Many of us thought that Britney’s ever-present “friend”/self-proclaimed manager, Sam Lutfi, was bad news, especially when the news got out last week that he’s had up to three restraining orders against him and that he harassed, controlled, and threatened a friend with blackmail and violence against his family. Now that Britney’s mother’s statement about how she witnessed Lutfi drugging, emotionally abusing, and bragging about how he controlled her daughter has been released, people realize how much of a choke hold he had over her. People are also re-evaluating Britney’s behavior over the past few months.

It came out in Lynn’s statement that Lutfi had disabled Britney’s many cars and phones, and that he had the security guard, paparazzi, and Britney’s business manager answering to him. He also apparently even won over her divorce attorneys, which would explain why she hired someone else to represent her at the hearing for guardianship of her estate.

Commentor CeeJay on our earlier post about Lynn’s statement mentioned that all this would explain why Britney always stayed in hotels, was seen wandering around outside her house, and drove around aimlessly for hours. Lutfi had moved into Britney’s mansion and she was afraid to return home to that awful situation.

Lynn’s statement also makes it clear why Britney might be compelled to buy so many new cars and even a new home. When Lutfi disabled one of her vehicles, she simply bought a new one. It was also likely that she was trying to get a house where he couldn’t control her.

Britney didn’t seem coherent when her mother saw her the night before she was hospitalized, but she was aware of one thing. She specifically asked her mom to switch glasses with her when Lutfi poured the wine, which suggests that she knew that he was drugging her by slipping pills in her food and drink. He even bragged to Britney’s mom that he would mash up pills and mix them into her food.

While Britney may have been too drugged out to make sound decisions, she was letting us know in her own way that things were unbearable at home and that she could not return there. This woman wasn’t making the most sound or mature decisions on her own, and was thought to be showing signs of bipolar disorder when she shaved her head early last year. She seemed incapable of caring for her children, and lost custody of her two toddlers in October of last year, presumably right before she met Lutfi, and was only allowed supervised visits. She was thought to be at risk for suicide at that time. Lutfi stepped in and took over for an already-troubled Britney, and she was poisoned, manipulated and made a prisoner in her own home, ultimately losing visitation rights with her children.

Update: Thanks to reader Exyank for noting that Lutfi has been in Britney’s life much longer than the restraining order states, and that he has known her since late 2006/early 2007. A controlling, abusive relationship with Lutfi could potentially explain how Britney really lost it after breaking up with K-Fed and her brief friendship with Paris Hilton afterwards.

Britney and one of her boys are shown in the header in October, 2007. She is shown below with Sam in December.