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Published April 08, 2016
It certainly hasn't been a good few months for pop singer Christina Aguilera.
Her highly anticipated album “Bionic” flopped on the charts, her summer tour was canceled, her debut film “Burlesque” bombed at the box office, she filed for divorce from her husband/music producer Jordan Bratman, botched the words of the national anthem at this year’s Super Bowl, and in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was arrested on suspicion of public drunkenness, along with her 25-year-old boyfriend, who was popped for a DUI.
The reportedly extremely intoxicated pop princess was taken into custody after it became evident to authorities that she was in no state to take care of her own well-being. But police spokesman Steve Whitmore told the press that while the arrest will go on her record, it is not expected that she will be charged.
According to TMZ, insiders have been trying to persuade Aguilera into rehab for weeks now, and sources also told us that during her initial separation from Bratman she spent quite a bit of time at West Hollywood’s SLS Hotel, and apparently caused quite a commotion with her drinking ways. Earlier this year, it was also rumored that the “Beautiful” singer passed out drunk in actor Jeremy Renner’s bed, which her rep denied.
But according to L.A.-based certified family law specialist, Marina Korol, the incident could potentially have serious implications in terms of custody rights over her 3-year-old son with Bratman, with whom she is seeking joint legal and physical custody.
“If her ex-husband wants to go to court and say Christina is a habitual drinker, and that she poses danger to the child by her drinking, and now she's completely spiraling out of control and she can't control herself, and if drinking is not only affecting her career but also her real life, he will probably want custody,” Korol told FOX411’s Pop Tarts.
“The court may order that she has supervised visitations if she's a drunk and she's living with a drunk. The court cannot order her to rehab, but it can condition custody on certain things, such as AA, inpatient or outpatient programs, getting information from a sponsor saying she's regularly in AA, or rendering regular drug or alcohol tests to show she's clean.”
Click here for Christina photos from X17 Online.
Another legal expert agreed that Bratman may have strong reason to be concerned.
“Oftentimes, if the police suspect you are intoxicated they will just call a cab. [But the arrest] leads me to believe the level of intoxication was very high and a possible indication that she has a dependency on alcohol,” added Los Angeles attorney Donald Schweitzer.
“Her ex’s attorney may say she’s not capable of basic parenting, she’s not home when she should be, and she’s engaging in bad conduct.”
Still, some experts argue that there is a high chance a family court judge will not see the arrest as relevant given that authorities did not intend to prosecute her, but rather give her time to sober up.
“Her soon to be ‘ex' may try to persuade a judge to consider her arrest in order to paint the picture that Aguilera is irresponsible, therefore an unfit mother, and the ‘best interests’ of her child is with her father,” explained Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney, R.J. Manuelian.
“However, even assuming a judge finds her arrest to be relevant; it is unlikely he will hold this against her since she was not the one driving the car. Last I checked, it's okay to be drunk in your car.”
Nonetheless, was this just a one-off, big night out on the booze for the 30-year-old star – or a reflection of a bigger problem?
Reps for Aguilera and Bratman declined to comment – although fellow musician Pink didn’t wait too long to issue her two cents on the situation via Twitter on Tuesday.
“Out of Myself, Britney, and Christina -- didn't everyone think I was gonna be the troublemaker? LOOK MA!!! No CUFFS!!!” she tweeted. http://twitter.com/#!/pink
Deidre Behar contributed to this report
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/expert-christina-aguileras-recent-troubles-could-lead-to-a-custody-battle