Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Jamie Lynn Spears’ pregnancy: a week’s worth of controversy

Casey Aldridge and Jamie LynnJamie Lynn Spears caused massive controversy this past week by announcing she was pregnant at the age of  just 16.

The 'Zoey 101 star and sister of Britney Spears announced to America's OK! magazine that she was "shocked and scared, but keeping her baby."

ShowbizSpy.com readers gave their opinion: "This is a terrible, terrible mistake this child is making," said reader Jennifer.

"I used to look up to Jamie Lynn, thinking she was so great in not following in her sister’s footsteps. I guess Britney must have rubbed off on her." added reader Kendra Kleitz.

But many celebrities have given their opinions, Alicia Keys & Dr. Phil to name but a few.

And below - we'll take a little look back at the week that saw the announcement of Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy.

When the pregnancy was first announced, Jamie's sister Britney, 26, was totally oblivious to the fact her sister was expecting - she was reportedly the last person to find out. When she was asked for her thoughts after the shock news broke last week, she told photographers and fans: "My sister's not pregnant!"

Sources close to the Spears family confirmed that Jamie Lynn had not told Britney that she was pregnant.

It was later revealed that Britney's ex-husband Kevin Federline had found out about the pregnancy before Britney did. "Lynne wanted Kevin to be prepared when Britney found out," an insider told PageSix.com at the time.

It was then reported that Jamie's mom, Lynn had halted her plans to release a parenting book, called 'Pop Culture Mum', which was supposed to come out this spring, the book's publishers Thomas Nelson later insisted the book on "how to be a good parent" had not been completely scrapped. He told website TMZ.com: "It's delayed, not canceled."

The book had been pitched as: "Lynne Spears personal story of raising high-profile children while coming from a low-profile Louisiana community."

Jamie Lynn's dad was then said to be "furious" his 16-year-old daughter was expecting. "He put his foot down and refused to take any money and 'profit off of his children,'" a source said at the time. "Lynne didn't care."

Jamie is "devastated" by the news, says the source. He's "extremely depressed" and "feels Jamie Lynn ruined her life."

And then after it was confirmed that Jamie Lynn's boyfriend, Casey Aldridge was the father of the unborn child, his family were said to be "shocked" at the pregnancy - with Casey's uncle, Odus Jackson, saying that the news of the 16-year-old's pregnancy had come as a blow to Casey's relatives. But the retired Baptist preacher said in some ways it wasn't such a surprise and vowed that the family would stand by the youngsters.

Jackson said at the time: "We're shocked to a sense, and in one sense we aren't."

"It's not something we would have loved to have seen happen - but it has - so we'll deal with that."

He added: "I haven't talked with his [Casey's] Mom or Dad. We just heard it last night and I haven't really talked to any of the family about it."

And then, Casey and Jamie's relationship was shrouded in mystery, after one US report claimied that the teenagers want to get married, and another claiming they had broken up.

And a website, which claimed to be the MySpace page of dad-to-be Casey Aldridge, carried the message "Me and Jamie are over".

And then singer Alicia Alicia keys gave her opinion on the pregnancy, saying she hopes Jamie Lynn Spears will become a spokesperson for safe sex. "I think that maybe she can use this opportunity to talk about the ways that it's really important to have safe sex and it's difficult [for teens] to refrain and restrain but it's really important because it changes your whole life.

"It's a very serious thing."

It was then revealed that Nickelodeon, the network behind Jamie's 'Zoey 101 show, were to air a special about teen sex, after they were in talks with veteran news anchor Linda Ellerbee, who has previously hosted television events about same-sex parents, AIDS, the Columbine shooting and President Clinton's impeachment scandal.

She said: "I think it's important that something be done. "But I think it's important that it be done in a measured way, and not just to feed the beast of news stories."

She told a US newspaper: "This is a great opportunity for parents at this moment to talk to their kids about this - more important [sic], to listen to their kids about this."

A Nickelodeon spokesman, Dan Martinsen, confirmed that they were in talks with Ellerbee. Spears, the younger sister of pop star Britney Spears, told a US magazine this week that she was pregnant.

At the time of the news Nickelodeon released a statement supporting Spears.

A spokesman said at the time: "We respect Jamie Lynn's decision to take responsibility in this sensitive and personal situation. We know this is a very difficult time for her and her family, and our primary concern right now is for Jamie Lynn's well being."

But the network has faced criticism over its support for the teenager. One television critic, David Hinckley of the New York Daily News, said that to end "this sordid moment" with a lesson, Nickelodeon should pull the plug on Zoey 101.

He wrote: "If Nickelodeon keeps Jamie Lynn Spears because her product sells, it runs the risk that a valuable message it has spent years crafting could shift from `trust us' to `whatever'."

The third season of Zoey 101, which is still being shown now, ends with a cliffhanger episode about whether Spears' character continues to attend a boarding school in California or move to London with her parents. It comes amid reports that Aldridge is planning to marry his young girlfriend in a shotgun wedding.

Jamie Lynn then had the support of presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, he said: "It's a tragedy when a 16-year-old who is not really prepared for all the responsibilities of adult life is going to be now faced with all the responsibilities of honest-to-goodness adult life."

"Apparently, she's going to have the child and I think that is the right decision, a good decision, and I respect that and appreciate it."

"I hope it is not an encouragement to other 16-year-olds who think that is the best course of action."

"But at the same time I'm not going to condemn her," he said. "I just hope that she will make another right decision and that's to give that child all the love and kindness and care that she can."

And then Britney Spears' first husband (for all of 55 hours,) Jason Alexander, issued a stern warning to Casey Aldridge, saying: "I don't think this boy Casey knows what he's gotten into."

"First thing I thought when I heard about Jamie Lynn was at least that boy got her pregnant so they couldn't tell him what to do like they did me.

"He's got a little more leeway - more rope to pull with. All I had was a signed marriage license."

And to finish up, TV's Dr. Phil spoke out, defending Lynne Spears' parenting skills, saying: "We know the Spears family, particularly the parents.

"An asset that Britney and Jamie Lynn both have is a great and dedicated mother."

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