Britney and Sam on 1-16-08. This was after the incident where she refused to handover her sons on 1-3 and before she was put on a psychiatric hold on 1-31.
I’m going to get this out of the way first – Sam Lutfi is a scary, manipulative lying bastard. That doesn’t mean I’m discounting everything he claims, and I’ll get to that in a moment, it just means that I find his credibility to be nil. To recap: Lutfi was in Britney’s life at the time of her breakdown in late 2007 into early 2008. He’s now suing her family for defamation, right after the three year restraining order against him has expired. By most all accounts, Lutfi was trying to control Britney. He conspired to gain access to her, according to Britney’s former assistant. Lutfi had three other restraining orders against him by different people before he even met Britney. When Britney’s mom, Lynn, met Lutfi, she found that he had disabled access to Britney’s phones and cars so that she could not leave or contact anyone without his permission. What’s more is that Lutfi bragged to Britney’s mom that he regularly mashed up prescription drugs and put them in Britney’s food without her knowledge. (This linked article has excepts from a declaration Lynn gave on Lutfi if you’d like to read more about it.)
So there’s no doubt that Lutfi tried to control Britney, that he scammed to drug her, and that a lot of her bizarre behavior at the time was due to the drugs she was on. Only in Lutfi’s version, told at trial yesterday, it was Britney who was taking uppers on her own volition. That could be true, but it’s not like the guy was innocent and blameless. His lawyer also told a story about how Lutfi allegedly hired a drug-sniffing dog who found meth in Britney’s mansion. This guy is trying to squeeze money out of Britney’s estate, and he needs to turn it around like he was the one helping her. Here’s more, thanks to E! for their summary:
An attorney for Sam Lutfi, who is suing Jamie and Lynne Spears for libel, described in court his client as a concerned friend who “worked very hard to keep Britney Spears off drugs” before a psychiatric episode in 2008 led to her father establishing a conservatorship for her estate and pushing Lutfi out of the picture with a restraining order.
Claims he was a “scapegoat” for Britney’s drug abuse
“My client was made a scapegoat for the drug abuse and erratic behavior of Britney Spears,” Lutfi’s lawyer, Joseph Schleimer, said today in his opening statement. “She liked to use amphetamines—speed or uppers. She liked to take that drug. And most of the things that went wrong were related to that drug.”Jamie and Lynn, who are divorced, sat together in the courtroom. They took notes during Schleimer’s statement and during breaks were seen huddling with their attorneys in the hallway outside.
Schleimer told the court that Lutfi met Britney in a nightclub at a point in her life when “30 or 40” paparazzi would be following her at any given time. Once he became part of her life, Schleimer continued, Lutfi would alert the paps to their comings and goings to encourage some kind of order amid the frenzy.When she met Lutfi, Britney had already completed a stint in rehab (she went to Promises in Malibu in early 2007), fired her other managers and distanced herself from her parents, Schleimer said. She first referred to Lutfi as her manager when she brought him along to a meeting with record execs to discuss Blackout and, when they wanted him to leave, she insisted he was her manager.
Claims he tried to keep Britney off drugs
Schleimer continued his statement claiming that Lutfi agreed to work for Britney in July 2007 for 15 percent of her earnings and under the condition that she stay clean and let him bring drug-sniffing dogs to search her house. The dogs, the attorney claimed, turned up a bag of crystal meth in a trap door and “hot spots” of residue on the carpet—which Lutfi later had ripped out and replaced.To illustrate his point about the place Britney was at in her life when Lutfi was with her, Schleimer flashed on a screen for the jury to see the infamous photo of Britney, sporting a newly shaved head and an angry sneer, banging on a car with an umbrella.
Britney, still under the thumb of the conservatorship, has been excused from testifying or appearing in court during these proceedings.
In obtaining a restraining order against Lufti, Jamie and Lynne Spears had accused him of crushing up pills in Britney’s food, hiding her cell phone, encouraging paparazzi to follow her and otherwise bothering their daughter.
Lutfi sued them in February 2009 for breach of contract and defamation based on several chapters in a memoir Lynne wrote in which she described Britney’s once-constant companion as a manipulator. The conservatorship, meanwhile, is seeking to reclaim $93,000 in attorney fees from Lutfi.
Lutfi and Britney, Schleimer continued after the afternoon break, had a “strong artistic relationship” and his client advised her to go to Las Vegas to work on her dancing for the good of her health…
On what preceded Britney’s breakdown
In January 2008, Britney obtained 30 pills of prescription amphetamines, according to Schleimer’s statement in court, and took “all or most” of them in 36 hours. She then locked herself in the bathroom with Jayden and refused to turn the child over to his father, Kevin Federline. An ambulance was called and Britney ended up hospitalized at UCLA Medical Center.On the night of Jan. 28, Schleimer recounted, they had been returning to her home to meet with a doctor when Britney jumped out of the car inside her gated community and plopped down on the sidewalk, holding her dog. Schleimer showed a paparazzo’s video of the incident to the court.
When Britney’s parents showed up at the house after seeing the media coverage, Jamie threatened to “beat the hell out of” Lutfi if he didn’t get out of his daughter’s life and punched him in the stomach, Schleimer said.
Britney was again transported to the hospital in the wee hours of Jan. 31 and placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold. Lutfi was initially denied entry into the waiting area, but was ultimately allowed in at around 2:30 a.m.
“My client has never been paid for serving as her manager,” the lawyer concluded. “He was made famous as the guy who drugged Britney Spears and put her in the hospital. The evidence will show the defendants ruined my client’s reputation.”
E! did a very good recap of the testimony at trial. This is a money grab by Lutfi, who latched onto Britney like a leech. Honestly I believe that Britney took drugs willingly – at times. At other times, I believe Lutfi gave them to her without her knowledge. He talked openly about it to Britney’s mom. In that sworn declaration I mentioned, Lynn Spears told a disturbing story of Britney refusing to drink wine that Lutfi kept insisting she drink. Lynn drank the wine intended for Britney instead, and felt anxious and nervous like she had been drinking coffee.
Britney is a grown woman, and she was around 26 when Lutfi inserted himself into her life. Yes she’s responsible for taking drugs, for her own erratic behavior, and for shaving her head. (Lutfi’s lawyer claims she did it to evade drug testing.) As I mentioned I do think she did drugs on her own volition. I’m not calling Lutfi responsible for Britney’s breakdown. I don’t doubt that Lutfi was giving Britney drugs to keep her more compliant. This is his ammunition to try and get more cash. He didn’t have some kind of sterling reputation before he met Britney, he was a scumbag with three restraining orders against him who was looking for another target.
TMZ has a video of Lutfi claiming back in March, 2010 that Britney shaved her head as a means of “expressing her independence and freedom.” Except now that he’s suing Britney’s family it’s evidence that she was whacked out of her mind on drugs he worked to keep her off of. I’m so sure he just had Britney’s best interests at heart.
Britney and Sam on 1-20-08. Credit: WENN.com
i hope all the worst for Lutfi
Me too. So calculated and so much effort, she looks better now, but still looks lost
Yes Britney used to do drugs, but he wanted to keep her enabled. This man has to go away.
If he the scum of the earth. She began a serious spiral downward when he came into her life. I’m sure he encouraged her drug use to control her.
Guess what, Read up on people with bipolar disorder. They use drugs a lot to deal with their symptoms. All of this goes hand in hand with someone with a serious mental disorder devloping a drug proglem to deal with it.
Thank God for her family. She really should be dead if not for them. Her father having to take her on 24/7, an adult woman who I am sure fought him day and night in the beginning is not for the faint of heart. They don’t want to take their medicine. They hate the way they feel on it. Her newest medicine really seems to be doing good if she stays on it.
My co-worker’s son’s 18-year-old friend developed it. He’s 22 now. It was sad. And it is hell for his parents because on medicine he will never be the same gregarous son he was, but at least he can function, but he fights them all the time about it and goes off the medicine and spirals.
Exactly. It is very common for people with a mental illness to self-medicate with alcohol or drugs. My prayers go out to anyone having to deal with this.
Does anyone remember the other “beau” that Britney had after Lufti. He was middle eastern, I think. Hard to remember, but he was another hanger on.
I couldn’t even read all of this because the guy is a total scumbag and I just can’t handle it! Poor Brit Brit. What a crazy life.
Watch this abc news video right at the time Britney went bald.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x190u1_britney-shaved-her-own-head_music
The witness says that “Brit said she was tired of having things plugged into it and she didn’t want anybody to touch her, tired of people touching her.”
This poor thing is a mind control slave.
She isn’t in any different situation with her “fiancé” or her parents. come on. her parents don’t give a shit about britney. she is just their money cow.
I hope she just rests in peace. she looks like doesn’t have a soul.
She basically got tired of people controlling her and “plugging” things into her so she shaved her own head to call for help, basically.
This ex manager guy or her current manager/fiancé is all the same people.
Her parents don’t give a shit about Britney? Wow, I hope if you ever have a child with a serious mental problem you aren’t judged. And her boyfriend has been by her side.
Without them, she would be dead, period. Go read up on bipolar disorder/manic depressive and all the subparts to it. Some even begin hallucinating at times. Violence at times. Heavy drug use is usually a part of it, them self-medicating. Promisciousty. Manic episode, very low episodes leading into a period of deep depresseion. Poor decisions. The girl was going to be broke for long.
I truly believe Charlie off 2 and 1/2 Men has a form of biplor disorder with manic episodes that include irrational decisions.
“Without them, she would be dead, period.” ahjahahahahaha
She is their money cow, how can they possibly let her die? Of couuuurrrse they would do everything to “help” her stay alive (even if that means, her father and her fiance has ALL the control over her, her fiance and her father share control of the personal conservatorship.)
She can’t control her own finances.
Her phone, internet usages are restricted by her team.
She can’t do anything by her own will.
Her fiance and father decide for them.
Is this what you think how a human supposed to live?
I’d better die than live like a slave. Everyone controling her lives.
And yess @Merritt, i’m saying ” there is no life for this girl”.
She’s hopeless.
She is basically brainless doll to them.
your comment is sooooo naive it’s laughable.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/24/britney-spears-conservatorship-medical-issues_n_1828504.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17658348
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2218704/Britney-Spears-ex-nanny-testify-Sam-Lutfi-trial-emotionally-manipulated-handlers.html
And finally, I think her shaving head was her LAST attempt to escape from all this crap and call for help but of course, that failed…and look what happened.
I agree with you. Without her parents she would have ended like Michael Jackson: completely drugged and crazy, in the greedy hands of her enablers.
+1 I think she has something more severe than bipolar to be honest with you… I woudln’t be surprised if she has DID or if she is schizophrenic. If she were simply bipolar, why would the news be constantly saying that if her diagnosis got out it would destroy her, set her off, etc?? If she was just bipolar, she would know. I really think it’s something way more severe.
The drugs… obviously someone with a mental illness is going to self-medicate. This Sam guy came in at the right time and took advantage of her. Drugs also exacerbate mental illness… so she may have been barely mentally ill before the drug use, but that may have been what brought her into a full blown diagnosis.
I feel sorry for her. I hope she gets better. I’m rooting for her and I think her parents love her a lot and so does Jason. Parents that don’t love their daughter don’t do the things they’ve been doing. They are aggressive parents trying desperately to protect their mentally ill adult child.
I find your statement incredibly creepy. You are basically saying that there is no life for this girl and she is better off just dying.
While her parents may have been clueless about how to deal with her issues, I don’t think they are heartless or uncaring. I think they are typical of people who grew up believing that religion was the answer to everything. I do wish she would have gone on an extended break. But I do think she seems actually happy to be on X Factor. Her eyes look happier than they have in a long time.
I agree that her parents and boyfriend don’t have her best interests at heart. I mean, pushing her into a world tour asap was wrong in my opinion. I believe she should have been recovering mentally and physically for a good few years.
This guy is disgusting. While Britney is responsible for her meltdown, this guy is an enabler and a user. It is not coincidence, that when he was no longer in her life, that she was able to work towards to turn things around. She still has a way to go on that.
While I believe that Britney was using probably on drugs or being given them, I think too many have tried to write off her problem as solely about drugs. I think mental illness played a greater role in what happened. The signs of of a problem were there long before the crisis in 2007-2008.
Lufty is scum, and thats the truth..But the people much closer to her, like mom, dad, and others..just make things wurst, by just letting shit take its toll.i dont get why a grown ass woman, let it come this far.SHe has to step up.ITS HER MONEY,she made it.if it was me, i’d be in the gutter swimming, are climbing my way out of this..Sher should call KATIE HOLMES>.she got away from shit.(maybe)she can help.
What would Katie Holmes do?
He is a scum-bag who used her but Britney was already having issues. He pushed her over the edge but she was very close to it already. Amphetamines and whaterever else she was given explains the crazy behavior, It’s been 4 years and she looks healthier but her eyes look dead! She is a shell of her former self. Sad! They should have just took her back home to Louisiana.
Two babies in less than 3 years.
Constant working.
Maybe a little postpartum that went unchecked. Then add to it uppers. She was going to have a melt down.
But I have also long suspect Britney was mentally burned out. And add in babies and people mooching off her. From record companies, promoters and her family… something was going to have to give.
So she ran them all off. That left her with Kevin and lets be real, he was not the influence she needed either.
But Britney does not have the ability to live alone. Or run her life. The girl probably has the maturity of a 17 year old. Who has a lot of cash. And a way to always earn a lot of cash.
So she will always have someone, with questionable motives, trying to cash in on that.
But Lufti is moocher of epic proportions. And I hope he loses big. And has to pay all legal fees for both sides.
At the root of all of this is Britney, who seems to have not had any autonomy from the time this guy entered the picture and then her new fiance/agent/whatever.
Is Brit wearing that dress inside out or are the chest darts purposely on the outside?
Either way, it’s a really ugly dress.
I wish someone would lock him and throw away the key.
That he even had the balls to pull this lawsuit is just completely rediculous
Brit should be in court to testify on her own behalf. She can judge XFactor, buy properties, get engaged, create albums, and tour but cannot testify in court? Lufti may be creepy but Brit is hiding from the truth, in my opinion.
I agree with you to a point, but when taking her severe mental illness into consideration, normal people woudln’t be allowed to testify… she’s simply not competant to stand trial. XFactor isn’t legal stuff, ya know? This is serious business.
This guy is so disgusting, he belongs in jail, or worse. She probably took drugs voluntarily because he got her hooked on them! Or at the very least encouraged her to do so. It’s sick how he preyed on her.
keep up the exercising, Brit. or, just watch what you eat… totally sparingly.
you are not attractive when you are fat or even slightly overweight.
The psychotropic drugs she needs to stay sane can cause weight gain. Don’t be an ass about her weight, OK?
Okay, I normally agree with the writers of this website on pretty much everything. However, I just have to say that I couldn’t disagree with your assessment of this situation more. You say that you believe that Britney took drugs on her own volition. But since there is compelling evidence that Britney suffers from long-term and very legitimate psychiatric issues, she really WASN’T taking anything on her own volition. During that time of her life, I think she was so out of it, she had no idea WHAT she was doing. Was she taking drugs/medications during that time? Of course she was, but who the hell do you think gave it to her? The manic high/low behavior she exhibited (which is indictive of either a manic/depressive or bipolar not receiving proper treatment OR of someone who’s taking the wrong combination of meds) was prevalent ONLY while this guy was in her life. She didn’t have the manic behavior before he came into her life, and she hasn’t displayed it since he was forced to stay the hell away from her. I never believed that she had a drug problem and I still don’t think that was ever the case. I realize that she’s not a child and as an adult she is responsible for her own behavior, but if she was sincerely mentally ill, and I truly believe that she was, then you can’t really argue that she was taking drugs all on her own. By our own legal standards, she wasn’t mentally competent enough to ever develop the requisite intent or understanding of her situation. She was found mentally incompetent in a court of law which means she technically can’t be taking anything “willingly”. I mean, to truly take drugs or meds “willingly”, you must be of sound mind to make that decision, and I don’t believe she was and the courts agreed with me on that. Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know. But I think she spiraled down mentally and he (by his own admission) practically spoon-fed her different drugs/meds and that she probably had no real concept of what the hell was going on. Maybe I’m being hyper-technical, but I just take such issue with that a-hole Lutfi and I always felt like he preyed on someone who was already a little fragile and mentally unbalanced and he exploited the shit out of it. Again, I’m not trying to give her a complete pass for all her behavior. I’m just saying that I don’t think that she was willingly or knowingly doing much during that time period.
I agree with everything you just said. There are even transcripts or recordings of him telling Britney she needed to take her “vitamins” so that she would feel better. She would ask him for her vitamins. He is sick.
Lutfi is a grifter, user and abuser. He trashed many lives other than Brit’s. He wants to get his hands on her money, and he doesn’t care how he does it. He sounds like he’s either purely evil or mentally unbalanced. He has done terrible things to other people in an effort to control them. I despise him. I really hope this case goes completely against him and he’s ordered to pay the Spears’s legal fees.
How did this Lufti character come into Brit’s life in the first place?
OT:i think Lufti is CDAN’s friend or he pays CDAN to be friendly with him because on all the gossip blogs,the one who believes and supports all Lufti says is CDAN’s Enty
even TMZ doesn’t believe Lufti
for the note,before to meet Britney,Lufti was one of many paparazzis who followed her daily
No he doesn’t. He posted a video yesterday of Lufti saying Britney shaved her head because she’s an artist or something then specifically said that Lufti is fked because he contradicts what he’s saying in court. Enty has barely been covering this, unfortunately.
Britney was at the beginning of her breakdown when she met Sam. I firmly believe that’s the ONLY way he was able to insert himself into her life – by taking advantage of her when she was most vulnerable. Once he was involved with her, she started spirally very quickly. While I agree that at some points in Brit’s life she probably did some drugs when she was out partying, I think that Sam deliberately drugged her, and drugged her excessively, and caused her to veer even further over the edge. He is a disgusting human being. I also think Britney shaved her head due to not wanting to be Britney Spears anymore. I don’t think it had anything to do with possible drug testing. I think she wanted out of her life, out of being famous, and was tired of being what she was. And her long blonde hair symbolized all of that. Sam Lutfi deserves to be in jail. He could have killed her. He exploited every possible weakness she had and basically just tried to ruin her, all for money and possible fame.
^This!^
Agreed. And as for the comments about her being competent to work on X Factor then why the conservatorship, well, let’s faceit, being an X Factor judge isn’t exactly rocket science, no matter how people try to spin it. Britney’s job is to show up, say a few words, participate in some easy skits (displayed as real life, but who are we kidding), and what else? I mean, it’s not a hard job. I think she does have real, substantial problems, and the conservatorship has helped, though I also don’t doubt she misses the way she felt when she was off meds and feeling good. That’s the sad part about bipolar. Anyway, I hope it all works out for her.
This is all so sad. And for people who think her family isn’t in her best interest…I disagree. Sure, they made money off her…but her dad has kept her in line these past few years. I’m sure it hasn’t been easy. Brit needs help and I’m glad her parents stepped in….unlike the Lohans that dish every dirty detail and sell one another out.
Brit’s parents are divorced but they work together now for their daughter. That’s what parents do. Unlike Dina and Michael.
I know if this was my daughter, I’d be fighting every fight I could and protecting her as well. She needs her family and tho her fiance may put off a lot of people, she’s been doing better w him as well.
She’s got mental health issues and I think it’s completely normal given the abuse she’s experienced. (Being used by everyone).
Of course she shaved her head because of drugs, that was obvious. And I believe the things about the drugs in her house as well. Without going into too many details she went into a nightclub in Las Vegas where my friend was the manager he said she was so gullible that she would go with anyone that grabbed her hand. She was definitely a lost soul at that time thankfully her dad stepped in and helped. I hope that grease ball does not get a penny, eww!
Celebitchy, can you please change the headline to this post? Part of Lutfi’s suit is based on the claim that he asserts he was Britney’s “manager” and is entitled to a share of her earnings during that period of time. Let’s not give credence to that assertion.
This creep had 3 prior restraining orders? Warning sign! I feel bad for her, she’s not like crackyface at all. Wish her the best!
here are my thoughts; this manager was beyond creepy and a loser, but there is always an ouch of truth even amongst crazy users. I also don’t think her parents have her best interests at heart. If she is truly mentally ill, she shouldn’t be working this much and have the freedom to do some things like shopping etc to become a bit more normal or healthy. Someone should take care of her who is appointed by the court, clearly no one in her life can do so properly.