Celebrity gossip magazines are hardly known to be particularly reputable sources of facts. More often than not, those big, juicy headlines are the product of semi decent Photoshop and great imaginations.This week, though, Star Magazine published an outrageous article claiming that Britney Spears had called her ex-husband, Jason Alexander, and accused her current boyfriend and agent, Jason Trawick, of beating her. Star also reported that Britney was pregnant with Trawick's baby earlier in the year.

Representatives for Britney and Trawick's immediately denied the story, but RadarOnline received Star's audio of the alleged phone call between Britney and Jason Alexander, where "Britney" states that Trawick beat her. The audio features a woman (presumably Britney) claiming that a man she is in a relationship with "beat on me."

Larry Rudolph, Britney's manager, told Access Hollywood's Billy Bush that the woman in the recording is "100 percent not [Britney]." He went on to say that "lawyers are amassing. We are 100 percent taking stern and legal action." On behalf of Britney's headquarters, Arlo West, a certified forensic audio expert, told TMZ Wednesday evening that the female voice on the recording isn't Britney. After comparing the audio on the recording to previous recordings of Britney's voice, West told TMZ, "In my opinion, it's not her voice on the recording." Another hit against Star.

According to Camp Britney, there has been no contact between Britney and Jason Alexander for several years. An official statement from BritneySpears.com states, "Every aspect of the story published by Star Magazine is completely and utterly false. . This is just another example of the irresponsible nature of the tabloid media relying on shoddy sources and false information for the sole purpose of selling magazines, without regard to the truth and without regard to who they hurt in the process." Awkward grammar aside, the statement clearly denies any truth to Star's report, and the magazine is definitely going to be facing legal troubles from Britney's headquarters.

Gossip magazines spreading totally false stories against celebrities is something that most of us see right through, but sadly there are plenty of people who take them at face value. What do you think, Brandeis? Is there value to truth even unto its innermost parts, even if it's just about good ol' Britney Spears?