Ex-Manager vs. Mother... the fight over Britney Spears

In 2008, Britney Spears' ex-manager, Sam Lutfi, filed a defamation suit against the mother of the pop princess, Lynne Spears. Lynne had penned a memoir of sorts, entitled "Through The Storm", in which she alleges Lutfi secretly drugged her daughter and was the mastermind behind her public demise. As the public is well aware, Britney's career was in a seemingly never-ending downwards spiral and Lutfi claims that he merely entered at a time when it was already spinning out of control. 

In August 2009, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge refused to toss out the case against Mama Spears. A timely appeal was filed several weeks ago by the Spears camp. Just this past Monday, Joseph Schleimer, attorney for Sam Lutfi, filed his brief in the case as to why the case should continue. The Court of Appeals for the State of California will hear the ex-manager vs. mother case sometime in the next few months.

All this begs an interesting question... can someone be libel-proof? Mrs. Spears is claiming that Sam Lutfi had such a low reputation at the time the book was published that his reputation could not possibly be damaged any further by anything she had to say. Lutfi attests that he has never been convicted for any crime and did not suffer a damaged reputation by a series of tabloid articles that accused him of similar tactics to those alleged by Mrs. Spears. Can someone be libel-proof? Can your reputation in the community be so bad that NOTHING can make it worse? Stay tuned, because the California Court of Appeals will surely let us know.