'I was asked to visit Britney': Dr Phil
TV therapist Dr Phil McGraw has dismissed accusations he tried to profit from Britney Spears' breakdown by visiting the troubled singer in hospital.
McGraw went to Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Saturday, where Spears was being held following a stand-off with police at her Beverly Hills mansion when she refused to hand over her boys to ex-husband Kevin Federline after a scheduled visit.
McGraw then announced he planned to devote the Tuesday episode of his show 'Dr Phil' to Spears' ongoing problems - prompting some to claim he was profitting off the 'Toxic' star's troubles.
But McGraw, who on Monday announced his decision to cancel the proposed Spears special "out of consideration" to her family, insists it was Spears' mother Lynne who invited him to see her daughter in hospital.
He says: "Thursday night, the phone rang, it was Lynne. Clearly she was very upset, as any parent would be.
"I want to set the record straight. I went to see Britney at the request of her family. I talked to Lynne, (dad) Jamie and (brother) Brian because they were frustrated that she wasn't going to be held for a longer time."
McGraw adds: "I was first contacted by her family a year ago and had maintained a running dialogue for the last year or so."
