Britney Spears spent more money than some nations are worth in just a year and a half and has only ratty extensions, a couple of mansions and a bunch of overpriced dented cars in her garage to show for it. The National Enquirer reports that she spent $22 freaking million dollars in the last 18 months and that her family is pouring over receipts to see how much of that was bled out without her knowledge by the evil Svengali-like creep who had her in his grip, Osama “Sam” Lutfi. The Enquirer also claims that Britney’s family has turned evidence over to the police to show that Lutfi was spending Britney’s money, although she also seems to do a great job of that on her own:

The singer has blow through $22 million in just months. And the family charges Lutfi knew she was suffering from a mental illness – and pounced like a vulture.

They say he had access to all of Britney’s credit cards, her ATM card and submitted bills to her business manager for his “services.” And her mother Lynne believes he gave her pills…

Her parents’ call for a criminal investigation was sparked by dad Jamie’s close look at Britney’s finances, says the insider. He was shocked to learn that his daughter had expended a whopping $22 million in the year and a half since her split from ex-husband Kevin Federline…

A one-month American Express card bill for a staggering $225,000 alerted her dad to the massive hemorrhaging of money, revealed the source.

“Several charges on the bill are thought to be Sam’s doing since Britney hasn’t had the card in her possession in months. Sam took control of her finances.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, March 3, 2008]

Among Britney’s expenditures noted in the article include rental cars, sometimes three at a time, and high-end hotel stays. Her house cost $7.2 million, and although she bought it furnished the Enquirer notes that she had it redecorated before Christmas, and that she spent $200,000 on chandeliers alone. She even has one in her garage.

There was a theft at Britney’s house right after she was committed for the second time. Chandeliers were reported missing by her parents as well as jewelry, a flat screen tv, and camera equipment. It is thought that Lutfi had a hand in it, as he had the keys to Britney’s place.

Lutfi’s spokesperson of course denies that he stole anything or wasted the pop star’s money while he was drugging and controlling her, but Britney’s family also has copies of “outrageous invoices and contracts” he sent to her business manager, according to The Enquirer.

Yesterday the court was finally able to serve Lutfi with the restraining order that states he is to have no contact with Britney. The period in which he was supposed to be served with papers before the order became had already run out a day before. A judge ruled that they’re still legally binding, and has extended the restraining order until March 17.

Lutfi’s spokesperson and the LAPD deny that there is any criminal investigation into his activities while he was Britney’s “manager,” but TMZ claims to have an insider source who says that the investigation is very much on.

Yesterday, paparazzi agency X17 reported that they called the Los Angeles police department and were assured that a story originating with TMZ about an active investigation into the alleged drugging of Britney’s Spears by her hanger-on, Sam Lutfi, was false. As X17 seems to have a relationship with Lutfi to secure photos of Britney and hasn’t reported anything negative about him, we weren’t so ready to accept their claims as accurate.

TMZ then ran another story with more details into the investigation, saying that it was “well underway” and that it has “been assigned to Robbery Homicide” in order to avoid any leaks to the media. They claim that witnesses have already been interviewed, and that the investigation was put on hold because of the unrelated death of a police officer, but that it was “back on track.”

It sounds like they have an inside source that is feeding them these details, which don’t come off like they’re fabricated. Radar Online looked into it, though, and the LAPD spokesperson denied up and down that there’s any investigation:

“We don’t have anything,” a spokesperson for the LAPD tells Radar. Then she put us on hold and rang the Major Crimes Department to double check but returned a few minutes later to confirm that the department is not investigating Lutfi. She vowed to look further into the claim to see if any division was investigating Lutfi but said, “I don’t see any concrete evidence of a report on file. I don’t even know if there’s a crime that has occurred.”

[From RadarOnline]

Meanwhile Lutfi’s rep, Michael Sands, has said the TMZ report is not true, and it sound like he was initially confused by TMZ head Harvey Levin into commenting on it before he had a chance to look into it:

TMZ claimed Sands was aware of the investigation, but Sands has since blasted out e-mails to media calling the TMZ report dead wrong. “I suggest that TMZ and others know what they are speaking about before writing stories,” Sands wrote earlier today. He says TMZ chief Harvey Levin had told him about the alleged investigation before others at TMZ called asking for comment. “I was playing along,” he says.

[From RadarOnline]

Lutfi’s rep also says that Britney’s mom Lynne helped Lutfi get a deal representing a jewelry company called Diamond Hybrid, and that “I don’t know why Lynne now wants to poison the world against Sam.”

Lutfi has still not been served papers notifying him of the restraining order against him.

Despite the fact that TMZ annoys me on a daily basis, I hope they’re right about this and that there is an investigation underway that the LAPD is trying to keep under wraps. If this was just a non-celebrity, they probably wouldn’t do much with a case like this, because it seems hard to prove. You would hope that these allegations would be taken seriously and investigated no matter who was involved, though. This is a woman who was in the psychiatric ward twice, and if her erratic behavior could be due to massive doses of drugs given to her without her knowledge, that seems like something that needs to looked into and prosecuted.

Britney is shown out getting her hair done on 2/19/08. Two photographers were arrested that night after a scuffle outside the salon. She didn’t wear panties then, either, but thankfully we don’t have those photos. Cops arrested two more photographers outside of Villa nightclub a little later that night, and it looks like the LA police are starting to crack down on the paparazzi. TMZ head Harvey Levin says he doesn’t understand why they chose those two photographers outside of Villa, because they were not doing any harm and it was not a dangerous situation. [Details from AP Article]

Ever since Britney was photographed rehearsing at the Millennium dance studio over the weekend, speculation is running wild that the mentally ill singer is planning on going back to work. Page Six says they have an inside source who revealed that Jamie and Lynne Spears are encouraging their daughter to get back into dancing and performing as a way to keep her distracted from contacting Sam Lutfi.

It looks like Britney Spears’ family will do anything to get her away from her “friends” Sam Lutfi and Adnan Ghalib – including putting the pill-popping poptard on tour. The buzz at the Grammys was that Spears’ newfound focus on her dancing is preparation for a world tour. Britney “will be leaving the country in the next few weeks,” a source confided to Page Six. “She’ll train in privacy for a month, then go on a global tour.”

[From Page Six]

While it is probably a good idea to keep Britney busy, there is no way the fragile pop star is ready for the grueling pace of a world tour. Anyone who doubts this needs to revisit her performance at the MTV VMAs. Besides, her backbreaking schedule was probably a major factor in her ongoing illness in the first place– many of her close friends say that she first started showing signs of erratic behavior during her Onyx Hotel Tour, during which she injured her knee and then met, sent for, and married Kevin Federline. Do her parents really need to send her on a repeat of that whole mess?

Most likely, Page Six is incorrect. I’d guess that Britney is getting ready to make another crappy music video. But as long as it keeps her from car-hopping with Adnan or getting back in with Sam Lutfi, it can’t be all bad.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Britney Spears is shown out yesterday after shopping at Miss Sixty in West Hollywood, California. Thanks to Splash News.

Britney’s best buddies, who have insisted that they were hanging around with her because they care about her well being, seem to have moved on now that her family has control of her finances. Both Alli Sims and Sam Lutfi, who were nobodies until leeching onto the mentally ill popstar, were seen around Hollywood, hob-nobbing with celebrities as if they were actually famous themselves.

Alli Sims was seen partying with Canadian pop singer/pretend punk rocker Avril Lavigne. The odd pair was photographed hitting the clubs in LA over the weekend. Alli was also seen at Paris Hilton’s 27th birthday party.

Avril Lavigne showed up to Hyde last night with an interesting sidekick — Britney Spears’ former assistant/cousin, Alli Sims. Alli’s become quite the starf**ker lately; she was spotted at Paris Hilton’s birthday party Saturday night as well — ah, the Simsful life.

[From TMZ]

Don’t be surprised if we see Cousin Alli suddenly riding shotgun with Avril, accompanying her on shopping trips so she can get more designer goodies for free. Of course, we might also see her sneaking margaritas into a car, or using Avril to launch her own singing career or reality show.

Meanwhile, amateur psychologist and pharmacist Sam Lutfi, who is barred from seeing or contacting Spears, has hired his own PR mouthpiece and was spotted at Paris Hilton’s party as well. There are also new reports that Lutfi has been hounding Britney’s business manager, Howard Grossman, demanding money for his services as Britney’s manager. The nerve!

In a declaration filed in the Brit conservatorship case, a lawyer for the conservators accused Sam Lutfi of demanding money from poor Brit.

Attorney Jeryll Cohen wrote, “During the telephone conversation, Mr. Grossman [Brit's business manager] told me that he had numerous e-mails from Osama (Sam) Lutfi in which Mr. Lutfi made various demands, including demands for money. Mr. Grossman told me he did not comply with Mr. Lutfi’s demands.”

Cohen and the other lawyers have asked the court commissioner to let the conservators fire Mr. Grossman, in part because they say he has refused to provide copies of Lutfi’s e-mails to them.

[From TMZ]

Apparently, Lutfi and Sims are almost as delusional as their former meal ticket. Do they actually think they are celebrities now? They’d better get in those last few parties while they can– their 15 minutes is just about up.

Note by Celebitchy: Alli Sims has actually known Avril Lavigne for quite a while, and has been seen out with her multiple times prior to when she was linked to Britney. I don’t think she’s without her own motivations, she’s trying to launch a singing career after all, but I wouldn’t put her in the same category as Lutfi by a long shot. Britney seemed to be doing ok when she was hanging out with her, in comparison.

Here’s Britney outide of the Millenium Dance studio having a smoke on 2/9. At least she is getting some exercise even if she’s dressed like that and all. That story that she had her hair done for four hours at her house must have been an exaggeration or her hairdresser was incompetent. I guess when you don’t have much to work with there isn’t much you can do. Get better Britney.

I’m outraged at the way that US Weekly is handling the Sam Lutfi case now that the news is out about how much of a twisted manipulative person he is. They’ve just posted an article about how Lutfi’s side of the story is going to be the main focus of their cover story all about Britney’s problems. Lutfi repeatedly uses examples and stories to make himself seem like Britney’s savior and like he’s the only one who can help her, when in fact he’s been emotionally abusing her and cutting her off from her friends and family. He disabled all her cars, threw away her cell phone chargers, and admitted to her mother than he routinely mashes up medication and slips it into her food without her knowledge! This man made Britney a prisoner in her own home, and now US Weekly is all too willing to make him out to be the good guy because he’s willing to talk to them. The very serious and seemingly supported allegations against Lutfi are relegated to one sentence in parentheses by US. They barely question him or his motives, and their print article is sure to be as one-sided and idiotically fawning over the man who abused Britney as their Internet version.

Sam Lutfi, who is now on the receiving end of a restraining order imposed by Britney Spears’ parents, was the one person by her side as she unraveled over the past six months.

In the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now, Spears’ de facto manager and confidant opens up about her bipolar disorder, how he medicated her, what happened the night she was hospitalized, and how her parents reacted.

“In the depressive episodes, it’s all crying,” Lutfi tells Us. “But in the manic episode, there’s very little crying or sympathy or compassion. She becomes another person. She becomes somebody that just doesn’t care about anybody or anything.”

“The British accent is part of the mania,” he adds. “She’ll stick to the British accent because she becomes comfortable with it… But you know, when the pink wig comes on, it’s getting bad.”

Lutfi says that when Spears was involuntarily committed to treatment at UCLA Medical Center on January 31, her mom, Lynne Spears, arrived and tried to remove her daughter from his guidance. “Well, he is better family than you guys will ever be,” Spears responded, according to Lutfi.

Lutfi tells Us that he gave Britney “a handful of pills” before her parents arrived. “I said these pills are working wonders, they are miracle pills,” he recalls. Spears, Lutfi says, agreed that the meds were helping her sleep.

(In their restraining order against Lutfi filed yesterday, Spears’ parents accuse him of drugging their daughter and being verbally abusive. Jamie, who has been named as his daughter’s conservator, “is doing what he has to do to save Britney,” a source tells Us.)

Spears is one of nearly six million American adults suffering from bipolar disorder, a mental illness consisting of extreme shifts in mood, thought, energy, and behavior patterns.

Lutfi, 33, tells Us only he, Spears, and her psychiatrist know what brought on her bipolar disorder “roughly five years ago.”

[From Us Weekly]

Lutfi tells a story about how Britney wrote him a little note when she was taken away, as if that justifies the way he’s tried to keep Britney captive and has been drugging her for months.

I made an anonymous comment on this article, something I rarely bother to do, but there are many more that are much better than mine and people are outraged. One of my favorites is from Michelle, she says:

US Weekly – Stop giving this sick man a voice. Stop letting him speak through your magazine. He is a sick, twisted individual. A liar. Nothing he can say will validate what he’s done. He deserves to be jailed or sued or even better yet killed, and you let him continue spreading his malicious lies. He should have tried to help her, he should be grateful she is getting help if he truly cares about her. Instead he is like a 2 year old who’s angry their toy got taken away. Of course Britney was asking for him, etc. He made her completely dependent on him. He brainwashed her, drugged her, insulted her, encouraged her insanity. She has no idea what she needs or probably even what she’s thinking or saying half the time. And that is his defense? That Britney wants him in her life? And that she hates her parents? Please! She can’t even think straight, he’s made sure of that. I say hang the f*cker in a public place.

What’s more is that one of Britney’s friends, Ken Dungey, commented on the article and mentioned the bragging text messages Sam sent him about how he has total control over Britney, which are now available at Bitten and Bound. Dungey said he had over an hour long telephone interview with a source at US:

US WEEKLY TELEPHONE INTERVIEWED ME LAST WEEK FOR OVER AN HOUR, ALEXIS SAID MY INTERVIEW WOULD BE COMING OUT IN NEXT WEEKS MAGAZINE, I HAVE YET TO HEAR BACK FROM HER.

You can read Dungey’s full story online. He’s a friend of the guy who was harassed mercilessly by Lutfi, who ultimately ended up taking out a restraining order on him. He also knows another woman who Lutfi was sending threatening text messages to.

So US had both sides of the story, but they chose to go with Lutfi’s despite the overwhelming evidence against him. People are calling for criminal charges against this guy. Instead all we get from US is an article about the supposed insider who knows about Britney’s mental illness – a weakness he exploited every way possible to gain control over her and plaster his name all over the media. Shame on you, US. Change your story before it goes to print.

Lutfi is also trying to shop around a high-paid television interview where “he is expected to reveal the star’s darkest secrets.” The only people that should be hearing about Britney’s secrets are his fellow inmates.

Many of us thought that Britney’s ever-present “friend”/self-proclaimed manager, Sam Lutfi, was bad news, especially when the news got out last week that he’s had up to three restraining orders against him and that he harassed, controlled, and threatened a friend with blackmail and violence against his family. Now that Britney’s mother’s statement about how she witnessed Lutfi drugging, emotionally abusing, and bragging about how he controlled her daughter has been released, people realize how much of a choke hold he had over her. People are also re-evaluating Britney’s behavior over the past few months.

It came out in Lynn’s statement that Lutfi had disabled Britney’s many cars and phones, and that he had the security guard, paparazzi, and Britney’s business manager answering to him. He also apparently even won over her divorce attorneys, which would explain why she hired someone else to represent her at the hearing for guardianship of her estate.

Commentor CeeJay on our earlier post about Lynn’s statement mentioned that all this would explain why Britney always stayed in hotels, was seen wandering around outside her house, and drove around aimlessly for hours. Lutfi had moved into Britney’s mansion and she was afraid to return home to that awful situation.

Lynn’s statement also makes it clear why Britney might be compelled to buy so many new cars and even a new home. When Lutfi disabled one of her vehicles, she simply bought a new one. It was also likely that she was trying to get a house where he couldn’t control her.

Britney didn’t seem coherent when her mother saw her the night before she was hospitalized, but she was aware of one thing. She specifically asked her mom to switch glasses with her when Lutfi poured the wine, which suggests that she knew that he was drugging her by slipping pills in her food and drink. He even bragged to Britney’s mom that he would mash up pills and mix them into her food.

While Britney may have been too drugged out to make sound decisions, she was letting us know in her own way that things were unbearable at home and that she could not return there. This woman wasn’t making the most sound or mature decisions on her own, and was thought to be showing signs of bipolar disorder when she shaved her head early last year. She seemed incapable of caring for her children, and lost custody of her two toddlers in October of last year, presumably right before she met Lutfi, and was only allowed supervised visits. She was thought to be at risk for suicide at that time. Lutfi stepped in and took over for an already-troubled Britney, and she was poisoned, manipulated and made a prisoner in her own home, ultimately losing visitation rights with her children.

Update: Thanks to reader Exyank for noting that Lutfi has been in Britney’s life much longer than the restraining order states, and that he has known her since late 2006/early 2007. A controlling, abusive relationship with Lutfi could potentially explain how Britney really lost it after breaking up with K-Fed and her brief friendship with Paris Hilton afterwards.

Britney and one of her boys are shown in the header in October, 2007. She is shown below with Sam in December.

Note by Celebitchy: US Weekly has the entire declaration by Lynne Spears supporting the restraining order against Britney’s self-proclaimed manager Sam Lutfi, and the details are disturbing. Lynne’s statement is clear and compelling and makes a strong case for Britney never to see this guy again. After reading this, I think that a lot of her recent issues can be explained by the extreme amount of medication she was on, much of which may have been without her knowledge. The highlights are:

• Lutfi said that he routinely mashes up medication and puts it in Britney’s food
• Lutfi disabled all of Britney’s cars so that she could not leave the house without her permission.
• Lutfi threw out all the chargers to Britney’s cellphones so that she could not use them, and cut the wire for the phone in her house
• Lutfi told Britney she could see her boys on Wednesday if she took the medication he gave her, after which she said “I’ll do anything to get them back.”
• Lutfi bragged to Lynn about the control he has over Britney’s life, and said that “You’d better learn that I control everything. I control Howard Grossman, Britney’s business manger. I control her attorney’s and the security guards at the gate. They don’t listen to Britney, they listen to me. That’s why Jamie was gone tonight.”
• Lutfi said that if Britney’s family cut him out of her life that she wouldn’t take her medication and would kill herself. He said “If you try to get rid of me, she’ll be dead and I’ll piss on her grave.”
• Details of Lutfi’s fight with Britney show how he emotionally abused and berated her, calling her a “piece of trash,” an “unfit mother,” and a “whore.”
• Lutfi tried to get everyone to do tequila shots, and then switched to wine when people declined. Britney refused to drink the wine he offered her and switched hers with her mothers.
• Lynne Spears says she was agitated and unable to sleep that night, and that it seemed very odd to her that she could not sleep. She said she felt like she drank too much coffee.
• Lynne’s friend Jackie, who had wine with them at Lutfi’s insistence, also said that she felt anxious and like she had been drinking coffee.

Here is MSat’s coverage of this very unsettling account by Lynne. If all this is true, it makes Britney seem like the victim in this. If she is taking huge amounts of medication without her knowledge of course she would behave erratically and make poor decisions.

The ugly truth is finally coming about about “friend/manager” Sam Lutfi. In a restraining order filed by Jamie and Lynne Spears against Lutfi, Lynne Spears paints a picture of a mentally unstable and unaware Britney Spears becoming completely reliant upon Lutfi, who, among other things, was in cahoots with the paparazzi, drugged Spears without her knowledge, cut her phone lines, interfered with her custody court hearings, and even disabled the pop star’s vehicles. It sounds as if Lutfi was keeping her prisoner through manipulation and bully tactics. US Weekly has published the entirety of Lynne Spear’s statement on what she found after entering her daughter’s home after that big fight between Britney and Sam just before her hospitalization:

Two or three paparazzi came into the house and entered the kitchen. They greeted Sam. The paparazzi then reported to Sam where Britney currently was. From the conversation between Sam and the paparazzi I determined that Sam had given Felipe (another paparazzi) one of Britney’s cars to get her out of the house when he heard that Jamie and I were on our way to see Britney. I also understood from the conversation that Sam disabled all of Britney’s cars. (she has several at her residence.)

Sam had told Britney that Jamie and I were coming to the house to do an intervention, and that Britney panicked and took off with Felipe. Another man named Chad Hardcastle was in the house.

I also heard that evening that Britney’s and Sam’s fight that evening, Sam had told Britney that she was an unfit mother, a piece of trash and a whore, that she cares more about Adnan, her current boyfriend, than she cares about her kids, and that she does not deserve her kids.

The paparazzi reported to Sam and addressed him with great respect. They treated him like a general. He instructed them to get her back to the house. They later told Sam that Britney was on her way back.

Britney then came back to the house with Adnan, who is also a paparazzi. Sam then told Jackie [Lynne's friend] that we needed to do whatever he tells us. I objected. He then told me, “I’m the one who spends 24/7 with your daughter. I sleep in cars outside her house so she can’t leave.” Sam then said, “You people throw everyone under the bus, if you don’t listen to me I’m going to make your name sh** in the papers.”

As I looked around the kitchen, I noticed that in the middle of the kitchen table there was a large car battery. At some point during the evening I learned that the car battery was there so Sam could charge his cell phone. Although Britney has several cell phones, he told us that he had disposed of all of the phone chargers and had made the house phones unworkable.

[From Us Weekly]

You’d think that would be bad enough, but it gets worse. Sam bragged about drugging Britney without her knowledge, and told Lynne that he is in completely control of her and that she better watch out:

Sam told Jackie and me that he grinds up Britney’s pills, which were on the counter and included Risperdol and Seroquel. He told us that he puts them in her food that that was the reason she had been quiet for the last three days (she had been sleeping.) He told us that the doctor who is treating her now is trying to get her into a sleep-induced coma so that they could then give her drugs to heal her brain…

Sam told me,” You’d better learn that I control everything. I control Howard Grossman, Britney’s business manger. I control her attorney’s and the security guards at the gate. They don’t listen to Britney, they listen to me. That’s why Jamie was gone tonight.”

This certainly explains why the Spears’ are fighting so hard to disentangle their daughter from this maniac, and why they didn’t want Howard Grossman to serve as a conservator.

Possibly the most chilling part of Lynne Spears’ testimony is the following, in which Britney asks Sam about getting her sons back:

Britney then said again at some point during the night, “When do I get to see my babies?” Sam answered, “Wednesday. “ Britney then said, “What do I have to do to see them?” Sam responded, “Take the pills I tell you to take.” Britney said, “I don’t like the pills and I don’t like the psychiatrist. Can’t I see another psychiatrist so I can see my babies?” Sam responded, “If I told you to take 10 pills a day, you should do what I tell you to see your babies.” Jackie then said, “Britney, your parents can help you find a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist needs to get to know you to give you the right medicine.” Sam then raised his voice and said, “Why don’t you get back with Kevin.”

This is disturbing for several reasons, but it sounds as though Lutfi has been telling Britney that she will actually be able to see her children, when in fact she has lost all visitation rights. He tells her that she will see the boys on Wednesday, when in reality, there was a custody hearing set for Wednesday. Could it be that Britney shows up at the courthouse thinking she is going to see the children?

As for Sam’s claim that Britney “has hatred” for her father, Lynne testified that it was Britney herself who wanted her father to step in and help.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Sam Lutfi winds up facing criminal charges on this. Maybe some of our esteemed readers who are lawyers can comment on this.

Meanwhile, x17 (which many suspect keeps Lutfi on their payroll) has little to say on this revelation, choosing instead to focus on Britney’s life in lockdown. They actually seem to be siding with Lutfi.

Lutfi told US Weekly that the restraining order against him “won’t last” and that “They’re never gonna be able to rule her forever.”

Sam Lutfi, one of Britney’s entourage – who now calls himself her manager – has taken nothing but crap from the press for his role in Britney’s life. He was generally thought to be nothing but a negative influence and a user. But it seems that since Britney’s boyfriend Adnan Ghalib came into her life, Sam’s been treated with a lot more respect by the powers that be. And by that, I mean bloggers. It’s not that anything has necessarily changed with Sam, but more that Adnan seems one hundred times worse. And as much as people thought Sam was using Britney, he’s stuck around for a while, and through a lot of embarrassing stuff when others have left her. He’s also strenuously objected to Adnan’s role in Britney’s life – even having him barred from Britney’s neighborhood. Clearly Sam must have a lot of clout if he’s able to keep Adnan outside the locked gates, even when Britney wants him let in. He could very well be some sort of Svengali, but right now he doesn’t seem nearly as evil as he used to.

No one else may understand why he has given Britney Spears his undivided attention, but manager Sam Lutfi hasn’t given it a second thought.

When it comes to being by Spears’ side during this obvious time of need, Lutfi exclusively told E! News’ Ryan Seacrest he feels “like I have a moral obligation.”

“You meet her and she cries, and she begs [you] not to turn on her.” He would do the same for any of his three sisters, Lutfi said.

[From E! News]

Sam claims that he has never sold pictures of Britney to the media or been paid by them in any way. He also claims that Britney has never paid him. I highly doubt that – he probably incurs some fees as her “manager” and is paid directly from whatever company Britney is paid by. If nothing else, she probably pays for his expenses. Surely he has some financial gain in this, but it appears that he’s serious about getting Britney some help – perhaps more so than her family.

Sam has been photographed with Britney and her mother this last week, and on Monday he told Barbara Walters that the two were repairing their relationship. This obviously led people to think that Sam was on decent terms with the rest of the Spears clan, but apparently that’s not the case. Sam told Ryan Seacrest that Britney’s family was against her hospitalization. E! News reports that it was Sam who coordinated with Britney’s psychiatrist and lawyers to have her admitted on the 5150 hold.

And while Spears’ parents continue to cast doubt on him and object to his intervention in their daughter’s life, they’re the ones who are “incapable of telling the truth and incapable of sympathizing,” being more concerned about money and their image than they are about Spears’ condition, Lutfi said.

“[I have] no more respect for the family,” he said, adding that he’s through trying to keep the peace.

Sources close to the situation previously told E! News that mother Lynne Spears was initially against Lutfi’s plan to have Spears hospitalized. It was reportedly Lutfi who arranged with Spears’ psychiatrist and her lawyers to have the 26-year-old transported early Thursday morning to UCLA Medical Center, where she underwent a psychological evaluation later in the day.

[From E! News]

Though the Spears now say they’re glad Britney’s in the hospital, I’m guessing a big part of that is their public image. They’re aware that everyone else thinks she’s crazy and should be in a straightjacket, so to be against hospitalization makes it sound like they’re against her treatment. Thus the change in tune. Considering how long Britney’s been deteriorating, I can’t help but think her family’s been making excuses for her. Sure they can’t force her into treatment – but Sam Lutfi managed to get her into the hospital, which was more than Britney’s parents have been able to do. If she finally works her way out of the mess she’s in, he might end up being seen as the person who finally did something.

Picture Note by JayBird: Here’s Britney Spears visiting Longs Drugstore with her mother Lynne Spears, Sam Lutfi and Chad Hardcastle at 1.30 in the morning on January 29th. Images thanks to WENN. Header image of Britney Spears seen here leaving century city mall with Sam in tow on January 30th. Images thanks to Splash.