Britney Spears bought a new SLK 350 Mercedes Benz Tuesday and then tooled around town aimlessly later that night. Britney, driving solo, even got lost in the Hollywood Hills and had to ask a pap for help getting more — in a British accent!
Meanwhile, Brit’s “manager” Sam Lufti shed some light on why the pop star’s parents are back in the picture. Lufti told TMZ that Britney’s family “barged in” on Monday. Although Lufti denied it, reports say the family showed up to stage an intervention. “They have an agenda,” Lufti said of Brit’s mom and dad. “Their agenda is jealously because they don’t fit in. I do. They see her three times a year.”
Lufti claims Britney’s mom Lynne — who was reportedly seen arguing with Britney on the way to the Mercedes dealership — is fine with his presence in Britney’s life. Lufti says Brit’s dad is against him.
On the legal side, Kevin Federline wants Britney to pay his attorney’s fees. K-Fed’s lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, filed a motion which, if granted, could leave Britney picking up a $500,000 tab. A hearing on the request is set for March 10.
In related news, Dr. Phil appeared on the Today show Wednesday to discuss his relationship with the Spears family.
Dr. Phil said he did nothing wrong by visiting Brit at Cedars-Sinai hospital on Jan. 5, two days after she was taken there for a psychological evaluation. He arrived just as she was checking out, but released a statement later saying, “My meeting with Britney… leaves me convinced more than ever that she is in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention.”
McGraw told Matt Lauer, “If I had to do it over again, I probably wouldn’t say a word.” Dr. Phil has weathered criticism for joining the long line of people exploiting the pop starlet since the incident. On Jan. 9, a rep for Britney’s mom said, “The family basically extended an invitation of trust for him…Any statements publicly that he made, because he was brought in under this cloak of trust, are just inappropriate.”
Dr. Phil defended himself to Matt, saying, “If you notice in that statement I said not a word, not one syllable about anything that took place while I was there. Nor will I ever. I don’t think that would be right. And I didn’t say anything in the statement that I haven’t said before and that anybody with common sense doesn’t know.” In the end, he added, “I certainly do not apologize for trying to help this family or this girl in trouble.”
