Britney Spears Trial: Sam Lutfi Says Singer's Father "Threatened to Kill Me"

Latest testimony in ex-manager's breach-of-contract and defamation case against the pop star and her parents

By Claudia Rosenbaum Oct 24, 2012 9:35 PMTags
Sam Lutfi, Britney SpearsFame Pictures

Sam Lutfi was back on the stand this morning, testifying in his defamation and breach-of-contract case against Britney Spears and her parents.

The pop star's ex-manager said he reached out to Britney's mother, Lynne Spears, to participate in a jewelry business because the singer "was upset that her mom was financially dependent [on her] and she wished she had her own way of making her own money."

Lutfi said he suggested a diamond venture, but that eventually Britney "torpedoed it" after having a falling out with her mom. The questioning of Lutfi was being done under constant objections by Spears' attorneys. "Objection. Leading. Lacks Foundation" were heard repeatedly. Britney's parents, Lynne and Jamie, were seated next to each other and watched attentively.

Lutfi then told the jury that in late 2007, his mother was diagnosed with cancer and he left Britney to go tend to her. He said he was gone from mid-December to Jan. 3, 2008, the day when Britney was taken to Cedars-Sinai on a 5150 emergency hold. Lutfi said, on that date, he got a call from Britney's child monitor and one of Britney's family lawyers, Anne Kiley, and rushed to Britney's house. When he arrived, Britney was locked in the bathroom. A short time later, emergency personnel came and extricated Britney, strapped her to a gurney and took her to the hospital.

Lutfi's attorney, Joseph Schleimer, put up a photo of Lutfi in a car with one of Britney's child monitors driving to the hospital on Jan. 3 to see Britney. He said Britney did not want to go to the hospital. Schleimer then played the video of Britney walking around her neighborhood carrying her small dog and then sitting on the sidewalk crying. She kept saying, "I'm so fine...I'm just sitting her having a nice time with my dog," as she was photographed by a bevy of paparazzi.

The video was taken on Jan. 28, the night Lynne and Jamie rushed to the house sensing their daughter was in serious trouble. Britney was hospitalized for the second time three days later. Lutfi said the video was taken right after he had a fight with Britney and she got out of their car. Lutfi said, after the fight, he drove to the house and, when he got there, Britney told him to leave. Lutfi says there was a doctor at the house waiting to meet her. Britney then got into her car and left the house.

Shortly after, Lutfi says he then got a call from the guard gate saying Lynne and a friend were at the gate. Lutfi said that before this, Britney, then Jamie, showed up at the door. Lutfi said Jamie came in fist firsts.

"He chased me around the kitchen island. He was spitting, yelling, telling me that I had hurt his daughter and that I better leave," testified Lutfi.

Lutfi said Jamie was later "ejected from the house by security." He said late the next morning, Jamie came back to the house and started yelling at him.

"He cornered me in the kitchen, punched me in the solar plexus and threatened to kill me," Lutfi said. "It hurt."

Lufti said he hid out in the game room for an hour waiting for Jamie to leave. Lufti then denied he had ever cut the phone lines in the house, adding the home phone was operational.

Team Lutfi then showed a video of Britney talking in a British accent, ordering Lutfi to get out of her car, screaming, "Get out! Get out of the car. I want to drive it!" Lutfi said the video was shot on Jan. 30, 2008. Britney went to the hospital early the next day.

Because Lutfi is suing for libel over passages in Lynne's book, each of the jurors were then given copies of Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World.

Lutfi's attorney went through almost each sentence in the chapter titled "The General" and Lutfi denied each of them. Contrary to what was written in the book, Lutfi said he never tried to exclude Britney's family. He said he never called Britney a piece of trash. He said he never said that Britney cared about Adnan Ghalib and didn't deserve to her kids back. He said he never had a "stranglehold" on Britney.

Lutfi continued, saying he never told Britney her parents were coming to do an intervention. He said he never disabled the house phone and would never hide Britney's dog London. He said he never said Ghalib was gay. He said he never told Lynne that he crushed up pills and gave them to Britney to keep her in a drug-induced coma.

Meanwhile, Lynne watched Lufti testify with a small smile on her face.

Lutfi direct testimony will resume Wednesday afternoon.