Britney Spears
Gossip

Not literally, unfortunately. That would have been a great component of the economic stimulus plan. Our girl sure is shelling out the big bucks, though.

The lawyers in Britney Spears' conservatorship case went to court yesterday to ask the judge that they be allowed to hire more lawyers to defend Britney.

A Spears spokesperson claims the singer needs a minimum of two civil lawyers to defend her in Sam Lutfi's defamation suit against Britney and her family.

Two lawyers will cost a grand total of $935 an hour. Yeah. Celebrity gossip is like totally awesome, but we definitely went into the wrong profession.

Battling financial problems and having been cut off from his former meal ticket, the blood-sucking vermin known as Sam Lutfi is now suing her.

The judge has greened light to the conservatorship's request, so the Bank of Britney Spears is fully open for business and expected to keep the legal profession afloat.

On an unrelated note, how much do you hate Sam Lutfi?

With her big Circus tour officially good to go and her life seemingly back on track, Britney Spears is welcoming an old friend back into the fold.

Former assistant Felicia Culotta, who most recently worked for The Jonas Brothers, has returned to Team Britney, just in time for the Circus tour.

"Britney has always held a special place in my heart, and over the course of the last year I have seen her work harder than she ever has in her entire life," Felicia Culotta said in a statement last night on Britney Spears' official site.

"Sadly, I am really going to miss the Jonas boys, but I felt I had to be a part of this exciting time in Britney's career. I love Britney and missed her dearly."

Britney Spears poses with then-husband Kevin Federline and then-assistant and BFF Felicia Culotta in front of a famous French landmark in this classic file photo.

One assumes Culotta has been sufficiently vetted by Spears' conservators, father Jamie Spears and lawyer Andrew Wallet, who still have total control over the sort of company the artist keeps. And does for a living, and spends money on, etc.

Jamie Spears recently sought and was granted restraining orders against Sam Lutfi and Adnan Ghalib, Britney's most infamous former hangers-on.

The Circus Starring Britney Spears kicks off March 3 in New Orleans. Click to enlarge more Britney Spears pics with Felicia from the good ol' days:

It's finally official: Britney Spears will go on her Circus tour, and Sean Preston and Jayden James will come with her. But this comes at a hefty price.

Jamie Spears and Kevin Federline have both signed a document which clears the path for Britney taking her kids on the road for her upcoming tour.

What, you ask, is in it for the FedEx man, who could have nixed this arrangement and put The Circus Starring Britney Spears in serious jeopardy?

Just $5,000 a week. What a steal.

K-Fed has spent the vast majority of the time with Jayden James, above, and Sean Preston for the past 14 months as Britney regained sanity. [Photo: Splash News]

The way the tour deal goes is Jayden James and Sean Preston will follow Britney Spears to three "hubs" - New Jersey, New Orleans and Los Angeles.

Britney will commute back and forth from each hub during the tour.

She's also renting houses in N.J. and New Orleans for K-Fed if he wants to come along. But K-Fed gets the $5,000 a week, whether he shows up or not.

Interestingly, the deal Jamie Spears and K-Fed signed effectively kills the custody arrangement they have all been following since last year.

Britney gets the kids three days and nights a week, according to the new agreement, which will remain in effect after the tour is over.

Many weeks, Britney will actually have the kids more than Kevin, so in effect it's 50/50 custody. Score one for Team Britney ... and for Team Kevin, since we all know the guy wanted more time to party in Las Vegas with Victoria Prince anyway.

Despite Britney Spears' blog proclaiming that Sean Preston and Jayden James will be joining her for her Circus tour, Kevin Federline's camp insists no deal is done.

"We are working toward that," K-Fed's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said.

"There can be an agreement reached in probably the next day, but there is not an agreement that is signed at this point," he added.

Mark Vincent Kaplan says they are still hammering out the finals details, but the basic agreement will allow Britney Spears to see her two sons on "pretty much the same schedule that she has now," which is around three days a week.

The FedEx man will travel with the kids to certain tour "bases" - big cities where Britney will stay with S & J in between concerts in the vicinity.

Kevin Federline "is working to make [Sean Preston and Jayden James] accessible by going to various central locations in various areas of the country."

'He is doing that because he wants her to be able to have the maximum positive environment around her to assure the tour will be successful," says Kaplan.

The $4,000 per week Britney is offering probably helps.

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One of the shadiest characters ever to appear on this and other celeb gossip sites, Sam Lutfi, has filed a lawsuit against Britney Spears and her parents.

The Evil One is suing Team Britney for libel, defamation and battery, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract.

According to the court papers filed today, the baddest of the bad seeds claims that Britney's parents, Jamie and Lynn Spears, have "launched a campaign of lies and intimidation designed to destroy Sam Lutfi and drive him out of Britney's life."

In the lawsuit, Sam claims he was standing in Britney's kitchen on January 29, 2008 when Jamie stormed into the house. Lutfi alleges Jamie yelled at him, claiming Sam made a rude comment to Lynne the night before.

Then, the alleged former manager says claims, Jamie Spears "intentionally punched him in the chest" and threatened to kill him if he ever heard Sam make a rude comment about Lynne or any member of Britney Spears' family again.

Britney Spears and the seedy one during his 2007 reign of terror.

All the claims of libel and defamation spring from Lynne Spears' memoir, Through the Storm, which was published last year. Lutfi says since the publication of the book, he "has been subjected to unfathomable amounts of ridicule and public scorn."

In the book, Lynne insinuated that Lutfi was an unstable, disreputable, manipulative, controlling and dangerous individual, even drugging the star at one point.

Lutfi also claims Britney Spears broke a contract with him, therefore owing him unpaid management fees. He claims he had an oral agreement with the pop singer to be her manager for four years, earning 15 percent commission.

Last Friday, Britney was granted a restraining order against Lutfi and Adnan Ghalib, barring them from having any contact with her, her parents or her kids.

Having nearly cleared an important legal hurdle, it looks like it will be off to the circus for Britney Spears and her sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James!

The pop star's upcoming two-month tour was reportedly in trouble because of a snag over whether she could travel with her two boys. No longer.

"Both Sean Preston and Jayden James will, in fact, be joining Britney throughout the duration of her tour," says Britney Spears' official blog today.

Britney's ex, Kevin Federline, has primary custody of the boys, ages 3 and 2, but she has nearly 50-50 access to them in terms of visitation rights.

Spears said she was prepared to nix the tour if the boys could not come. K-Fed's lawyers threatened not to allow that if he weren't properly compensated.

THE CONSERVATOR: Jamie Spears must approve all arrangements regarding the kids - and the tour - before Britney Spears does anything. [Photos: Splash News]

Officially, it's still not a done deal... nothing has been signed. Though a lot of progress was made yesterday and a deal is expected to be in place soon.

Her widely-anticipated, blockbuster Circus tour kicks off March 3 in New Orleans. "Britney Spears is so excited to kick off her tour," her blog says.

"Britney has been enjoying every moment of rehearsals and is looking forward to performing in front of a live audience again. It's sexy, fun, explosive, and full of surprises," says designer Jamie King of the impending Circus.

We're just happy Sean and Jayden will be joining her.

Britney Spears is prepared to cancel her upcoming Circus tour if lawyers for ex-husband Kevin Federline continue to block an agreement allowing her to take the kids on the road, according to a report on celeb news site TMZ.

For weeks, Britney, K-Fed and her father Jamie Spears have been privately hashing out a plan to let the kids travel with Britney on her world tour.

The plan is to have homes in three bases - New Jersey, New Orleans and Los Angeles. Sean Preston and Jayden James would stay in one of these three bases and mom would commute back and forth while doing concerts in each region.

Then there's this strange fact: Britney Spears is prepared to pay the FedEx man in excess of $4,000 per week for every week in which she's on tour.

The way the deal goes... Britney would get Kevin his own pad in each of the three "bases" and he wouldn't even have to show up to get the money! Why, you ask, would she pay him if he doesn't show? You can figure it out.

Is The Circus Starring Britney Spears, set to kick off March 3, in jeopardy?

Here's the deal: Britney, K-Fed and Jamie - who also got restraining orders against three shady characters from Britney's past in what's been an active week for him - worked out the arrangement without the help of any lawyers.

A week ago, however, attorneys for Kevin Federline became aware of the plan and were furious, thinking that Jamie Spears went behind their backs.

Now K-Fed's lawyers say they object to the plan but won't specifically say why, and Kevin apparently doesn't have the cojones to stand up to them.

Britney Spears - who now has close to a 50-50 custody arrangement in place and a long-term agreement worked out with K-Fed which would extend said arrangement - WILL cancel the tour if she can't take her kids. Stay tuned ...

Oh Adnan Ghalib and Sam Lutfi, how we have missed thee at The Hollywood Gossip. Jamie Spears, on the other hand? He'd like to never see them again.

Britney Spears' father has obtained three restraining orders - against her ex-boyfriend, her ex-manager and his attorney, according to court documents.

Jamie Spears and lawyer Andrew Wallet, who oversee Britney's affairs as co-conservators, allege that the three men "are now working in concert to disrupt the conservatorship with utter disregard for Ms. Spears' health and well being."

Spears' father says Britney's cell phone records indicate "numerous telephone conversations" as well as text messages with her ex-manager, Sam Lutfi, and former boyfriend, celebrity news photographer Adnan Ghalib.

SHADY AND SHADIER: Britney Spears hangers-on Adnan Ghalib, left, and Sam Lutfi.

"[Britney] innocently informs [Adnan Ghalib] of her destinations and he then arranges for paparazzi to meet and film her to his financial benefit," Jamie Spears says in court documents. "[Adnan] is harmful to Ms. Spears and to her recovery."

Her father also alleges that on December 27 and December 28, 2008, Sam Lutfi tried to contact Britney Spears through her hairdresser with the message that Lutfi was "not responsible for the conservatorship" of Jamie Spears.

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Britney Spears' father Jamie simply does not get enough credit.

Sure, he gets a solid $1,500 a week in compensation for making sure his daughter doesn't go off the rails. But after the work he's done for humanity, he's underpaid.

Take a look at Britney Spears pics before her conservatorship - giving Jamie control over her personal, financial and professional affairs - took effect and you'll see why ...

Ouch! Yeah. She was a regular Jessica Simpson for a time there.

But luckily, with a little discipline and cutting back on pork rinds and Starbucks consumption, Britney Spears' body - like her career - is back in a big way.

The photos posted yesterday, in which she's rehearsing for her Circus tour, make it abundantly clear that she is in far better shape. Here's a prime example ...

Thank you, Jamie.

Britney Spears' new album, Circus, has topped the charts. Now she's working out like a madwoman to deliver a world tour worthy of such widespread hype.

In a photo series on her website, Britney shakes it to the beat in "simple, comfortable dance gear." Sure it's comfortable - there's barely any clothing on her...

The singer, 27, looks svelte and toned in a tank top showing off her arms, abs and stomach. This tour is going to flat-out kick ass. Or at least be really expensive.

Just pray she doesn't ask this guy to be a backup dancer.

"The Circus Starring Britney Spears," her first tour in five years, kicks off in Louisiana March 3. Click to enlarge more Britney Spears pictures of her rehearsing: