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Spears family lawsuit with alleged former manager to return to court
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 16 March 2015
The many and varied dramas of Britney Spears back in 2007 and 2008 all seem so long ago now, but one hangover from the ‘dark times’ is set to be revived in the court room.
Those with long memories will remember Sam Lutfi, the guy who became a very close friend of Spears as her personal life spiralled out of control, and who later styled himself as the singer’s manager. But after her family, and the state, intervened amongst growing concerns about Spears’ mental wellbeing, Lutfi was pushed out of the picture.
He subsequently sued the family. Lutfi claimed he had been defamed by Spears’ mother in a book about her daughter’s struggles. She accused Lutfi of exasperating Britney’s problems and drug taking, whereas he claimed that he had actually pressured the singer to deal with her addictions. There were also allegations that Spears’ father assaulted Lutfi, while the latter claimed that he had, for a time, been Britney’s manager and was therefore due a cut of her income from that period.
The case reached court in 2012, with both Lutfi and Mrs Spears taking to the witness stand, but two weeks in the judge overseeing the proceedings called everything off, citing various weaknesses in Lutfi’s arguments and inconsistencies in his testimony.
That decision basically killed off the defamation part of the case, but the breach of contract element has rumbled on, and last week appeal judges in California said that the dispute should be considered anew by a jury
Noting the inconsistencies that had occurred when Lutfi tried to explain his contractual relationship with Spears, judge Victoria Chavez said, according to Billboard: “We must determine whether Sam’s inconsistent testimony as to the start date, the right to terminate, and calculation of his fees shows insufficient clarity of material terms to enforce the alleged contract as a matter of law. We find that it does not. As set forth above, it is a factual question for the jury to determine whether an oral contract was formed between Sam and Britney, and if so, to interpret the material terms of that contract”.
All of which means the contractual bit of Lutfi’s litigation – and the assault allegation against Mr Spears – will now return to court for a second hearing proper.
