Britney Spears ends legal battle with ex-manager - report

Britney Spears and former manager Sam Lutfi have reportedly ended their seven-year legal battle.

Lutfi filed a defamation case against Britney and the Spears family in 2009, accusing them of publicly slandering him by claiming he had some responsibility for the singer's downfall that saw her hospitalized in 2008.

However, Lutfi insisted Britney's alleged drug abuse was the real reason for her very public fall from grace, and even went as far as claiming he had tried to stop the singer relying on drugs.

After a judge dismissed Lutfi's case in 2012, he appealed on the grounds that he was still owed unpaid earnings, and a trial was due to begin in Los Angeles next week (beg12Sep16).

However, TMZ.com reports that Britney and Lutfi settled their case last week (ends04Sep16). An insider told the outlet that Britney paid out "in the low six figures" to her ex-manager. While the exact amount wasn't confirmed, it is believed to have been less than the estimated $500,000 it would have cost Britney in legal fees to defend the case.

Britney and Lutfi first met in 2007, when the singer's life was in turmoil. As well as undergoing a divorce from then-husband Kevin Federline and a custody battle with him over their sons Sean Preston and Jayden James, Britney was also estranged from her parents, and it's at this time she was allegedly abusing drugs. It was around this time that the singer had her now infamous public breakdown, which saw her shave her head and attack a car with an umbrella.

Following her breakdown, Britney's father Jamie won a conservatorship, meaning he took control of the singer's life - primarily her financial decisions and ones that greatly impacted her life, such as those about her sons. To date, Britney has never challenged this conservatorship, so there are currently no plans for it to come to an end.

Britney has since bounced back from the drama and is currently enjoying huge success and critical acclaim for her new album Glory.