Spears Family Slams Sam in Court Docs

Looking to trim Sam Lutfi's defamation suit, Spears family calls it a "calculated attempt to exploit the court system"

By Natalie Finn Mar 16, 2009 10:47 PMTags
Britney SpearsKevin Mazur/Getty Images

The Spears family is looking to strip Sam Lutfi's suit to threads.

As part of a motion to have portions of the libel lawsuit Lutfi filed against them last month dismissed, attorneys for Jamie, Lynne and Britney Spears called the first seven pages of Lutfi's complaint "a calculated attempt to exploit the court system by turning a legal pleading into a fanciful public relations press release with no factual or legal moorings."

Documents filed March 11 in Los Angeles Superior Court state call Lutfi's version of events a "broad, fictional account of matters."

Tops on the Spearses' list of Lutfi's objectionable claims—that Britney has been under her parents' thumb since becoming famous.

The passage in Lutfi's complaint states that since Britney "burst onto the scene as a pop superstar, every aspect of her life and more importantly, her fortune, has been controlled by her parents."

Some of the claims the Spearses seek to quash are allegations that they failed to offer Britney guidance when her life was "spiraling out of control," made her annul her marriage to pal Jason Alexander and consorted with Kevin Federline during Brit and K-Fed's divorce and custody battle.

The Spearses would like that section excised from Lutfi's suit, as well as the claim that after Jamie and Lynne divorced, their "stranglehold on Britney's life and career began to loosen. This posed a serious threat to Jamie and Lynne, who had become accustomed to the fame and fortune afforded to them as the parents of Britney Spears."

Such statements are "irrelevant, false or improper," states the Spearses' filing.

Britney's father has had legal control over his daughter's finances, career and medical care since Feb. 1, 2008, when a judge signed off on a conservatorship arrangement following the pop star's admittance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for psychological evaluation.

The legal wrangling at the time also resulted in a restraining order against Lutfi, which Jamie Spears is looking to make as permanent as possible, also obtaining orders against Brit's ex, Adnan Ghalib, and Jon Eardley, an attorney who fruitlessly tried to fight the conservatorship on Britney's behalf when it was first in place.

Lutfi sued the family Feb. 3 for libel, defamation, battery (claiming Jamie shoved him at one point), intentional infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract.

Meanwhile, those who have been invited to come as close to Britney as possible include Madonna, who is rumored to be planning to join the "Toxic" singer onstage when her Circus tour touches down in New York City this weekend.