Is Christina Aguilera's New Boyfriend Bad For Her?

Aguilera met Rutler on the set of 'Burlesque,' where the 25-year-old was working as a set assistant. While not much is known about Rutler, he has been a constant presence in Aguilera's life recently and an active participant in many of her most recent embarrassments.

There have been plenty of rumors about booze-filled nights and drunken dalliances, but one thing is for sure: Rutler was driving erratically through West Hollywood last night, with Aguilera in the passenger seat, when cops pulled the couple over at around 2:45AM. Officers arrested Rutler at the scene for misdemeanor driving under the influence and set his bail at $30,000.

On-scene authorities determined that Aguilera was "extremely intoxicated," so much so that she was apparently unable to take care of herself and was taken into custody. A few hours later, after sobering up, the pop star was released and will not be charged with any crime.

A source close to the singer told TMZ, "If the driver had not been arrested for DUI, [Christina] would have never been in trouble."

"Her friends are fed up," a separate source recently told Us Weekly of Aguilera's recent behavior. "Nobody can get through to her."

Friends of the singer have reportedly been pressuring her to enter treatment for alcohol-related problems.

"She is going out more and drinking more," PEOPLE's source continued. "She feels she is embracing her freedom and enjoying life ... but now friends are hoping that she takes a step back and focuses on herself for a while."

The arrests come less than a week after reports that Aguilera and Rutler had sex in a bathroom at a family gathering, leading those close to the singer to label her recent behavior "trashy," and a little more than a month after another story alleging the singer was found passed out in Oscar-nominated actor Jeremy Renner's bed at his birthday party.

According Us Weekly's source, Renner relayed the story to friends at the Golden Globe Awards, saying, "I run up and open the door and I'm like, 'Um, hi. What are you doing?' She [Aguilera] just starts slurring. Her boyfriend was rubbing her back. Who comes to someone's birthday party that they don't know and gets in their bed? My parents were there!"

Another source said of the singer's behavior, "She acted like a fool. [Rutler] was shushing her and telling her to go to sleep." The source said Aguilera was "a mess."

Many close to the singer believe she is acting out because she has not yet dealt with her divorce from Jordan Bratman, who friends say has been remarkably supportive of Aguilera throughout her troubles. "She's not being honest with herself," the friend told PEOPLE. "She's saying she's this strong independent woman and she's fine, but what she's not stepping back to realize is that moving on after a divorce is not easy."

Aguilera's private behavior has seemingly, and sadly, been impacting her professional life as well. Because she is uniformly known as one of the best singers in the world, Aguilera has been performing 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at major sporting events for years, and in the past she has routinely delivered flawless takes on the national anthem. At this year's Super Bowl, however, she found herself in hot water after botching the lyrics.

Soon after, she released a statement to the Associated Press apologizing for the snafu, saying, "I got so caught up in the moment of the song that I lost my place. I can only hope that everyone could feel my love for this country and that the true spirit of its anthem still came through."

Then, just a few weeks later, at the end of an all-star tribute to Aretha Franklin at the Grammys, the singer, who in all fairness sounded fantastic during her performance, stumbled and was only able to stay on her feet by grabbing onto her mic stand.

While it seems like a minor accident, the kind of thing that could happen to anyone wearing a long gown and high heels, the stumble overshadowed Aguilera's performance and became a topic of conversation following the awards. The buzz from backstage at the Grammys, however, was far more disquieting.

"No one knows what's going on with her, but whatever it is, it isn't good," a Grammy insider, who was backstage at the event, told PopEater's Rob Shuter following the tumble. "She was acting very erratic backstage before her performance and wouldn't let anyone into her dressing room before the show began. Something is very wrong."

After a difficult 2010 that saw the singer divorce husband Jordan Bratman, cancel a planned summer tour after initial ticket sales proved dismal and watch her long-in-the-works album 'Bionic' bomb with both critics and fans, the only constant in her life has been Rutler. And while no one is suggesting that anyone is responsible for a 30-year-old woman other than herself, it's hard not to wonder if Rutler's influence has been a positive one. After all, barely four years ago, Aguilera was headlining the top-grossing tour by a female artist and earning raves from her peers for her live performances instead of sneers.

Music legend Patti Smith told Rolling Stone (via Open Salon) that Aguilera's stirring 2007 Grammy performance of James Brown's 'It's a Man's Man's Man's World' was "one of the best performances that I've ever seen ... I sat and watched it, and at the end, I just involuntarily leapt to my feet. It was amazing."

The superstar vocalist Smith praised is the Aguilera we all know and love. Let's hope this latest bit of trouble will open the singer's eyes to what really matters in her life and she takes the appropriate steps to get her professional and personal matters on track so she can get back to doing what she does best -- blowing the roof off arenas around the world with that one-in-a-million voice.

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