Britney’s newest publicity stunt involves inappropriate photos with “priest”

Los Angeles, Calif., Oct 30, 2007 / 11:08 am

Britney Spears is attempting to stir-up controversy with her new album “Blackout” by posing suggestively in a confessional with a priest. The Catholic League’s president of Media Relations, Kiera McCaffrey, has dismissed Britney’s antics as “cheap tricks” that won’t really influence people’s image of the Church.

 

Spears’ album photos show her leaning suggestively against a confessional wall while a “priest” listens to her sins.  Another shows her sitting on the same “priest’s” lap clad in fishnet leggings.

 

When asked by CNA if she thought Britney’s marketing ploy would affect people’s perceptions of the Catholic Church, McCaffrey said “ No I certainly don’t think that people are going to think this happens in confessionals…and most people looking at this will think that she’s trying to just get attention.”

 

McCaffery characterized the pop star’s photos as a product of her personal life and bad advice from her record label: “it looks sad, it looks that this is a troubled girl, whose handlers are giving her this bright idea… and that is really no way to take care of somebody.”

 

Echoing earlier comments by Bill Donahue, she noted, “If everything were going well, not only in her personal life but in her career, this sort of thing wouldn’t be necessary. Britney Spears has certainly had hits before… and back before she had this crash…she didn’t need to resort to this kind of nonsense.”

 

Spears has garnered a lot of media attention during the last year. Most recently, she was stripped of all but monitored visitation with her two young sons after the presiding judge called her a "habitual" user of drugs and alcohol.