Lynne Spears credits Britney's former manager, Sam Lutfi, for reuniting her with her famous daughter but stands by her statement that he's a bad influence for the singer.
- Oct 27, 2012
AceShowbiz - It was Lynne Spears' turn to take the witness stand in the latest hearing of a court fight against Britney Spears's ex-manager Sam Lutfi. She confirmed his previous testimony that she had been estranged from Britney for months in 2007 and that he helped them reunite.
When asked why she portrayed Sam as a bad guy in her book, she insisted, "He wanted to take over her life. He wanted her life to be his life. And [the way he dealt with the] paparazzi, that made him a predator, because they were all over her, in her house. She had no privacy."
Lynne believed Sam was a "puppet master" who "hovered over my daughter and tried to insert himself in every aspect of her life." While she calmly gave her testimony in the witness stand, he watched from across the courtroom and cried when she described her reconciliation with Britney.
She insisted she didn't tell a lie when describing in her book his attempt to drug the singer and cut her access to the outside world. He allegedly told her himself that he put drugs in Britney's food in what was claimed as an attempt to make her sleep. He also cut her phone lines and disabled her cars.
"These were his exact words and this was the story I told," the mother said in the courtroom. "I was very worried and I didn't know what to do, so I was trying to get her away from there." The author then admitted under cross examination that she didn't call police at the time.
Sam took the stand as well to face cross-examination from Lynne's lawyer Stephen Rohde. He previously said that he got death threats after Lynne published her book, but admitted he didn't save the threat letters he received in the mail and never reported any of them to police.
Later, Sam contradicted his own statement by saying that he did report the threats to Los Angeles Police Department harassment division. The manager gave the different answer under a direct questioning by his attorney Joseph Schleimer.
"Under pressure or stress or if I'm tired that my memory will fail me, and I do blank out at times," he explained his apparent inconsistency. He said he didn't have a copy of the complaint letter he sent to the LAPD when asked by Stephen if he could present it as a proof.
