AVRIL LAVIGNE - LAVIGNE BEMUSED ABOUT FUSS OVER SPITTING INCIDENT

AVRIL LAVIGNE is surprised such a fuss was made about her spitting at the paparazzi - because they asked her to do it. The pop punk star was leaving Los Angeles nightclub Hyde recently after a night out with friends when she was faced with an army of photographers, asking her to spit at them. The COMPLICATED singer obliged and then found herself hitting the headlines for something she has been doing for years. She tells Jane magazine, "I don't know what the big deal was, because I've been spitting at paparazzi the past two years I've lived in LA. "Then they made it into a story; they said I said 'F**k you' to my fans, which I would never do. "When you're outside of Hyde, or like any club, there are paparazzi guys holding glossies (photos) and they have nice little blue Sharpies (pens), and they want you to sign them so they can sell them on eBay. They're called 'professionals', they follow you everywhere. I said, 'F**k you,' to them. "Everyone was laughing (and) the photographers wanted me to spit on them... It was funny. "But I think, if Britney had had no underwear on that week, my spitting thing wouldn't have been talked about."