Spears cleared in high chair mishap

Britney Spears and her husband were cleared of any wrongdoing by child welfare agents in Los Angeles who visited their home in response to a hospital report of an injury to their infant son, her lawyer said yesterday. The statement from attorney Martin Singer did not give details about the mishap that led to Saturday's house call by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, or DCFS. According to published accounts by the Los Angeles Times and People magazine, the Saturday visit to the Spears home in the beachfront enclave of Malibu came nearly a week after her 6-month-old son, Sean Preston, fell from a high chair and hit his head. People magazine said the baby slipped from his nanny's arms and fell to the floor as she was lifting him from the high chair and ''something snapped in the chair." A doctor examined the child the day of the mishap at the family's home, and he seemed fine, the magazine said. But Spears and husband Kevin Federline became concerned and took the child to a hospital emergency room six days later to have him checked again, though no serious problems were found, according to the magazine. ''While there was an automatic report by the hospital to the Department of Children and Family Services, DCFS immediately responded and determined there was no problem and no reason to open a formal investigation," Singer's statement said. ''They determined that the parents were not involved in any injury and that nothing improper was done within the home." The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has said its deputies accompanied DCFS agents to the Spears home on Saturday and that the matter was settled at the time of the visit. In February, sheriff's deputies visited the Spears home at the request of child welfare authorities after Spears was photographed driving a car with her son seated on her lap behind the steering wheel. Spears, 24, later issued a statement saying she had ''made a mistake" by failing to strap her son into his car seat, as is required by law.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the Boston College alum and cohost of TV's ''The View," says she has been the target of an unidentified female stalker who has been phoning in false accusations to New York authorities claiming Hasselbeck is a poor parent. ''In recent weeks, Elisabeth and her husband, Tim, have been stalked and harassed by an individual or individuals who seem to want to do them harm," Barbara Walters said on yesterday morning's show. ''Now, someone has contacted the papers." According to a report in yesterday's New York Daily News, an unknown woman ''with a Southern twang" and claiming to be ''a friend of the family" has phoned various agencies to make false and ''creepy" allegations involving the Hasselbecks and their 1-year-old daughter, Grace Elisabeth. While the exact nature of the accusations is unknown, Hasselbeck calls them ''disturbing."

Tori Spelling's first marriage will be officially over next week, clearing the way for her to marry fiance Dean McDermott, according to a report. In court documents obtained Tuesday by syndicated TV news magazine ''Entertainment Tonight," a Superior Court commissioner stated that Spelling's marriage to actor Charlie Shanian, a Peabody native, will be dissolved on April 20. Shanian filed for the divorce in October, a little more than a year after marrying the former ''Beverly Hills, 90210" star. He cited dissolution of marriage. Spelling and McDermott became engaged in December. The two met last year while working on the TV movie ''Mind Over Murder." Spelling, who is the daughter of producer Aaron Spelling, is starring as a fictionalized version of herself in VH1's ''So noTORIous."

Pete Doherty failed to appear at a London court yesterday for a review of his progress in drug rehabilitation. Doherty's representatives told Thames Magistrates' Court that he had been unable to return from Paris, where his group, Babyshambles, had played a concert Tuesday night. The case was adjourned until May 12. Doherty, 27, was sentenced in February to 12 months of community service and ordered to submit to regular drug tests after pleading guilty to drug offenses. He faces an April 20 appearance in the same court on separate drug charges. Doherty pleaded guilty last month to seven charges of possessing drugs including heroin, crack cocaine, and marijuana.

'No, I don't. I do not know how me being destitute is going to help. . . . I said, ''I'm going home to sleep on my Pratesi sheets . . . and I'll feel good about it." ' Oprah Winfrey, relating her conversation with a friend who asked if she feels guilty about her enormous wealth.

FROM WIRE REPORTS