Britney Spears to sue magazine over 'false' abuse story

The 29-year-old is outraged by the "completely and utterly false" report by Star magazine, which claims to have received tapes of her conversations with ex-husband Jason Alexander, to whom she was briefly married for 55 hours back in 2004.

According to the magazine, Spears accused Trawick, her boyfriend and former manager, of hitting her in the tapes, telling Alexander, "he beats on me", reported celebrity website TMZ.

The tapes were posted online by Star magazine's sister company Radaronline.

"The audio recording posted on Radaronline this morning purporting to be between Britney Spears and Jason Alexander is so obviously fake as to be laughable," said a representative of Spears.

"Star Magazine was informed of the falsity of this story before it was published. The statements attributed to Jason Alexander are a complete fabrication as Britney has not had any form of communication with Mr. Alexander in years.' And they denied the allegations of abuse. Suffice it to say, that Jason Trawick has never laid a hand on Britney," added the spokesperson.

Alexander, whose 55-hour marriage to Britney was annulled, told Star magazine he was worried for his childhood friend.

"Britney doesn't know what to do or whom to confide in. I'm really concerned for her," he had told the magazine.