The Latest: 5-year restraining order for ex-Spears manager

LOS ANGELES — The Latest on a court hearing on a restraining order taken out in the name of Britney Spears against her former manager (all times local):

4:50 p.m.

A judge has issued a five-year restraining order forbidding Britney Spears’ former manager from contacting the singer or her family or making disparaging statements about them online.

Judge Brenda Penny reached the decision Thursday after hearing testimony from the ex-manager, 44-year-old Sam Lutfi, and from Spears’ father, James Spears, who controls most of her affairs via a court-ordered conservatorship.

Penny rejected arguments from Lutfi’s attorney, Marc Gans, that the order is an unconstitutional restraint on his speech.

Gans said outside court that they are considering appealing.

James Spears in his testimony called Lutfi a predator who has harassed his family for more than a decade. His lawyers argued that Lutfi has been trying to undermine the conservatorship and to incite fans to help him.

Britney Spears was not in court.

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10:10 p.m.

A Los Angeles judge is set to consider whether to extend a temporary restraining order taken out in the name of Britney Spears against her former manager.

Thursday’s hearing on the restraining order against Sam Lutfi is a resumption of one that began on May 28, with lawyers for Spears intending to show that tweets and texts from Lutfi to Spears and her family are doing her emotional damage.

When the last hearing ended, Spears’ father Jamie Spears, who runs her affairs through a court-ordered conservatorship, was testifying, and is scheduled to resume on Thursday.

The hearing is closed to the media and public. Britney Spears is not expected to appear.

Lutfi argues that he hasn’t contacted Spears in a decade and the order violates his constitutional rights.

The Associated Press