While many are bashing the Spears family as they get caught in a series of controversies, their hometown, Kentwood, Louisiana, continues to show support for the family's troubled siblings.  Residents of the rural town, which has a population of 2,200, are optimistic that Jamie Lynn Spears, star of Zoey 101 who recently made headlines with the announcement that she's pregnant, and pop star sister Britney Spears, who was embroiled in a nasty custody battle with Kevin Federline and got caught in a string of personal dilemmas, will get through the ordeal of being in the scandal spotlight once they return to their the hometown that still welcomes them with open arms.

"How many 16-year-old girls get pregnant every week?  It doesn't mean she's a bad person.  I don't think this will end her career.  Life will go on," Pam Wright, who works at a convenience store along Kentwood's main drag, U.S. Highway 51, said of Jamie Lynn Spears.

After the Zoey actress revealed to the world that she was expecting, more rumors emerged, along with issues of cheating, statutory rape, the uncertainty of the unborn child's paternity and Jamie Lynn having a miscarriage.

Of course, the town extends its support even more to the Zoey actress' sister Britney, whose awards and memorabilia occupy half of the Kentwood Historical and Cultural Arts Museum, which is also dedicated to honoring local men and women who served in the U.S. armed forces.

"I cry every time I see another story about her on television," Wright added.  "I think she needs to come home and we'll get her right again.  Everybody here loves her.  We believe in her."

Despite Britney's meltdown, through broken marriages, hospitalization, her two sons removed from her custody and bizarre behavior, residents of Kentwood stand by the troubled celebrity.

"The media should leave her alone," store clerk Becky Gill said.  "Everybody has problems, she's not the only one.  But she's the one gets her problems on television.  She's the one under constant scrutiny."


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: The Associated Press
(Image courtesy of ivallage.com)