SIMON COWELL - COWELL TURNS ON 'PUPPET MASTER' SPEARS

LATEST: Music mogul SIMON COWELL has changed his mind about BRITNEY SPEARS - he's convinced she's "in control" and is callously manipulating the media. Cowell spoke out in support of the troubled singer after her much-publicised meltdown earlier this month (Jan08). He even offered to speak directly with her, describing her as "out of control" following her stand-off with police, when she refused to hand over her two sons to their father Kevin Federline. But Cowell has followed Spears' antics since, and is now sure she is deliberately misbehaving. He tells PageSix.com, "Everyone thinks it's breakdown this and breakdown that. From the kind of stunts she's pulling now, I think she is the puppet master and completely in control. "I really felt for her at one point, I thought she was heading for a meltdown and everything was out of control, but, especially over the past week, I thought she was honestly in control and, more to the point, wants to be in control. "If you don't want to get any press attention, just keep your head down, don't drive yourself anywhere and sit in the back of blacked-out limousine. But if she thinks she knows what she is doing, then good luck to her."