The man who claims he was Britney Spears' manager in a lawsuit against the singer was really just a "gofer," the record executive who signed Spears testified yesterday. Reuters reports that Barry Weiss, former CEO of Jive Records, said in court that Spears' ex-confidant Sam Lufti never identified himself as her manager or had any sort of business relationship with Jive, which signed Spears when she was 16.
"I had never heard of this guy before," Weiss said. "He was a gofer . . . someone who has menial tasks, like a personal assistant."
Testimony began yesterday in the civil trial against Spears. Lufti is seeking 15 percent of Spears' earnings for the months in 2007-08 when he claims to have managed her. That's also the period during which Spears had a mental breakdown that twice resulted in her hospitalization on psychiatric hold. In addition, the singer lost custody of her children to ex-husband Kevin Federline and was placed under the conservatorship of her father, who now oversees Spears' business affairs.
Lufti is also suing Spears' father, Jamie, for allegedly punching him in 2008; and Spears' mother, Lynne, who Lufti claims libeled him in her book Through the Storm.
Spears, 30, now a judge on The X Factor, remains under conservatorship and is not expected to testify.
