From Ken Lee, people.com

Mel Gibson and Britney Spears’s dinner over the weekend wasn’t their first meeting.

The pair and their families have met a number of times since Spears checked out from her second hospitalization last month, a source tells PEOPLE.

“Mel and his wife Robin clearly saw a woman in crisis and wanted to extend themselves in any way possible,” the source says.

“There’s just a handful of people in the world who understand the kind of intense attention that Britney goes through, and how to raise a family with some semblance of privacy and how to keep one’s family intact and out of the limelight,” the source adds.

“There are no expectations, there is no agenda. It’s simply an act of human kindness – one neighbor reaching out to the other.”

Gibson and Spears used to be neighbors when the singer previously lived in Malibu.

From KNBC-TV

A Los Angeles court commissioner Tuesday refused to give Britney Spears the right to visit with her two sons, leaving intact a previous ruling that gave ex-husband Kevin Federline sole custody. Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon also tentatively agreed to let lawyers with Trope and Trope withdraw from the case, so Spears could hire attorney Stacy Phillips. Gordon has yet to sign the order to make the lawyer swap official, Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini said.

Spears has not visited with her sons for nearly two months.

Gordon, who closed most of Tuesday morning’s hearing to the public, said he is aware of an effort have Spears’ conservatorship case moved to federal court, but that has no effect on the custody case, Parachini said.

 

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From the AP

Britney Spears was ordered by a court commissioner Monday to pay ex-husband Kevin Federline $375,000 to cover his attorney fees in their child-custody dispute.

Mark Vincent Kaplan, Federline’s lead attorney, had asked for nearly $500,000.

Commissioner Scott Gordon issued the order in response to arguments presented last week.

Spears’ attorney Stacy Phillips argued that Kaplan was overbilling and that Federline can pay his own legal bills, but Gordon wrote that Spears’ actions led to a great majority of the litigation and delays in the case.

Meanwhile, Spears’ friend Sam Lutfi agreed to stay away from the pop star for at least another month, delaying a hearing that could have made a restraining order against him permanent.

 

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From Breitbart.com

Britney Spears could have an alternative career if the singing doesn’t work out – as a dance teacher.

The troubled songstress has become an instructor at the Millennium Dance Complex in Hollywood in the past month, as she begins to settle into a quiet routine overseen by dad Jamie. And she has already won rave reviews for her teaching style by her pint-sized pupils.

“I like Britney,” said five-year-old Elissa Bouganim to People.com, who has taken three classes with the star.

“Britney is nice. I want to dance with her all the time because it’s so much fun.”

Describing the classes, Elissa said: “Today, first we were dancing slow, and then faster and faster. Then we did the fish move and lots of other fun things.”

Her mother, Pam, added: “It’s just amazing to watch Britney with the kids. Elissa won’t stop dancing now, that’s all she wants to do. Britney has really inspired her.”