Celebrity Feuds: Sizing Up Five Star-Powered Squabbles

Dec. 6, 2008 — -- The fighting words are flowing among some of Hollywood's biggest stars. But which spats are harmless and which are bound to be played out in the public sphere for years to come? USA TODAY asks PopSugar blogger Molly Goodson to decode the feuds.

Britney Spears vs. Kevin Federline

The feud: In the Dec. 11 issue of Rolling Stone, Spears reveals that son Sean Preston, 3, uses profanity, blaming it on ex-husband Federline. In Spears' MTV documentary, "For the Record," she says that Federline spent more time on his music career than with her. Federline responds in the latest issue of People, saying "I didn't give her an ultimatum, but I was trying to work stuff out … and she didn't even talk to me or anything and went behind my back and filed (for divorce)."

The status: Reignited -- for now. The dust has settled in their custody battle, but their public digs at each other may be more about publicity than poisonous posturing. "The things they say are pretty civil," Goodson says. "I don't think either one of them dislikes each other."

Fallout factor: Minor. "The hard part is over, which was the initial custody battle, and hopefully now, (they start) working their way back to having equal parts in their boy's lives," Goodson says.

Incendiary scale: * * * (out of five)

Jennifer Aniston vs. Angelina Jolie

The feud: Aniston opened up about her ex Brad Pitt and Jolie in the December issue of Vogue, calling Jolie "uncool" for admitting in a January 2007 Vogue article that she couldn't wait to get to work each day on the "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" set with the then-married Pitt. Jolie also admitted in an October New York Times article that she was glad for the Smith experience, especially for her children. "Not a lot of people get to see a movie where their parents fell in love." But for her part, Aniston expressed disappointment in the way Vogue handled her story. "I was just surprised that Vogue would go so tabloid. I was bummed. But you almost expect it," she says in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly.