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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Larry Hackett

Aired January 04, 2004 - 09:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: First Justin Timberlake, then Madonna. Now pop princess Britney Spears has a new person to kiss. According to published reports, Spears and a childhood friend said "I do" in a small wedding ceremony yesterday on the Las Vegas Strip. And sealed it all with a kiss.
Spears reportedly wore jeans and a baseball cap and was walked down the aisle of the little white wedding chapel by a hotel bellman.

And here to give us more on this marital shocker is Larry Hackett, the executive editor of "People" magazine. He's live in New York. So, Larry, I just have to believe that this is not necessarily so serious. Do we think that this is a real marriage?

LARRY HACKETT, EXEC. EDITOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Well, apparently not. There is already talk that the couple is planning to annul this marriage that took place on Saturday morning. It appears that it was something of a lark, a bit of a goof that she did with some of her friends. And they are already making plans to end it right now. If it was a publicity stunt, it seems to have worked, because everyone seems to be paying attention to it.

KOPPEL: Not that Britney has to fight that much for attention, but who is the young man that she married?

HACKETT: His name is Jason Allen Alexander. He's 22 years old, as is Britney, and he's also from her hometown, Kentwood, Louisiana. They have known each other for years. There were reports that he was one of her back-up dancers, but we haven't been able to confirm that. And they were hanging out in Las Vegas, where she has been. She celebrated New Year's in Las Vegas. And they apparently were at a place called the Ghost Bar, which is in a hotel in Las Vegas, enjoying themselves on Friday night when they suddenly summoned a limousine. The limousine was sent for them, they went off to the little white wedding chapel on the Strip. They didn't have a marriage license, so they then had to get to a local court house, get the license and then came back to the Strip at about 12:30, or the chapel at about 12:30, and got married.

KOPPEL: And were any of their family members present?

HACKETT: There were no family members. Apparently, the only witness was the hotel bellman, who had summoned a limousine for them.

KOPPEL: My gosh. Now, in terms of getting an annulment, I don't know if you are an expert in these things or if you know that much about them, but is this the kind of thing that she could do? Can she get a marriage annulled?

HACKETT: I would have to assume so. Again, this was all breaking late last night. The intention of the couple is to do that. The annulment may be the incorrect term. There may be some other legal term of this. There may be some kind of window within which the wedding can be, you know, eliminated or annulled, you know, within 30 days or a couple of weeks. I don't know. We are trying to run that down.

But the more important point is that according to all the folks we have talked to, this was not something that was terribly serious. It appears to be something of a lark, and she intends to rectify this as soon as possible.

KOPPEL: And I'm sure that "People" magazine is also trying to track down the all-important photos.

HACKETT: Absolutely.

KOPPEL: OK. Well, listen, I'm sure folks will be grabbing the next issue hot off the stands if you get your hands on that. Larry Hackett, thanks so much for coming in today.

HACKETT: You bet, Andrea.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 4, 2004 - 09:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: First Justin Timberlake, then Madonna. Now pop princess Britney Spears has a new person to kiss. According to published reports, Spears and a childhood friend said "I do" in a small wedding ceremony yesterday on the Las Vegas Strip. And sealed it all with a kiss.
Spears reportedly wore jeans and a baseball cap and was walked down the aisle of the little white wedding chapel by a hotel bellman.

And here to give us more on this marital shocker is Larry Hackett, the executive editor of "People" magazine. He's live in New York. So, Larry, I just have to believe that this is not necessarily so serious. Do we think that this is a real marriage?

LARRY HACKETT, EXEC. EDITOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Well, apparently not. There is already talk that the couple is planning to annul this marriage that took place on Saturday morning. It appears that it was something of a lark, a bit of a goof that she did with some of her friends. And they are already making plans to end it right now. If it was a publicity stunt, it seems to have worked, because everyone seems to be paying attention to it.

KOPPEL: Not that Britney has to fight that much for attention, but who is the young man that she married?

HACKETT: His name is Jason Allen Alexander. He's 22 years old, as is Britney, and he's also from her hometown, Kentwood, Louisiana. They have known each other for years. There were reports that he was one of her back-up dancers, but we haven't been able to confirm that. And they were hanging out in Las Vegas, where she has been. She celebrated New Year's in Las Vegas. And they apparently were at a place called the Ghost Bar, which is in a hotel in Las Vegas, enjoying themselves on Friday night when they suddenly summoned a limousine. The limousine was sent for them, they went off to the little white wedding chapel on the Strip. They didn't have a marriage license, so they then had to get to a local court house, get the license and then came back to the Strip at about 12:30, or the chapel at about 12:30, and got married.

KOPPEL: And were any of their family members present?

HACKETT: There were no family members. Apparently, the only witness was the hotel bellman, who had summoned a limousine for them.

KOPPEL: My gosh. Now, in terms of getting an annulment, I don't know if you are an expert in these things or if you know that much about them, but is this the kind of thing that she could do? Can she get a marriage annulled?

HACKETT: I would have to assume so. Again, this was all breaking late last night. The intention of the couple is to do that. The annulment may be the incorrect term. There may be some other legal term of this. There may be some kind of window within which the wedding can be, you know, eliminated or annulled, you know, within 30 days or a couple of weeks. I don't know. We are trying to run that down.

But the more important point is that according to all the folks we have talked to, this was not something that was terribly serious. It appears to be something of a lark, and she intends to rectify this as soon as possible.

KOPPEL: And I'm sure that "People" magazine is also trying to track down the all-important photos.

HACKETT: Absolutely.

KOPPEL: OK. Well, listen, I'm sure folks will be grabbing the next issue hot off the stands if you get your hands on that. Larry Hackett, thanks so much for coming in today.

HACKETT: You bet, Andrea.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com