Former manager publicly defends himself, seems to still be leeching off famous and troubled women, despite denials

Oct 20, 2014 16:59 GMT  ·  By
Sam Lutfi is Britney Spears’ former manager, was involved in Amanda Bynes’ most recent meltdown
   Sam Lutfi is Britney Spears’ former manager, was involved in Amanda Bynes’ most recent meltdown

Amanda Bynes is now at a mental health care facility in California on involuntary hold, after being tricked by Sam Lutfi into flying there. She believed she was going there to meet with attorneys to sue her parents, but she ended up committed against her will.

Bynes has mental issues, as confirmed by her parents following her first hospitalization against her will. She has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and is a known abuser of drugs and alcohol. So whether she should have been admitted to a hospital again is not questioned at all, not after her most recent public meltdown.

But the role Sam Lutfi played in it is, as also is his decision to write an open letter about his involvement.

Lutfi, manager to young, rich, and very disturbed female celebrities

If the name Lutfi doesn’t ring a bell, it’s probably because you didn’t pay too much attention to the 2009 meltdown Britney Spears went through, which wasn’t all that different from Amanda’s.

She too started drinking and taking drugs, and would wander around Hollywood aimlessly, mumbling to herself with a British accent, don wigs that failed to disguise her, and occasionally attack paparazzi with an umbrella.

When Britney’s parents stepped forward to rescue her and remove her from Lutfi’s clutches, shocking details came out: he had drugged her, he had used her to make money from deals with the paparazzi (he would parade her around town and then call the paps on her), and he had even set her up with a paparazzo, just so he could maximize profit. He had threatened her and kept her on a leash, telling her she would be nothing without him.

How odd it is then that Bynes’ last tweet before being admitted was about how much she loved Lutfi, who was like a brother to her.

This connection didn’t pass unnoticed in the media, with many fans of the retired actress accusing him of leeching off her just like he did with Britney, and even suggesting he might have played a part in Bynes’ meltdown.

Courtney Love to the rescue

Well, thanks to Courtney Love, Lutfi is stepping forward to address these rumors – and he does it in an open letter posted to xojane, which also includes texts from Love. In one of them, the rocker congratulates him for the “good job” he’s done on Bynes and admires his skill for saving “strays.” She’s not letting him have her cat, though.

The letter reads as honest at first sight, but the fact that Lutfi published the text messages has made many reconsider his motives. Would a man looking to defend himself drop famous names like that? Would he troll for positive media attention when his alleged main focus is Bynes’ wellbeing? The answer is probably no.

“I’ve worked in Hollywood for a long time, and over the years these experiences have led me to see what happens when too much fame and too much money can sometimes get the best of celebrities. I am a problem solver, and I care about helping people get out of what may seem like some of their more difficult places in life,” Lutfi writes.

“Courtney asked me to write this in order to help stop some of the misinformation campaigns that have been nonstop over the last few weeks as Bynes has been more in the spotlight than ever. All I can tell you is that Amanda is getting the help that she needs and that I am working closely with her and her family in order to ensure that we can move on from the tabloid sensationalism of her ‘breakdown’ and instead concentrate on what a rare, talented young woman she has always been and continues to be,” he continues.

He compares Bynes to himself and Spears and Love, in that they are all “survivors.” He doesn’t mention exactly what it is he survived.

However, for a guy who’s looking to “move on,” he is the one who brings this up again. After Bynes’ hospitalization, there’s been almost complete radio silence online as far as she is concerned. This means that his name was barely mentioned too.