Britney Spears' ex-manager Sam Lutfi says he received a 'huge spike' in death threats

Britney Spears' defamation trial continued Friday (Oct. 26) with her former self-described manager Sam Lutfi claiming he received a "huge spike" in death threats following the publication of Lynne Spears' memoir, "Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World."

The tome described Lutfi as a Svengali-like figure who controlled Britney by drugging and isolating her.

According to E! News, Lutfi tells Spears family attorney Stephen Rohde during cross-examination that he called it a "spike" because these weren't his first death threats. Lutfi also conceded that he didn't keep the death threats he received in the mail and never reported them to authorities.

Rohde asks if the threats mentioned Lynne or her book to which Lutfi responds, "That was not true," which presumably means they did not. The attorney then played back 2011 depositions from 2011, in which Lutfi said he could not recall if the threats mentioned Lynne or the book.

Lutfi's attorney, Joseph Schleimer, asks his client once more during re-direct if he reported the death threats to authorities. But this time Lutfi says he did file a report with the Los Angeles Police Department harassment division.

"Under pressure or stress or if I'm tired that my memory will fail me, and I do blank out at times," Lutfi says of the contradiction.  

However, when Rohde asks for a copy of the report, Lutfi says he doesn't have one.