Britney Doesn't Know Yoko
Friday, March 01, 2002
foxnews.com
You may wonder what the real Britney Spears is like. Or you may not. But in case you do, I now have something of a report.
You could guess that a girl without much of a formal education is no rocket scientist. She's not going to know much about the history of civilization, world economics, or how to split an atom. What you might expect is that she'd know something in the category of pop music, enough to play Rock and Roll Jeopardy on VH-1.
But here's some upsetting news. Brit was stymied on Tuesday night when presented with a pretty easy question. Here's what it was: "Who is Yoko Ono?"
The question came up because this reporter was having a congenial talk with the members of 'N Sync and some of their parents at the J Records pre-Grammy dinner. The gang was sitting at a round table front and center in the Beverly Hills Hotel ballroom. Britney was sitting with the group, between Justin Timberlake and his mom. I asked Justin, as I had asked him about a year ago, whether 'N Sync identified more with the Beatles or Rolling Stones, and where that might leave their rivals, the Backstreet Boys.
Timberlake replied, "Beatles! Beatles! Beatles!" Did that mean the Boys were the equivalent of the Stones, I wondered? "No, the Osmonds!" he laughed.
But immediately following this happy exchange, I queried the couple: "Does this mean Britney is Yoko Ono?"
Spears responded: "Who?' Her potential mother-in-law, Mrs. Timberlake, jumped right in and explained that Ono had been John Lennon's widow and broken up the Beatles. (This was strictly her opinion, this last modifier.)
But Brit didn't know what anyone was talking about. To save her, I said: "You're probably more Linda McCartney. You know her name, don't you?"
Spears again gave a question mark expression. "I'm sorry," she said in her rich Southern accent. "I'm very young." |
