Archive for July, 2008

The Spears family’s temporary restraining order against Sam Lutfi is set to expire later today. Which means Britney’s onetime constant companion is now free…to continue maintaining his distance from the star.

“It’s done,” a source close to Lutfi told E! News of the already twice-renewed order. “They are dropping it.”

The order, which has been in place since February, when Spears’ parents claimed he “drugged” Britney and otherwise “purported to take control of her life, home and finances,” officially expired at 1:30 p.m.

Jamie Spears, Britney’s father and continuing conservator, opted not to renew the order, deeming it no longer necessary thanks to his daughter’s renewed mental clarity.

“I just told the judge that Mr. Spears and Mr. Lutfi have reached a private agreement and no hearing or order is necessary at this time,” Jamie’s attorney, Jeffrey Wexler, told E! News.

“Britney has made clear to everyone that she does not want to be further harassed or contacted in any way by Osama ‘Sam’ Lutfi, now or anytime in the future,” added Samuel D. Ingham III, the singer’s court-appointed attorney.

However, should she not have made herself clear enough, the Spears clan, restraining order or not, still have the upper legal hand in the situation.

Despite insistence by a Lutfi insider earlier this month that the singer’s ex-manager would refuse to sign another restraining order extension, Jamie Spears remains in charge of who is allowed to see Britney in his role as conservator of his daughter’s estate.

At least one person has come to Lutfi’s public defense.

Michael Sands, the former spokesman for Kevin Federline’s divorce attorney turned former spokesman for Lutfi, told E! News that Lutfi is “a good guy but was made to be the tabloid villain.”

“He’s glad that she is doing well and getting along with her family. Everything will work out; it will be fine and what will be, will be!”

A source close to Lutfi seconded that notion, telling E! News that Spears’ former pal “only wishes the best for her, her parents and her sons.

“He has always been supportive of Britney and has never tried to capitalize on their personal relationship. He was never in a position to control.”

***SAM THIS DOESN’T MEAN BRITNEY WANTS YOU IN HER LIFEEE!

We’re now told everyone in the Brit conservatorship is on board to end the whole deal on October 28.

In court today, the judge extended the conservatorship until the end of the year, but set a hearing on October 28. We’re told daddy Jamie is following the lead of the doctors, who are saying they think the 28th is a reasonable time to end the conservatorship. Brit is cool with that as well, though the commissioner said she agreed … “reluctantly.”

We’re told between now and October 28, the goal is to gradually wean Brit off being managed so tightly so she can get back to life.

Los Angeles’ top cop believes problems concerning overly aggressive paparazzi have taken care of themselves, what with Hollywood’s It girls generally curbing their bizarre, headline-grabbing antics.

Now if only police chiefs could exhibit similar restraint…

LAPD Chief William Bratton has spoken out—and how—against a proposal by a city councilman seeking to put in place new measures that restrict paparazzi. Bratton says the (alleged) behavior modifications of Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton have made the proposal all but moot.

“If you notice, since Britney started wearing clothes and behaving; Paris is out of town not bothering anybody anymore, thank god; and evidently, Lindsay Lohan has gone gay, we don’t seem to have much of an issue,” Bratton told KNBC, L.A.’s local NBC affiliate.

He went on to offer similar sentiments to several other local outlets, calling the would-be crackdown on paparazzi a “farce,” and further claiming that interest in candid pics has already waned.

Miley Cyrus might beg to differ, but Bratton was on a roll.

“If the ones that attract the paparazzi behave in the first place, like we expect of anybody, that solves about 90 percent of the problem. The rest we can deal with.”

Later, Councilman Dennis Zane hosted a meeting at City Hall to discuss possible ways to limit the seeming free reign of paparazzi. Officials from celeb-heavy neighborhoods attended, along with such celebs as  John Mayer, Milo Ventimiglia and Eric Roberts.

“The danger exists in methods and tactics having absolutely nothing to do with picture-taking,” Mayer said in his assessment of the paparazzi problem. “In fact, removing a camera from the equation is a very effective way of looking at this situation candidly.

“Recently [the camera] has come to serve as all but an official license to encroach on someone’s right to protect themselves from threats of danger…it is also the most socially acceptable way to come within inches from someone who you do not know and who does not know you.”

For his part, Bratton branded Zine’s meeting “grandstanding and foolishness” and would protest in absentia, claiming the city already had “sufficient laws on the books” to deal with the camera-wielding press.

The last year has seen many changes in the life of Britney Spears.

Most of the focus centered on the custody battle over her two beautiful boys with ex Kevin Federline and the long standing conservatorship over her person and estate that, thanks to her father Jamie Spears, has slowly helped the singer,26, regain and stabilize her mental health.

While most will agree Brit’s conservatorship is necessary to keeping her healthy, it has not been without a heavy price — literally.

In the last five months, Britney has paid $724,109 in attorneys fees to Andrew Wallet, Sam Ingham, Luce Law Firm and Stacy Phillips and to her father, who to date has made aproximately $37,500 acting as his daughter’s conservator.

And that’s just her conservatorship case. Brit’s also had to shell out money for her separate custody case (Remember, Brit paid both K-Fed’s lawyers and her own).

A source close to the case estimates that Britney has paid Mark Vincent Kaplan roughly $745,000 as well as over $1 million to a rotating door of attorneys who acted as her counsel.

When you add all that money together, the total number equals out to just under $2,500,000 that Britney has paid to attorneys in the last year.

Britney Spears will be under the conservatorship of her father Jamie until December 31, it was decided in court Thursday.

Britney Spears has “reluctantly” agreed to extend her father’s conservatorship!

Following the conclusion of this morning’s hearing Commissioner Reva Goetz granted Jamie Spears six additional months of conservatorship over his daughter. “Miss Spears has reluctantly agreed that we extend,” he told reporters.

All elements of the conservatorship (including control over Britney’s estate, trust, and personal life) are now set to expire on December 31st, with an additional court date on October 28th for the courts to check up on Britney’s progress. No decision about the conservatorship becoming permanent will be made before then.

This morning’s hearing also dealt with payments, as all lawyers collected their paychecks. Britney’s brother Bryan also sought a payment for an unspecified service, but Commissioner Goetz deferred discussing Bryan’s payment until a later date.

Well, it’s a shame that Britney wasn’t be given full control of her life back – but if she keeps making the kind of progress under Jamie she’s been making, this could turn out to be a blessing in disguise!

Britney Spears’ days of media-deluged court appearances may be behind her, but it’s not quite case closed for the pop star.

Attorneys for the singer are currently meeting in the chambers of Court Commissioner Reva Goetz at the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse to discuss either extending or terminating her father’s current conservatorship over her estate.

While neither Spears nor papa Jamie are present for the session, her brother Bryan Spears, a cotrustee of Britney’s assets, is in the courtroom.

As yet, there’s no word on the outcome of today’s closed-door hearing, though sources told E! News just yesterday that despite rumors the 26-year-old could regain control of her estate after today, the conservatorship is unlikely to be dissolved until the end of the year, with Goetz expected to extend the order.

Attorneys for Jamie Spears, largely if not wholly credited with his daughter’s personal and professional resuscitation, are expected to request the extension to last through later this fall.

Also on the docket for today’s hearing is the Spears family’s temporary restraining order over Sam Lutfi.

Sources told E! News this week that the Spears patriarch was unlikely to attempt to make the order against Lutfi permanent—not that he is welcome in the Spears family’s life.

Should Jamie’s conservatorship get extended, the restraining order would be redundant since he, as acting conservator, is already well within his power—restraining order or not—to determine who gets one-on-one time with Britney.

Britney Spears might not have to appear in court today – but her brother Bryan’s happy to swing by on her behalf!

Our reporter just told us that Brit’s brother Bryan turned up at court with a young lady on his arm. Sounds like Bryan’s got a court date of his own!

With her custody battle narrowly averted, Britney Spears can finally start addressing other legal matters – and first on the list is her restraining order against Sam Lutfi.

Dropping The Order
The AP reports that the pop princess’ attorneys will not seek to extend the temporary restraining order against Lutfi at the hearing scheduled later today. (Spears’ attorneys will also be in court for a previously-scheduled update on her conservatorship.)

The order required Lutfi to maintain a minimum distance of 250 feet from Britney or her homes.

Brit’s Attorney to Sam: “Keep Your Distance”
But don’t count on seeing the two former friends hanging out any time soon – in a statement, Britney’s attorney Samuel Ingham said:

“Britney has made it clear to everyone that she does not want to be further harassed or contacted in any way by Osama ‘Sam’ Lutfi,” Ingham told the AP.

But HAS she made it clear? Or did dad Jamie make it clear that HE didn’t want Sam around?

So far, Sam has acquiesced to the attorney’s wishes, declaring that he and Jamie “have mutually agreed in private that no hearing or order is necessary at this time.”

Home From Vacation
While Britney isn’t scheduled to appear in court today for either of the hearings, she seems to be taking these developments seriously – in fact, she made sure she’d be back in the country just in case! Here’s our footage of Britney arriving at Van Nuys Airport yesterday afternoon:

So we spotted Britney Spears in Cabo looking awfully cozy a few days ago with a mystery man.

It turns out it might be her bodyguard, reports the Sun, a guy named Lee who’s a former Israeli soldier. He’s worked for Brit for the past six months, says the tab, and one source says that the pair “hit it off immediately … He is her perfect type.

As we reported yesterday, Britney’s conservatorship will be up for discussion today in court … but nothing’s going to change.

Britney Spears’s restraining order against one-time pal Sam Lutfi may have been temporary, but their friendship is permanently over.

The pop star’s court-appointed attorney, Samuel D. Ingham III, told the Associated Press that he will not seek to extend the restraining order in court on Thursday – because Spears has cut all ties with Lutfi anyway.

“Britney has made clear to everyone,” Ingham said, “that she does not want to be further harassed or contacted in any way by Osama ‘Sam’ Lutfi, now or at anytime in the future.”

Lutfi has been out of Spears’s life since February, when her father, Jamie, was granted legal control of her affairs as temporary conservator. (At the time, Britney’s mother, Lynne, accused Lutfi of drugging the singer.)

According to Ingham, the restraining order is no longer necessary because Jamie can legally control whom Britney, 26, sees: “During the temporary conservatorship, the conservators have the power to insure that Lutfi will not harm Britney anymore.”

Lutfi, it seems, will abide by the Spears family’s wishes. He said in his own statement to the AP, “Mr. Lutfi and Mr. Spears have mutually agreed in private that no hearing or order is necessary at this time.”

Ingham added that once Britney regains control of her life, she will continue to keep Lutfi out of it. “If Mr. Lutfi makes any future attempt to contact Britney after the temporary conservatorship has concluded,” he said, “Britney has made clear she will take all appropriate legal action.”

Lawyers for Jamie Spears are expected in court Thursday for a review of the conservatorship.