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Outrage as Britney Spears' toddler plays with cigarettes as smoking singer watches on
Updated 14:56pm on 30 Jul 2008
Britney Spears' parenting skills have come under fire yet again after photographs emerged showing the star smoking in front of her son as he plays with a packet of cigarettes.
The singer, branded 'Puff Mommy' by the American press, eventually takes the Marlboro Lights and a lighter from the two-year-old's hands, but continues to subject him to second-hand smoke.
What a drag: Britney Spears puffs on a cigarette outside her Beverly Hills home as her son Sean Preston reaches for her packet of Marlboro Lights
I wonder if mummy can see me now: The three-year-old begins to pull a cigarette out of the packet
Health experts have criticised Britney's 'shocking' behaviour, calling her a 'poor role model' for her children.
It comes a week after Britney officially agreed to give her ex-husband Kevin Federline sole custody of the couple's two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden, 1.
She is currently allowed two visits and one overnight per week in the settlement.
Stepping in: Britney eventually takes the packet and lighter from her son
It is the latest in a string of high-profile parenting dramas for the 26-year-old.
In January this year, she was placed on lockdown for a mental evaluation after she locked herself in a room with Sean Preston at her LA home and refused to hand him over to Federline.
In February 2006, she was caught driving with Sean Preston on her lap with no seat belts and the following month she received a visit from child welfare officers when Sean Preston fell from his high chair, bruising his head.
That same year, she was photographed nearly dropping him while leaving a New York hotel.
Vice: Britney has been branded 'Puff Mommy' by the American press
Reader views (9)
If it was a bag of sweets, would the press make such a big thing....he's two...he is pushing boundaries...a completely normal thing for him to do, give Brit a break, there are some terrible things happening in the world and all the paps can do is take and publish (privacy invading..?) photos and tut at a young mum and her two year old boy.
- Vikki, London, 30/07/2008 21:16
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My thoughts exactly, Ross. She is in her own home - regardless as to whether she should be puffing away in front of her child or whether he should be manhandling some Marlboro Lights, the girl is entitled to some privacy in her own back garden!
Shocking behaviour on behalf of the photographer, zoom lens anyone?!
- Pootle, Twickenham, 30/07/2008 13:46
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I agree with anon. Plus look at his little face watching her, just like my nephew when he's up to something he knows he's not allowed to do - in this case play with her cigarettes and lighter. I'm not a smoker and think its a disgusting habit but for crying out loud give her a break
- Kathy, London, 30/07/2008 13:26
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Cigarettes obviously pose a danger - if only the packet had carried the warning "Warning: Cigarettes can you make you a Porker" then she might have heeded the danger & possibly still be as fit/foxy as she was in that first video of hers.
- Robert Smyth, London, 30/07/2008 13:22
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Oh come on, she isn't letting him smoke or even letting him pretend to smoke. This ridiculous overreaction is symptomatic of today's society.
- Lisa, London, UK, 30/07/2008 13:16
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How did the photographer manager to get such clear shots when she is at her home? In the last one she is staring directly into the camera!
- Ross, London, UK, 30/07/2008 12:18
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Looks as though she is reprising her role as Waynetta Slob!
- William Jenkins, LONDON, 30/07/2008 11:47
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I was a smoker with young children but my children never saw me smoke, nor did they even see a packet of cigarettes or a lighter lying around. Parental responsibility is seriously lacking worldwide if things like this, and leaving toddlers alone in holiday apartments, can be excused or taken lightly.
- Melissa, London, 30/07/2008 11:24
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Millions of parents around the world smoke and at least she is not smoking inside with her child sitting next to her. I'm not a smoker and don't think anyone should smoke but I don't see Britney doing anything worse then all the other people who smoke in front of there children. These pictures do go to show that children copy their parents and those TV ad are right, if you smoke, your children will probably smoke too.
- Anon, London, 30/07/2008 10:52
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