One of the saddest parts of Britney Spears' protracted public meltdown was that her life at the time was in the hands of people who were at best extremely sleazy and at worst plainly manipulative. One of those people was her then-boyfriend, Adnan Ghalib, who was a paparazzo, which speaks for itself, really. The other was her manager/"life coach" Sam Lufti, who wormed his way into her life after claiming to have worked for Kevin Federline as private eye. Sounds bulletproof, I know.

Well, Lufti sued Spears and her family, and the case is now in court. He claims that he had an agreement with Spears that entitled him to 15 percent of her income as her manager. In opening statements today, Lufti's attorney said that when Lufti had drug dogs search Spears' home (just normal private eye stuff), they turned up a drug that was "probably crystal meth."

Alas, Brit won't be defending herself in front of the jury — the judge overseeing her conservatorship has reportedly ordered her not to appear in court. It's hard to imagine her complaining, though — Spears and her family had a recently-expired restraining order against Lufti, which barred him from contacting her.

Hollywood: doesn't it sound like the worst?

[Washington Post]