Maryland’s First Lady Rues Spears Remark
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (Reuters) – Maryland’s first lady was only joking when she said she would like to shoot pop star Britney Spears, but on Tuesday it was no longer a laughing matter.
Kendel Ehrlich, wife of the state’s Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich, had been criticizing what she views as the entertainment industry’s negative influence on youth, during a domestic violence prevention conference last week in the city of Frederick.
“Really, if I had an opportunity to shoot Britney Spears, I think I would,” Ehrlich laughingly told the audience, accusing the 21-year-old Grammy Award-nominated singer of exaggerating the importance of sex for young girls.
Spears, a former Mickey Mouse Club member and once-demure pop princess, has recently begun to refashion herself as a sex object with steamy live performances and a topless photo on the Oct. 2 cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
Frederick radio station WFMD discovered Ehrlich’s remark about Spears while reviewing a conference tape-recording and ran a news story about it on Monday. By Tuesday, the first lady’s office was forced to issue a statement.
“As a working mother raising a 4-year-old son, the first lady has concerns about the negative influences that the entertainment industry can have on young children and teenagers,” Ehrlich spokeswoman Meghann Siwinski said. “During a public appearance, she inadvertently used a figure of speech to express those concerns.”
Publicists for Spears were not immediately available for comment. Ehrlich’s husband is a first-term governor who launched a failed bid this year to strengthen Maryland’s penalties for gun-related crimes.
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