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Britney Spears took the love/hate relationship between a star and the paparazzi to its logical extreme this weekend when she allegedly bedded a photographer who, according to Us Weekly, "regularly covers" the pop star—which means that he either photographs her a lot or that this isn't their first tryst:

According to reports, the pair was holed up in Spears' room at the Peninsula Hotel until the wee hours of Sunday. The photographer, whose first name is Adnan, departed the hotel at 6 a.m. Sources say Spears left at around 9 a.m. and returned to her nearby home off Mulholland Drive.

But when contacted by Us, the photographer denied any romance, saying, "We are just friends. She was just a little upset, pretty much about everything."

Britney experts are speculating that her romp with a member of a profession that has so tortured her in the past is the first in a series of attempts to curry favor with sex: check the tabs in the coming week for salacious reports of assignations with the reps from the Department of Child Protective Services, several judges, the guy who puts the labels on the urine sample at the clinic, a meter maid, and the McDonald's cashier who says, "Sorry, we don't serve McGriddles past 10:30."

[Photo: Splash News]