Planet Pop

Lindsay Lohan, right, and sister Aliana's parents have finally settled their messy divorce. PHOTO: AP

Another day, another bit of bizarre Britney behavior.

The cover of the September issue of Allure magazine features Britney Spears posed provocatively in jeans and dark brown wig, her bare breasts covered by her arms. There are two similar shots inside the mag. She very cooperatively posed for the shots in April.

When it came to sitting for the interview she had also agreed to, that became a much different matter.

"Britney showed up for Allure's cover shoot on time and ready to work,'' editor-in-chief Linda Wells wrote in an a letter for the issue, on newsstands tomorrow.

"She was entirely unself-conscious: She took off her wig and then stripped down to the waist, for no apparent reason, before sitting for hair and makeup,'' Wells said. "She was agreeable and cooperative on the shoot and left at the end of the day, followed by a trail of paparazzi." As for the interview that was to follow, the 25-year-old Spears missed four appointments with Allure interviewer Judith Newman, Wells said.

Oops! Britney Spears has done it again. PHOTO: AFP

At one point, Spears put off the chat because she was "delayed by important work in the recording studio," Newman wrote. But, she added, "The paparazzi found her a few hours later at a salon, getting her nails done.'' What do you do when you have no profile to accompany some alluring photographs? Newman wrote a first-person essay about her experience trying to track down Spears.

"Britney has long lost her role-model status,'' Wells commented.

Jay-Z all around, says Forbes.com. He has Beyonce on his arm - and more millions than 50 Cent and Diddy.

The rap icon, aka Shawn Carter, is No. 1 on the site's list of "Hip-Hop Cash Kings," based solely on 2006 income. He banked an estimated US$34 million, Forbes.com said Thursday.

Jay-Z, president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings, released his 11th studio album, Kingdom Come, which sold around 2 million copies.

Jay-Z, 37, is also part owner of the New Jersey Nets and has endorsement deals with Budweiser, Hewlett-Packard and General Motors.

Curtis Cent" Jackson ranks second with an estimated US$32 million. The 31-year-old rapper-businessman oversees his G-Unit record label, clothing line, ring tones and other enterprises, and has sold more than 11 million albums. His latest record, Curtis, is due out Sept. 11.

Diddy, aka Sean Combs, placed third with an estimated US$28 million. A fashion plate, he has a clothing line, Sean John, and heads Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment and its record label.

Diddy, 37, is also host of MTV's Making the Band series.

Meanwhile, the estranged parents of troubled starlet Lindsay Lohan settled their long-simmering divorce and custody case on Friday, winning praise from the judge who presided over their case.

"You have both demonstrated to me extraordinarily good judgment in resolving this matter as you did,'' state Supreme Court Justice Robert A. Ross told Michael and Dina Lohan.

Terms the divorce agreement, which will become official within 60 days, were not disclosed. Dina Lohan has custody of the couple's two minor children, Aliana, 13, and Dakota, 10. Michael Lohan said he was looking forward to seeing the children again, though it was not disclosed when or under what circumstances he might do so.

"I wish Dina the best and I hope we can both move forward and put our best foot forward for the kids' sake and just be good parents," he told reporters outside the courthouse.

Neither Lindsay, 21, nor her brother Michael, 19, were involved in the divorce proceedings since they are no longer minors.

Dina Lohan said, "Now the healing process can begin for my children and myself.'' She said daughter Lindsay, who was arrested last month on suspicion of driving under the influence and cocaine possession, is doing "fantastic.'' The Lohans were close to an agreement on a divorce settlement in 2005, but that deal collapsed while Michael was serving a prison term for drunken driving, brawling and other charges.

He was released in March and entered a Christian-based drug and rehabilitation center in West Babylon. He has repeatedly said his troubled daughter - who has been to rehab three times this year - needs the same kind of treatment.

She faces an Aug. 24 court date in connection with her arrest last month.