spears, 25, entered the facility for the long haul on Feb. 22, after first checking in on Feb. 20, then back out a day later. She also spent a day at the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, but again left within 24 hours.
The third time around, she stuck with the program.
"Spears has been released by the Promises Malibu Treatment Center after successfully completing their program," Rudolph said, asking that the singer's privacy be respected.
An unnamed friend told People magazine Spears was "doing fine" post-rehab.
According to Tina Dirmann of E! Online's Planet Gossip show, the singer may not settle back into her Malibu abode for long, as her mother has been pressuring her to come home to Kentwood, Louisiana, where the paparazzi attention will be less intense.
Spears is apparently considering the Kentwood option, though she is reportedly more interested in staying in Los Angeles to see where things go with her estranged husband, Kevin Federline, Dirmann said.
The singer's most recent rehab stint was allegedly motivated by Federline's threat to initiate a custody battle over their two sons if she did not get help. Once Spears agreed to enter treatment and stay there, Federline reportedly agreed to drop his court action.
Under the terms of a temporary court order, Spears has custody of 19-month-old Sean Preston and 7-month-old Jayden James, with visitation rights for Federline. During Spears' month-long stay in rehab, Federline cared for the boys with help from his mother and Spears' mother and brought them to visit on several occasions.
Reports have suggested that Spears' time in rehab may have brought the splitting couple closer together. However, should the relationship sour once again, experts have speculated that courts will look positively upon the pop star's decision to seek treatment.
"This is great news for Britney's custody case—if in fact she has fully completed the program at Promises and she doesn't have a relapse," family law attorney Josh Forman said Wednesday. "Courts tend to allow a good parent to make mistakes as long as they properly address them and do not have any more relapses.
"I believe the public at large and Britney and Kevin are just in the wait and hope phase right now," Forman added.
Meanwhile, sources close to Federline told E! News that he and his attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, were "extremely happy but cautiously focused on Britney's rehab followup," and that the children would continue living with Federline for the time being.
Though Spears has never publicly disclosed what she was specifically seeking treatment for at Promises, speculation ranged from alcohol and drug abuse to postpartum depression.
That the pop princess' 30-day stay at the treatment facility was shorter than the typical 45-day stay endorsed by Promises may or may not have something to do with reports that she was a less than ideal patient and had difficulty adjusting to the program.
"Britney has a seriously bad attitude problem," a rehab "insider" told Star magazine recently. "She's been very demanding, acts like a 12-year-old and throws temper tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants!"
As relatively luxurious as the $48,000-a-month facility may be, it didn't live up to Spears' standards, the source said.
"She refuses to pick up after herself and even asked if she could hire a maid!" the source told Star. "She's asking for this and that, special food, special everything—and she's not that nice to anyone. She has a serious entitlement problem."
Us Weekly also reported bad behavior on Spears' part, citing a source who claimed the singer had been reprimanded for using her cell phone and leaving the facility to indulge in a little retail therapy.
However, Spears also left Promises on several occasions to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, field trips the facility supported.
Whether planned or not, her exit from the facility coincided with Federline's 29th birthday on Wednesday, a date the would-be rapper was planning to spend with his family, his rep said.
Federline had originally scheduled a birthday bash at West Hollywood nightclub Eleven Wednesday night, as well as a celebration at Las Vegas' Pure this weekend.
However, he called off the Los Angeles event this week, either due to a lack of sponsors (per the New York Post) or because he simply felt one party was enough (per his rep).
"Kevin is just focusing on his family right now," the rep told the New York Post.
Of course, there's also a chance he simply didn't want his birthday party overshadowed by his estranged wife's emergence from rehab. And really, who could blame him?