A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ordered Britney Spears’ former manager Sam Lutfi to stay away from the singer for three years.
The ruling comes after hearing weeks of testimony from Lutfi and Eardley, as they defended their actions and insisted they did not pose threats to the singer. Lawyers for the two men will appeal the restraining orders, claiming they did not prove Spears suffered substantial emotional distress as a result of their actions.
Although Jamie Spears alleged that he — and attorney Jon Eardley — had tried to undermine a court-ordered conservatorship that granted him control over her personal and financial affairs, Lutfi’s attorney contended that he had never threatened the safety of Spears, 27, and the petition didn’t meet the standards for issuing a restraining order.

Testimony from Jamie Spears, along with Britney’s security staff and a hairdresser, contributed to the judge’s decision. The hairdresser testified that Britney Spears told her she was scared of Lutfi and didn’t want to have anything to do with him. Britney did not appear in court during the hearings, and she remains on her Circus tour despite requests by Lutfi’s and Eardley’s attorneys to testify in the case.
Spears’ court-appointed lawyer, Samuel Ingham, supported issuing the orders during a hearing last week, saying they were in the singer’s “best interests.” Joel Boxer, a lawyer for Spears’ father, Jamie, said the restraining order request was “unusual,” but was necessary to protect the singer from “people who I think are fairly characterized as predators.”