LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears filed a $20 million libel lawsuit Monday against celebrity magazine Us Weekly, charging it published a false story reporting she and her husband, Kevin Federline, made a sex tape and were worried about its release.

The lawsuit seeks $10 million in libel damages and $10 million for misappropriating Spears' name and image to promote sales. It also seeks unspecified punitive damages.

A telephone call made after business hours Monday to the magazine's Los Angeles office was not immediately returned.

According to the lawsuit, the article was published Oct. 17 in the magazine's "Hot Stuff" column and claimed that Spears and her husband feared the release of a secret sex tape, which they had viewed with their estate planning lawyers.