Was Britney Railroaded into Rehab? : A Research Thread

[Steel Magnolia]

You know who we keep forgetting about?

Jive/RCA

There were promotional interviews to conduct, videos to film, and a tour to start planning.

And what did Lutfi go after in his lawsuit against the Spears?

Management fees.

I bet you anything, if I were to track it down, the date that his supposed "management contract" was to start was in...October 2007.

Key date:

Oct. 25, 2007 - Blackout is released by Jive Records. It is rush-released ahead of its scheduled November 13 release date after leaking online.

[Steel Magnolia]

From Lutfi's appeal:

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

"In June 2007, Sam accompanied Britney to a meeting with record executives. The executives asked Sam to leave, but Britney said, “Sam is my manager. He stays.” Later that day she told Sam she really did want him to be her manager. Sam said he would entertainment lawyer and agents.

During this time, Britney continued to struggle with a **** problem. Sam claimed to have advised her on this and “almost every important decision in her life.” In early or mid-September 2007, Sam walked away from the relationship because Britney was allegedly using *****. Beginning in September 2007, Britney was subject to a court order requiring random **** testing, and Sam was at the house from time to time when **** testing was done. On October 1, 2007, Britney lost legal custody of her infant sons. She spent a night in a parking lot, then called Sam and told him he was one of the few people she trusted. That night, he moved into her home. With the exception of a brief period in December 2007, Sam lived in Britney’s home until February 1, 2008.

In October and December 2007, Sam assisted Britney with such things as arranging parties, purchasing personal items, and interfacing with various people in her life. Sam testified that in October, he and Britney amended the oral agreement to specify a four-year duration and termination without cause in 90 days or with cause in 30 days. Sam claimed that he helped Britney get a music video made and worked with producers on Britney’s album “Blackout.”"

and...

"From mid-2007 through January 2008, Sam also established a close relationship with Lynne. They were in touch by phone or text nearly every day. Sam brought up the idea of starting a jewelry business with Lynne. Sam eventually arranged a reconciliation between Britney and Lynne. Sometime in October 2007, he facilitated James dropping off a letter for Britney."

[Ghoulia]

9 minutes ago, RebellionSparkles said:

I read Nazarians blog so you don’t have to!

He’s incredibly insightful about the Cali family court system and the lawyers! The blog is a goldmine. But he has an antiquated world view and a lot of his commentary is cringe…he says one of his heroes is Putin 😲

So to minimize your exposure to the Pro-Putin, anti-immigrant commentary, here are the top hits from his blog:

https://desperateexes.com/2016/09/22/take-a-number/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2016/05/28/why-fight/#more-5129

https://desperateexes.com/2015/05/01/legal-pit-bull/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2015/04/20/sos-amicus-curiae-sos/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2014/10/23/catching-up-at-the-mosk-and-the-new-lapd-hq/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2014/06/23/business-crashing-divorce-lawyers-fault/#more-3926
 

https://desperateexes.com/2014/03/17/never-ask-a-southern-grandma-an-open-ended-question-in-court/
Could this “southern grandma be Lynne?”

https://desperateexes.com/2013/11/20/john-j-nazarian-featured-in-radaronline-com-article/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2013/08/21/one-lawyer-was-heard-talking-to-another-lawyer-hey-do-you-happen-to-have-a-sword-dam-knot/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2013/07/02/pay-sardines-and-you-get-shamu-and-what-is-that-smell/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2013/01/28/anthony-pellicano-up-date-for-whom-the-bell-tolls/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2013/01/15/hey-beiber-395-an-hour-vs-30-an-hour-which-is-the-best-bargain/
 

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/02/marty-singer-hollywood-lawyer
 

https://desperateexes.com/2012/04/27/tsa-corruption-no-shock-here/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2012/05/13/the-pickle-is-out-of-the-jar/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2012/01/22/john-j-nazarians-guest-tonight-is-san-francisco-attorney-gary-lieberman-the-man-that-made-john-famous/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2011/10/16/judges-gordon-m-scott-and-thomas-trent-lewis-movin-up/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2011/10/02/dr-cyril-wecht-dawna-kaufmann-and-robert-jakucs-are-john-j-nazarians-guest-michael-jackson-is-the-topic/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2011/09/14/pellicano-files-for-divorce/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2011/07/24/amy-winehouse-needed-someone-to-say-yes-yes-yes-to-rehab/#more-1176
this article is problematicly paternalistic…but the last part is interesting where he says that a target/client has never OD’ed on his watch. I didn’t realize these people might be hired to “watch over” a celeb, kind of like a jail bondsman might do.

 

https://desperateexes.com/2011/05/11/youve-been-served-get-over-it/#more-930
 

https://desperateexes.com/2011/03/18/minors-counsel-v-private-investigators/
 

https://desperateexes.com/2011/02/02/scott-and-lipsic-associate-power-couple/#more-875
 

https://desperateexes.com/2010/11/13/beware-of-plumbers-who-smell-nice/

 

https://desperateexes.com/2010/05/30/all-hail-the-honorable-judge-scott-gordon/

 

 

I'm cracking up because in the time I posted my original question on 3/2, I've read most of these because my real life is annoying and this was SUCH a good distraction.  I chose most of the links just based on the url and I definitely read most of these!!! His read on the judges and attorneys is fascinating.

I'm still wondering why does he like Sam Lutfi? He's super critical of his competition in the PI field AND Israelis in general.  (Which Lutfi may not be, I'm sorry - I don't know and Google isn't clear).  

From the Amy Winehouse blog - "I, John J. Nazarian, along with my sons, have personally loaded clients into my car or their car, a few private jets, and taken them to a hospital or another real medical facility to save their lives. We have never in twenty years ever lost a client to an overdose, nor will we ever. And why is that you ask? Common sense and never being afraid to piss someone off." Is Lutfi someone who has "common sense" plus "never being afraid to piss someone off"? 

From the Bieber blog - "We have often questioned why anyone would hire former ‘Israeli’ anything...It has been my policy to hire, former members of the United States armed forces and we also utilize police and sheriff officers in whatever state we maybe visiting to assist us with any issues that may arise. Why you ask? Pretty simple, they can legally carry guns and not put our clients at risk." This got me thinking about Carmella Kelly's email per @Steel Magnolia. Carmella was a super sleuth/legit journalist who passed away in 2020.  She had done some research on Nazarian in 2013 and found that he did indeed have a license to carry firearms.  I'm curious WHY she looked that up. Such a mystery.  

[Ghoulia]

56 minutes ago, Steel Magnolia said:

You know who we keep forgetting about?

Jive/RCA

There were promotional interviews to conduct, videos to film, and a tour to start planning.

And what did Lutfi go after in his lawsuit against the Spears?

Management fees.

I bet you anything, if I were to track it down, the date that his supposed "management contract" was to start was in...October 2007.

Key date:

Oct. 25, 2007 - Blackout is released by Jive Records. It is rush-released ahead of its scheduled November 13 release date after leaking online.

Leaked by Perez Hilton, right?  Who then had a weird little cameo video introducing Brit during the Circus tour?  Even though he rose to fame by absolutely trashing everything about Britney for YEARS??? 

[Steel Magnolia]

2 minutes ago, Ghoulia said:

This got me thinking about Carmella Kelly's email per @Steel Magnolia. Carmella was a super sleuth/legit journalist who passed away in 2020.  She had done some research on Nazarian in 2013 and found that he did indeed have a license to carry firearms.  I'm curious WHY she looked that up. Such a mystery.  

She was writing about Courtney Love's various legal troubles at the time.

Lutfi happened to be Courtney's manager.

"Anyway, he's (Nazarian) on Fink's list of those to be deposed re non-payment to Courtney."

[Steel Magnolia]

I just realized I have eight emails in my sleuthing folder that mention Nazarian. 

[Ghoulia]

Just now, Steel Magnolia said:

She was writing about Courtney Love's various legal troubles at the time.

Lutfi happened to be Courtney's manager.

"Anyway, he's (Nazarian) on Fink's list of those to be deposed re non-payment to Courtney."

As a definitive non-journalist, looking into Nazarian's gun license was something that did not occur to me.  I'm learning from her technique!

[Steel Magnolia]

"On 11/11/2012 10:19 AM, Steel Magnolia wrote:

Question for you...and I swear I'm not trying to beat a dead horse with this...

How much do you believe the m*** claims about Britney? (Not at all? Or possibly a bit? Or totally?)

Check out this story:

https://crushable.com/entertainment/is-britney-spears-a-m***-addict/

That article is from October 3, 2007...the same day the judge gives Brit visitation rights but upholds the decision to give Kev full custody.

Who is "the driver" in the story? And who is the "source" of the story? How did some no-name blog get a hold of it on the very day that Brit was denied custody (and only given visitation rights)? (It was originally on "hollywood.com" which isn't exactly TMZ.)

The reason I ask is...

Do you think it's possible (after having now followed the Lutfi trial and learned some new information) that Lutfi, Kaplan and guys like Nazarian were all working together to ensure that Kaplan won in every way possible for his client?"

Reply:

"Carmela Kelly <carmkelly@***.net>

Sun 2012-11-11 1:35 PM

To: Steel Magnolia

I couldn't get Ama's link to work but I think both sites are Nazarian's.

I didn't know meanwhile that Aaron Cohen was also in the picture from the beginning.

http://cdn.digitalcity.com/tmz_documents/fed_pressrelease.pdf

In re m*** when you have that much money why not go for coke?  Maybe I don't know my *****.

In re Kaplan and company I still wonder about kickbacks from tabloid magazine items."

[Steel Magnolia]

"On 11/11/2012 2:10 PM, Steel Magnolia wrote:

The more I think about this story, the more it smells...

"Another set of X17 paparazzi, however, followed the driver to Culver City in case Britney was in the car. Much to their dismay, she was not inside the vehicle but they were able to follow Britney’s driver into a dark alley where some shady exchange that contained a small bag, rumored by inside sources to be either co****e or crystal m***, definitely happened. After that, the driver returned to the Peninsula."

https://crushable.com/entertainment/is-britney-spears-a-m***-addict/

First off...

- at the time, who always appeared to tip off X17 about Britney's whereabouts? (by his own admission, Sam)
- who are the "inside sources" who saw this **** deal close enough to verify that it "definitely happened"...??

That story has WAY too many details to be some random piece of gossip that gets made up by a gossip blog! And the timing of it (falling on a big date in the custody battle) is even more suspect.

Do you think that Michael Sands might have wrote many stories like the one above? In hopes that TMZ (or some other bigger news outlet) would run with it, and it would find its way into the courtroom?"

Reply:

"Carmela Kelly <carmkelly@***.net>

Sun 2012-11-11 6:13 PM

To: Steel Magnolia

What I wonder is why you are so caught up in the minutiae of her life?  co****e, m*** what difference?

Kaplan, K-Fed etc.  conspiracy or nasty divorce? 

I become more interested in Paris H., Sam, Nazarian .... prey and predators.

Survival of the fittest."

[Steel Magnolia]

OMG, I have seven years' worth of emails saved in a folder, and it's like they were written yesterday... 

"From: Steel Magnolia <steel_magnoliaXX@live.com>
To: Crissy Hxxxxx <crissyhXXX@yahoo.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 4:33 PM
Subject: RE: What's Really Going On?

So I've been wondering...

Why would Sands blurt out, "Britney Spears is not a money launderer," when nobody I can ever recall has ever accused her of being a money launderer?

So...ummm...what if she actually IS a money launderer, and the c-ship is a way to a) put money back where it came from, and b) keep her out of jail?

What if WEG was the first to inadvertently catch on...and then got paid to shut up and look the other way?

I'm not saying Brit would've necessarily understood that whatever she was doing was a crime...but what IF she got herself involved in something that would've put her in hot water if Jamie hadn't swooped in to clean up the mess?"

[Steel Magnolia]

35 minutes ago, Steel Magnolia said:

"On 11/11/2012 2:10 PM, Steel Magnolia wrote:

The more I think about this story, the more it smells...

"Another set of X17 paparazzi, however, followed the driver to Culver City in case Britney was in the car. Much to their dismay, she was not inside the vehicle but they were able to follow Britney’s driver into a dark alley where some shady exchange that contained a small bag, rumored by inside sources to be either co****e or crystal m***, definitely happened. After that, the driver returned to the Peninsula."

https://crushable.com/entertainment/is-britney-spears-a-m***-addict/

First off...

- at the time, who always appeared to tip off X17 about Britney's whereabouts? (by his own admission, Sam)
- who are the "inside sources" who saw this **** deal close enough to verify that it "definitely happened"...??

That story has WAY too many details to be some random piece of gossip that gets made up by a gossip blog! And the timing of it (falling on a big date in the custody battle) is even more suspect.

Do you think that Michael Sands might have wrote many stories like the one above? In hopes that TMZ (or some other bigger news outlet) would run with it, and it would find its way into the courtroom?"

I found the original text of the story:

"Earlier tonight, Britney Spears arrived to the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. While there, she sent her driver to Culver City to pick up some illegal goodies for her. Meanwhile, at 9:30pm the X17 gang breaks into the hotel and beats up a security guard with there cameras. Shortly after, Beverly Hills police arrives on the scene and arrests the ENTIRE X17 videographer/photographer crew that was there at that time.

Don’t believe me? Bet your bottom dollar that TMZ will have this all up in the morning, they were the only cameras that filmed the arrest.

Another set of X17 paparazzi, however, followed the driver to Culver City in case Britney was in the car. Much to their dismay, she was not inside the vehicle but they were able to follow Britney’s driver into a dark alley where some shady exchange that contained a small bag, rumored by inside sources to be either co****e or crystal m***, definitely happened. After that, the driver returned to the Peninsula.

While all of this is going on, Britney is couped up inside a room she checked into at the Peninsula. Kevin Federline was rumored to be inside the hotel with her, but that turned out to be false.

Witnesses inside are allegedly 95% sure she is using crystal m*** on the premises. If so, this could get really dirty and messy."

[RebellionSparkles]

3 hours ago, Ghoulia said:

I'm cracking up because in the time I posted my original question on 3/2, I've read most of these because my real life is annoying and this was SUCH a good distraction.  I chose most of the links just based on the url and I definitely read most of these!!! His read on the judges and attorneys is fascinating.

I'm still wondering why does he like Sam Lutfi? He's super critical of his competition in the PI field AND Israelis in general.  (Which Lutfi may not be, I'm sorry - I don't know and Google isn't clear).  

From the Amy Winehouse blog - "I, John J. Nazarian, along with my sons, have personally loaded clients into my car or their car, a few private jets, and taken them to a hospital or another real medical facility to save their lives. We have never in twenty years ever lost a client to an overdose, nor will we ever. And why is that you ask? Common sense and never being afraid to piss someone off." Is Lutfi someone who has "common sense" plus "never being afraid to piss someone off"? 

From the Bieber blog - "We have often questioned why anyone would hire former ‘Israeli’ anything...It has been my policy to hire, former members of the United States armed forces and we also utilize police and sheriff officers in whatever state we maybe visiting to assist us with any issues that may arise. Why you ask? Pretty simple, they can legally carry guns and not put our clients at risk." This got me thinking about Carmella Kelly's email per @Steel Magnolia. Carmella was a super sleuth/legit journalist who passed away in 2020.  She had done some research on Nazarian in 2013 and found that he did indeed have a license to carry firearms.  I'm curious WHY she looked that up. Such a mystery.  

My completely unsubstantiated opinion is that they worked together. In one of the posts Nazarian says that for a big case he will have  2-3 PIs working together because it keeps everyone honest. 

Also, to point out—Nazarian calls Lutfi a “good guy.” OUR definition of a good guy and Nazarians definition of “good guy” are likely contradictory.
Nazarian seems to think a good guy is someone who forces a target to do Something for “their own good.” I think the freeDbritney people would strongly disagree with this sentiment.

also, Nazarian has clearly seen and experienced really bad stuff…his perception of a bad guy is on a completely different scale than I can relate to…so its Easy to imagine someone like N sees Lutfi as a “good guy.”

 

[B. Leigh]

19 hours ago, Tar_isa said:

he's a double or even triple agent, or more likely a con man, who only works for his own benefit no one trusts but who also becomes a necessary partner for everyone at some point.

I think this is the actual truth...and if he is your partner at one point then he can blackmail you...

[B. Leigh]

Also the money laundering talk is very interesting...ppl around Britney in this conservatorship keep mentioning it...I even remember recently Ingham mention Britney transferring money into Swiss bank accounts...what if Brian was doing something weird with her money before the conservatorship and then used the conservatorship to cover it up... 

[RebellionSparkles]

9 hours ago, Ghoulia said:

Leaked by Perez Hilton, right?  Who then had a weird little cameo video introducing Brit during the Circus tour?  Even though he rose to fame by absolutely trashing everything about Britney for YEARS??? 

AND he TOURED with B for circus…there’s def something here!

[Ghoulia]

3 hours ago, RebellionSparkles said:

AND he TOURED with B for circus…there’s def something here!

Zomba/jive sued him for leaking Blackout. I’m trying to find the court docs. They settled out of court in 2009, I believe…

[RebellionSparkles]

14 hours ago, Steel Magnolia said:

 

Britney didn't file for divorce until November 7, 2006...So it couldn't be October of 2006 that they're referring to.

I suspect that in January of 2008, both sides (Lynne/Lou and Lutfi/Sands) understood that even though they were slinging mud at each other, they all still needed to stick to a basic storyline for the public to buy into it.

Lutfi's placement in the story "after Britney shaved her head, but before Promises" only came after Lynne/Lou released "Through The Storm" in the autumn of 2008....Until that point, the world was still buying that story that Lutfi was "inserted into her life in October" and/or believing Kalie Machado's story that Lutfi had appeared in February 2007 asking "stalkerish" questions and claiming to be a P.I. working for MVK.

I suspect that whatever was done to force Britney into rehab in February 2007 was:

1. Criminal in nature.
2. Completed by Lynne/Lutfi as a team.

Why else would both sides (Lynne/Lou and Lutfi/Sands) both "stick to the script" even after having a falling out?

Somebody make it make sense. 

We can’t rule out that they were referencing October 2006. It sounds like Kevin was planning the divorce in advance. So he would have been talking to MVK in Oct 2006, which could have been the time a PI type figure “was inserted” into Brit’s life.

from: britneyspy.com

A reference to a quote from Kalie machado:

“And Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, were with Spears when she and Federline had their final fight, something Machado says Spears felt she was tricked into. After following him to New York with their sons, “She stood up for herself, and it kind of backfired,” Machado recalls. “That was what [Federline] wanted.”

Unable to move on, Spears hung her wedding dress in the bedroom of her Malibu home. She also kept framed photographs of she and K-Fed all over the house. “She would ask, ‘Why did he do this to me?'” Machado tells Us, adding: “It just made her crazy and depressed.”

Source: Us Weekly

[Tar_isa]

3 hours ago, RebellionSparkles said:

AND he TOURED with B for circus…there’s def something here!

Didn't he just appear on a cameo in the intro video?

[Tar_isa]

15 hours ago, RebellionSparkles said:

To clarify, the October Lynne/Lou and Sands/MVK/Lutfi are referencing must be October 2006–not 2007. The big event at this point was B filing for divorce. Larry re-entered her life as soon as she filed.

Sands repeating Lynne’s line about “inserted in October”—>Thats a clever connection.

now im back to thinking it’s Larry that brought Lutfi into the pack to “protect his asset.” With agreement, encouragement from Lynne, Lou, Laura Wasser.

The L’s as an alliance—that’s neat and tidy. Larry, Lynne, Lou, Lutfi, Laura Wasser

I don't think so, at all. Lutfi wasn't around in 2006, he didn't appear until 2007 and both Britney's assistant Kalie and Lynne Spears mention him calling them in february 2007 separately telling them he was doing PI work for MVK+KFed and/or there were ***** planted at Britney's home. Then he starts to be seen constantly with Britney and Alli later on that year.

Even taking into account these are not reliable witnesses, I totally believe if he was part of Britney's life in 2006, it would be known, someone would have spilled at some point.

 

[Ghoulia]

8 hours ago, RebellionSparkles said:

My completely unsubstantiated opinion is that they worked together. In one of the posts Nazarian says that for a big case he will have  2-3 PIs working together because it keeps everyone honest. 

Also, to point out—Nazarian calls Lutfi a “good guy.” OUR definition of a good guy and Nazarians definition of “good guy” are likely contradictory.
Nazarian seems to think a good guy is someone who forces a target to do Something for “their own good.” I think the freeDbritney people would strongly disagree with this sentiment.

also, Nazarian has clearly seen and experienced really bad stuff…his perception of a bad guy is on a completely different scale than I can relate to…so its Easy to imagine someone like N sees Lutfi as a “good guy.”

 

Yes! I totally agree. Lutfi is/was working his own agenda. Nazarian’s backing of him tells us Lutfi shares PI values: keep target from self-destructing by any means necessary - manipulation, deceit, gaslighting. Without target, we won’t get paid. 

Nazarian is proud of the fact that he never kept records on his clients and therefore wasn’t in any danger of repercussions like other PIs (Pellicano). Lutfi wasn’t as smooth - he obviously got caught sharing info later. Lutfi was definitely recording his own line (see 2019 weird leaked phone transcript to Lynne).

I guess the bottom line is that I agree Lutfi is a con man. He was probably brought on by a family attorney but started to work all/any side. It seems like he was encouraging Lynne to reassert some control. Anyone who worked with Lutfi to help Britney (I’m thinking Jenny Eliscu) doesn’t realize that lutfi is playing his own game and not necessarily trying to help free her.

Lutfi didn’t respond to requests to the NYT doc. But there he is in the Netflix one. He’s not afraid to talk if he is allowed to control the narrative? I’ll have to rewatch to see if I can pick up on anything else