Tough love from Britney's dad

Los Angeles - Britney Spears has been to rehab. Now it looks like she may be headed for family therapy.

The pop princess received a public tongue lashing from her father, Jamie Spears, on Friday in the form of an email sent to the New York Post calling her out for bad behavior.

The Spears patriarch spoke up in defense of Larry Rudolph, his daughter's manager, whom, according to the Post, she fired last week after relations between the two grew increasingly strained. (However, sources tell E! News and E! Online columnist Bruce Bibby that Spears and Rudolph still have a valid contract.)

Rudolph was allegedly the force behind ushering the "Oops" singer into Malibu's Promises treatment center, thereby incurring much of Spears' wrath over what she considered to be an unnecessary step.

In a recent on-camera interview with x17online.com, Spears, 25, alluded to her irritation at Rudolph and her stint in rehab.

"My management totally knew what they were doing when they sent me to rehab," she said in a voice dripping with sarcasm, while giving a double thumbs up. "They were so right."

The sarcastic attitude was not appreciated by her father, who countered with his belief that Rudolph's intervention may have saved her life at a time when she was in a hard-partying, non-panties-wearing downward spiral.

"When Larry Rudolph talked Britney into going into rehab, he was doing what her mother, father and team of professionals with over 100 years of experience knew needed to be done," Jamie Spears wrote in his email to the Post. "She was out of control. Larry was the one chosen by the team to roll up his sleeves and deliver the message, to help save her life.

"The Spears family would like to publicly apologize to Larry for our daughter's statements about him over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, she blames him and her family for where she is at today with her kids and career. Larry has always been there for Britney. For this, we will forever be grateful to him."

The younger Spears was quick to talk back, dismissing her father's words as the product of a shaky paternal bond.

"I am praying for my father. We have never had a good relationship," she told the Post through her rep. "It's sad that all the men that have been in my life do not know how to accept a real woman's love. I am concentrating on my work and my life right now."

Since exiting Promises last month, the singer has reportedly been working hard to get her body back in shape by taking frequent dance classes and watching what she eats.

Published reports have suggested that Spears' slimdown efforts may have been aided by LipoDissolve injections—fat-melting shots administered over a 24-week period at $1,500 a pop. The singer was said to have visited Las Vegas' Advanced Lipo Dissolve Center recently seeking the nonsurgical procedure.

Meanwhile, according to Star magazine, Spears still plans to do some serious nip-and-tucking in the coming months. The tabloid reported that the mother-of-two will spend $8,000 on a breast lift, $12,000 on a lower-body lift, $16,000 on liposuction for her back, stomach, and love handles and $6,000 on brachioplasty to tighten up her upper arms.

In all, Spears was said to be shelling out somewhere in the neighborhood of $130,000 in the quest to get her body back to pre-baby form.

No confirmation from the singer's publicist, but if true, it's still less than it reportedly cost her to get rid of Kevin Federline.