A story in the National Enquirer claims that Britney Spears's recent naked romp with music video extra Matt Encinias, pictures of which found their way into US Magazine, was set up by Encinias and Britney's former assistant Shannon Funk as a way of making cash. The source, Encinias's former girlfriend Ashlee Krol, said this to the Enquirer:
[Matt] and Britney's former assistant Shannon Funk worked together at the Chart House restaurant in Newport Beach, California and they're best friends. ... When Shannon was mad at Britney I think she and Matt set up a plan to make money off her.
Shannon Funk denies all this, saying:
You have completely false information. ... I didn't know Matt, [and] Britney is a friend of mine and I wouldn't sell her out for any amount of money.
Of course it sounds totally plausible - Shannon and this Matt dude work out some plan for Matt to get friendly with Britney, get a few drinks in her, then get her in the pool naked, and oh there just happens to be a camera there, and then they sell the pics to US for big cash. Of course, Shannon insists that she and Britney are friends - but we know how much friendship is worth in Hollywood: precisely nada. Clearly, Britney has surrounded herself with a staggering array of dirtbags, con-artists and leeches - not a big surprise given that Britney is hopelessly insecure and will befriend anyone who pays her a nice compliment. This is how it goes in the celeb biz - you alienate all the people who actually care about you, and are left with the Shannon Funks and Alli Simses, and all the other parasites and users. Britney is clearly too dumb to tell the difference. Sad.
(source)
