Britney Spears got in the mood to, well, pass out early on New Year's Eve with a good ol' Japanese oiling up beforehand, despite what her reps say caused her premature departure. We have sources who saw the drink-by-drink as Brit put away "lots of sake" before she made it to Las Vegas' PURE nightclub for a reported $400,000 party-hosting gig.

Yesterday, reports swirled that Britney might be losing her six-figure appearance fee for ditching PURE early, and that her exit may have been caused, in part, by the catcalls of other PURE patrons, but a club rep told us they were overjoyed, saying, "The crowd LOVED Britney and they cheered her on everywhere she went... She is always welcome at PURE." No word yet on whether all the sake-slurping before her paid gig would affect her contract.