Top 10 Revelations From the Britney Spears vs. Sam Lutfi Trial
Sam Lutfi reveals he never asked to get paid for being Britney Spears' manager.
Oct. 26, 2012 — -- intro: The Sam Lutfi trial is getting weirder by the day. On Thursday, Britney Spears' former "manager," who's suing Spears' parents for defamation, said that he learned how the entertainment industry works through osmosis. The day before, he broke down crying.
Read on for more of the soap opera-worthy details that have come out during the trial:
quicklist: 1title: Lutfi Learned About Hollywood Through Osmosistext: During Thursday's cross examination, Joel Boxer, the attorney for Spears' co-conservators, asked Lutfi about his experience in the entertainment industry. Lutfi said while he never took film classes in college, growing up in Los Angeles and having friends in the industry gave him what he needed to know. He added, "It's something you learn via osmosis."
quicklist: 2title: Lutfi Never Signed a Contract to Be Spears' Managertext: On Thursday, Boxer showed the court a manager service contract Lutfi gave Spears' attorney. But the contract was not filled out with names, dates or signatures by any of the parties. When asked if he thought the contract needed to be filled out, Lutfi said, "not necessarily." Lutfi also said he never asked to be paid for his services.
quicklist: 3title: Lutfi Never Asked to Be Paid for His Servicestext: Boxer asked if Lutfi ever submitted a bill or invoice to Spears' business manager demanding payment for his services, or if he ever wrote a letter demanding his 15 percent payment. Lutfi said he did not. He also did not recall ever receiving or being privy to any financial documents regarding Spears' earnings.
quicklist: 4title: Justin Timberlake Started It Alltext: Leon Gladstone, who represents Spears' father, Jamie, said in opening statements that Justin Timberlake's breakup with the "Baby One More Time" singer spawned her downward spiral. Gladstone said their 2002 split changed Spears from a "ray of light" to a "depressed" and "angry" person.
quicklist: 5title: Spears' Dad Threatened a Smackdowntext: This text message allegedly sent by Jamie Spears to Lutfi was read in court Wednesday: "If and when I meet you I am going to jail and you are going to the hospital." Lutfi also described Jamie Spears chasing him around a kitchen, punching him and threatening his life.
quicklist: 6title: Spears Earned $800,000 a Month ... text: ... even when she wasn't working. On the stand, Lutfi said Spears enticed him to be her manager by saying, "I'm getting $800,000 a month even when I'm not working. You will get 15 percent of that." Lynne Spears' legal team has backed up that figure, saying that Lutfi wanted to get a 15 percent commission on the $800,000 per month Spears pulled in during 2007-2008, which would work out to around $120,000 a month.
quicklist: 7title: Spears Was in Cahoots With the Paparazzitext: ... according to Lutfi. Lutfi said Spears "was in crisis mode, dealing with press photographers, 30, 50, 100 following her every move, speeding, driving next to her." He said she suffered from "a lot of anxiety when they followed her. When she got out of a car they would cluster around her, she couldn't move, she was very anxious." He came up with a solution: Once he started working with Spears, he began texting photographers to tell them where he and Spears were going in an attempt to stop them from following her. "I was also setting up private meetings with Britney and press photographers at her home, so [they] could get to know her as a human being," he said.
quicklist: 8title: Spears May Have Shaved Her Head Over Fear of Drug Teststext: In court, Lutfi's lawyer claimed that Spears' infamous 2008 head shaving happened after someone told her she could be tested for drugs with samples of her hair and would lose custody of her children if she tested positive. He said that prompted her decision to dive into a San Fernando Valley salon and buzz off her locks.
quicklist: 9title: Spears Cried to the Head of Her Record Labeltext: Barry Weiss, the former CEO of Jive Records who signed Spears when she was 16, said he never considered Lutfi to be Spears' manager, partly because he was the man Spears came to during her times of crisis. "There was no manager involved," Weiss said. "She was estranged from her family. I felt I was a lifeline for her. She was texting me constantly from her cell phone."
quicklist: 10title: Lutfi Now Co-Manages Courtney Lovetext: After parting ways with Spears, Lutfi started working as a co-manager for Courtney Love, the rocker who famously appeared stark naked for a New York Times interview and asked the reporter to dress her.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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