The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Britney Spears has spilled her story to OK! magazine.

In a statement to celebrity news Web site TMZ, OK! Editor-in-Chief Sarah Ivens said the magazine had "spent a heartbreaking day with Britney Spears and witnessed first-hand an emotional cry for help that will leave you shocked and sad."

"This week, on newsstands Friday, the truth will be told," Ivens said.

The statement was posted Tuesday on TMZ's Web site. A day earlier, TMZ said it had "learned that Britney's self-arranged photo shoot and interview with OK! Magazine was a complete disaster" and that her behavior during the interview was "nothing less than a meltdown."

A publicist for OK! didn't respond to e-mails seeking comment. The Associated Press was attempting to locate a representative for Spears.

Earlier this month, the 25-year-old pop princess apologized for attacking a photographer's car with an umbrella in February, saying at the time she was preparing to try out for a movie part and got carried away.

The incident took place during the same period in which Spears shaved her head, got new tattoos and was seen partying hard in Los Angeles clubs.

Not long after, the erstwhile pop star, more recently derided as a pop tart for her highly public forays into midnight carousing, checked into a month long stay in rehab.

Spears filed for divorce from aspiring rapper Kevin Federline in November, just two months after giving birth to the couple's second child, Jayden James. Their older son, Sean Preston, was born in September 2005.

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Unlike Paris and Lindsey i find this Britney stuff very sad. She's very clearly mentally ill yet no one in her Family seems willing to do anything about it. Someone needs to forget about her career or what's left of it and step in and get her the help she needs. If somehting awful happenes to her or her kids i don't want to see her family all over tv crying about it. Nows the time to do something about it.

I feel sorry for lindsay because look at both her parents, one wants to capitilize off her fame and acts more like a friend than a mother and the other is in and out of jail all the time. I'm not shocked how she acting now. Britney I feel sorry for also, she really needs help. An I do think her mother is trying to help her, but shes doing it with tough love. Paris, I can't stand and will never feel sorry for.