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X17 has spoken exclusively with a source we've witnessed to be very close to Britney -- we grabbed him as he left Winston's Friday night with Brit and Alli (he snuck out the back door, but X17 was there!). "Jeff" as he called himself (not Jeff Kwatinetz who was rumored to be Brit's new manager), has been close to Britney and/or Britney's family since before all of her recent troubles began. And here’s what he told us ...

“Britney does NOT do drugs!,” says "Jeff" who tells us he’s strictly against any type of drug use and against anyone involved in any type of drug use. She might enjoy a drink or two when she goes out but that’s it. And the lollipops? -- "They're Tootsie Roll pops, not suckers laced with drugs or whatever Kevin's camp is claiming -- I've never even heard of that!" She doesn't even go out on nights when she has the kids and she becomes very sad immediately after they leave. Her world revolves around her children -- 98% of her energy is spent on her children and at this point her career takes a distant second.

Britney never hated Kevin. He was "hardly even present during most of their marriage" but for the sake of being with her children 24/7, "Jeff" says, she would have considered staying with him. However, in order to be a happier mom, she felt it would be best to part ways with him. Jeff says: “Staying with a liar just to make life easier for your children -- if that's not pure devotion for your kids, then what is?? Britney can get any guy she wants, it's just hard to weed out the good ones from the bad ones"

Britney is NOT worried about Kevin's battle for custody of Sean and Jayden because she knows no one around her has evidence or proof of her doing anything negative that would make her an unfit mother because she has been nothing but a responsible, loving mom. According to Jeff: "Anyone close to Britney knows that she's an angel when it comes to being a mom and a friend."

Everyday life for Britney with her kids consists of 23.9 hours/day focused on the boys, "mom, mom, mom constantly," NO soda in their bottles -- in fact hardly any soda in the house, claims "Jeff." Britney spends all day playing with the boys while they're there and allows no strangers in the house and conducts very little work-related business when they're around. “Her kids are everything to her, there's no doubt about it,” he says.

The negative? -- our source says, "You mean besides the fact she's never made me those potatoes au gratin like she promised? -- haha!" There's nothing normal about her life right now." With the media focused on her like they are and the constant legal battles arising from her family, Britney is anxious over the constant pressure and threats. “She's a young girl, who's finally attempting to be totally independent and that's just something that the people around her -- business people -- do not want to see happen. When someone gets fired, they immediately decide to hop on board with all the haters. However you never see them report anything negative when they're employed, they just run to the tabloids and try to sell their bogus stories after she's canned them. Any celebrity of her magnitude will tell you how hard it is to have your life scrutinized every second of the day, however she remains as polite as possible to the press. She doesn’t feel as if she needs to defend herself in the media and I agree. Just don't get in the way of her kids; she is a mother and she is very protective of her sons, as she should be.”

On Britney's family -- our source says, "They have issues of their own that they need to work on. They need to quit blaming Britney.” He's totally "turned off by Britney's family at the moment" He's also somewhat disappointed in her mom for being so naive and trusting the people that Britney fired rather than trusting her own daughter. It was due to the influence of Larry Rudolph on her family that Britney was forced in to rehab and while she was there, according to "Jeff." He also claims Promises staff administered medication on Britney despite a record of constantly clean drug tests that showed no traces of anything in her body. He says Promises quickly backed off from the accusations of drug and alcohol abuse and then claimed postpartum depression after the drug results were clean, but either way ... Britney was FORCED to stay in rehab because her family, her manager and officials at Promises were all threatening to take away her children unless she completed the treatment program. “I think Lynne does love her daughter, however I also believe Britney's anger towards her is justified. But come on, all moms and daughters have their arguments. Britney is just upset right now, her family needs to just be there when she's ready to call upon them."

So why'd Britney shave her head? -- Kevin taunted Britney that even his smoking of marijuana in her presence (Jeff showed us a pic of Kevin on his phone of Kev with a joint in his hands, partying with his friends) would leave traces of the drug that could be picked up by drug testing when they lived together and he threatened to use that against her in a custody battle. After Britney shaved her head, she begged her mom and Kevin to test the hair from the salon however no one went to claim it. Instead, Larry and her family staged an intervention in a hotel room with the same interventionist that put Britney's father Jamie in rehab and also worked with her brother. Britney begged for them to give her a drug test but eventually felt there was no other option but to enter a treatment program to prove to her family that she was clean and to protect herself from any unfounded accusations in a potential custody battle. Britney met with attorneys over a month ago regarding legal action against Promises. "I think she certainly has a case against the rehab center, I feel what they did to her was not only cruel and embarrassing it added more ammunition aiding Kevin's eagerness for custody over her finances, whoops I mean children."

"Jeff" raised the question -- why would Kevin file a civil case if he were truly worried about his kids' welfare when they're with Britney? He could have just called Child Protective Services and gotten any urgent claims handled that way, however his dispute now is clearly for financial gain. Britney isn't hiding anything. And why didn't he fight for full custody of his kids with Shar Jackson if he loves his kids so much?"

Our source says "Britney is the most generous person you could meet -- too generous" and that she doesn't focus on money at all. She has supported her family financially for years and feels that they shouldn't be so quick to judge her at times. Britney does have a good relationship with her sister Jamie Lynne. Despite the current rocky family emotions "Jeff" does feel that a reconciliation sometime in the future is possible because he says, “Britney is all about family. I just believe at the moment, she’s angry, she feels betrayed and she has every right to feel this way. Deep down, that entire family does love one another and it's just a matter of time before they're all together again."

Britney and the press -- “Britney is very clever. She's a seasoned celebrity veteran, if anyone knows how the press spins stories, its Britney. Get it straight people, Britney doesn't go out when her kids are home!! Come on, she has shared custody there is half the week when she's not with her kids! The press needs to quit being so ignorant at times. If you had 50 cameras and cameramen hovering around you, inches away from you at all times, pushing and shoving, wardrobe malfunctions are bound to happen.”

Britney's love life? -- "Jeff" says “Britney's like a little girl at times" and is "shy around guys. She's young and single and would love to find the right man; how can anyone blame her for that. I think she forgets sometimes that she’s a mega-star, someone who changed the face of music, an historical icon that still has a lot to learn and a lot more still to offer."

Whew! This is the interview every magazine is trying to get, but you have it here, exclusively on X17online.com ! "Jeff" has turned down countless offers rumored to be over $500,000 to tell this story but decided to speak directly to X17 outside the club (after a little prodding!). He wasn’t interested in money, just in setting the record straight.