Star accuses Britney Spears' boyfriend of giving her a black eye, and Radar has audio of a voice they say is Britney's talking about it. Both outlets' source? Jason Alexander, the guy Britney accidentally married in Las Vegas in 2004.

Update: Britney's manager says it's all a lie!

It's hard to believe a guy whose authority stems from a childhood friendship and a two-day mistake during a wild weekend in Vegas. (The marriage was annulled after 55 hours.) But then, Britney's life has always defied the believable. Star's report cites a phone conversation where Britney told Alexander about abuse at the hands of agent-turned-boyfriend Jason Trawick:

Childhood friends Britney and Alexander stayed in touch after their 55-hour marriage was annulled in 2004. But their casual texts, phone calls and emails took a dark turn when she recently confided that Trawick "hit her so hard it gave her a black eye," Alexander says.

Star adds that "the abuse wasn't a solitary incident" and that it stemmed from Britney's accusations of infidelity. A few hours after Star's story broke, Radar posted its own version: An audio recording of Alexander and Britney discussing her relationship with Trawick ("that fucker is not my fiance") and the time he "beat on" her. "My dad has a shotgun and he's just waiting to use it," a voice that sounds like Britney's drawls. The recording buzzes with the telltale sound of a cellphone held too close to a microphone or speaker.

As for the black eye on Star's cover, Hollywood Life appears to have found the paparazzi shoot it came from, but doesn't say when or where it was. I haven't found it yet and don't recall "Britney's black eye" being a story before. ( Did I miss when this happened? If the eye was as dark as it is on Star's cover, why didn't people report it before now, whenever the pictures first surfaced?)

It goes without saying that if Alexander is telling the truth (and, within that, if Britney was telling him the truth) this is awful. But if he's not telling the truth it's awful in a different—and frighteningly elaborate—way. The Huffington Post notes that Alexander has stories about Britney using drugs (most notably on the night before they got married) too. [Star, Radar, HollywoodLife, HuffPo; photo, top, via Bauer-Griffin]

Related:

The Mysterious Case of Britney's Black Eye: Falsified Audio Edition