Former Britney Spears manager Osama "Sam" Lutfi's choice of attorney to represent him in a defamation case against Spears' parents could hardly be more ironic.

Attorney Bryan J. Freedman of Freedman & Taitelman in Los Angeles also represents Perez Hilton, who has used his gossip blog to skewer none other than ... Sam Lutfi, referring to him with such choice epithets as "douchebag" and "Shady."

In a March 17, 2008 post about a restraining order obtained by Spears against Lutfi, Hilton opined: "Britney is doing SO MUCH better now that Shady is out of the picture. We hope he stays gone!"

The defamation suit accuses Jamie and Lynne Spears of a "smear campaign ... aimed at discrediting, destroying and physically and emotionally intimidating Lutfi in order to drive him out of Britney's life."

"Lutfi is constantly bombarded by magazine headlines, television shows and internet gossip sites that have propagated Lynne's lies and fabrications," he complains.

Obviously, there is no contradiction in Freedman now representing one of those very same internet gossipers and in Hilton using him as a source for a post about Lutfi's case -- without mentioning their association.

Freedman has defended Hilton from copyright infringement cases alleging the blogger published paparazzi photos without permission. In another case, he won an award of $85,000 in legal fees against Lindsay Lohan pal Samantha Ronson, who had sued Hilton for defamation.

By Matthew Heller
2/4/09