Malibu Media

Calling all Britney Spears fans -- the pop tart is looking for a new assistant!

Nearly three weeks after Britney, 25, hired her new assistant, Shannon Funk, she let her go on July 25 amidst rumors that Shannon was more trouble than she was worth!

"Britney felt a lot of her recent troubles started and stopped with Shannon," an insider close to Britney tells Life & Style. “Britney thought she was talking badly about her. She was very rude and Britney felt she was letting business emails fall by the wayside.”

Britney, who's been the target of negative publicity with her recent, erratic behavior, and her previous assistant/cousin, Alli Sims, parted ways within the last month. But the insider says that Britney made peace with Alli, saying, “They have agreed to move forward as friends.”