NEW ORLEANS – The umbrella Britney Spears used to attack a paparazzo’s car in 2007 will go up for auction next week.
The green umbrella, which was damaged in the attack, quickly earned a spot in pop culture infamy when tabloids around the world ran front page pictures of the attack the next morning.
Spears had only recently checked herself out of a rehab clinic and was photographed shaving her head shortly before the bizarre attack.
Photographer Daniel Ramos, who was the target of Spears’ wrath that night in April 2007, has held onto the umbrella for the past decade, but has now decided to put it up for auction.
Boston based RR Auction will begin taking bids on the umbrella on August 10, with opening bids expected to start at $50,000.
Ramos will donate 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale to charity, according to the listing for the umbrella on the RR Auction site.
Twenty-five percent of the proceeds will be donated to Right Turn, a Massachusetts charity aimed at overcoming the impact of addiction with creative arts therapy, while the other 25 percent will go to a foundation supporting leukemia research, according to the listing.
At the time of the attack, Spears “was literally striking back at the media after years of often sexist public scrutiny,” according to the listing. “She soon got the help that she needed, and has since reemerged with best-selling albums and a wildly successful residency in Las Vegas. This umbrella is a powerful symbol of the controversial relationship between celebrities and the paparazzi, and of Britney’s road to recovery before her eventual comeback.”