Gwyneth Paltrow has launched a scathing attack on Adnan Ghalib and the media for hounding Britney Spears, insisting the paparazzi are responsible for driving the troubled star over the edge.

The Shakespeare In Love star claims she can relate to Spears, whose every move is tabloid fodder, because her own marriage to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has also been the subject of much press speculation of late.

But Paltrow admits Spears' life under the media spotlight, and her on/off relationship with snapper Ghalib, is a lot worse than her own.

She says: "Look at what they've done to Britney. The paparazzi and magazines have blood on their hands. They literally made her go insane.

"She's got classic Stockholm Syndrome - she fell in love with a paparazzo and went insane. The photographers and editors of these magazines have such bad karma. It's pretty dark."