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Courtney Love Alleges Ex-Manager Sam Lutfi Told Her to “Choke on Opiates and Die”

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 15: Musician Courtney Love (L) and visual artist Frances Bean Cobain attend Hilarity for Charity's 5th Annual Los Angeles Variety Show: Seth Rogen's Halloween at Hollywood Palladium on October 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Randy Shropshire/Getty Images)

Last Monday, a Los Angeles County judge granted Courtney Love a temporary restraining order against her former manager Sam Lutfi. The order also protects Love’s daughter Frances Bean Cobain and sister Jaimee King. Lutfi must stay at least 100 yards away from all three women, their homes, and their workplaces, and he must not contact them in any way, until an additional hearing on January 2. After the temporary order was granted, Love’s attorney told The Blast and TMZ in a statement, “The escalating verbal harassment and threats of Sam Lutfi left no choice for Courtney and her family but to seek protection.”

The request for the restraining order, a copy of which was obtained by Spin, details this harassment. In a declaration, Love describes intense verbal abuse by Lutfi via phone calls to her home and cell numbers “at all hours of the day and night,” and via text messages, several of which she attached. “go choke on opiates and die.. no one gives a shit about you,” reads one message. Another text appears to threaten blackmail: “all of your shit is going public Friday morning.. don’t say you weren’t warned.” Love also cites aggressive comments on her social media profiles that she believes were written by Lutfi alias accounts, and claims Lutfi was monitoring and using her email address without her knowledge until she recently blocked his access. She says she has changed her phone number multiple times, changed her electronic devices (some multiple times), hired home surveillance experts, and added new levels of personal security in response to Lutfi’s conduct.

Love met Lutfi in 2010, and he publicly identified himself as one of her managers in 2012 during testimony in his lawsuit against former client Britney Spears. Love says she decided to cut ties this year. “He became a friend over time, and eventually became a trusted adviser,” she says in her declaration. “With the benefit of hindsight, this was a huge mistake.” This is not the first legal action involving the Hole singer and Lutfi. Love, Cobain, and Lutfi are co-defendants in a lawsuit brought by Cobain’s ex-husband Isaiah Silva, in which Silva, among other allegations, accuses Lutfi and associates of breaking into the home he formerly shared with Cobain. Love and Lutfi are also co-defendants in a lawsuit brought by Silva’s ex-girlfriend.

Frances Bean Cobain and Jaimee King filed their own declarations that describe harassment by Lutfi. Cobain says she attempted to sever all ties with Lutfi last September because he was verbally abusive and, “on a few occasions,” physically abusive. She describes harassing text messages and phone calls that have taken place since then, including threats stating Lutfi possesses “confidential personal information” about her. “I seriously hate you. you are the most destructive and full of shit human being on this planet … you’re a con artist destructive little junkie liar,” reads one attached message. Cobain says she has moved to a confidential location “to remain safe from Mr. Lutfi” and has blocked at least eight phone numbers associated with him. She also blocked him on social media but believes he has continued to comment on her Instagram through aliases, including two comments describing her as a “sociopath” posted on December 8.

King is a licensed attorney in California and Oregon. In her declaration, she says Love asked for help terminating her relationship with Lutfi, and that King herself met with him in August. During this meeting, King says Lutfi became verbally aggressive and refused to answer questions about Love’s business affairs. She says Lutfi has threatened and harrassed her “on an unpredictable but regular basis ever since,” and suggests Lutfi has demanded money he believes he’s owed by Love. King attaches text messages sent to her by Lutfi over the past three months in which he calls her, among other things, “fat bitch,” “miserable cunt,” “insulting dumb pig,” and “pathetic sow.” She describes incessant and belligerent phone calls at odd hours, causing her to block Lutfi’s number, unplug her home phone at night, and advise her children to ignore calls from unknown numbers. “My youngest daughter tearfully asked me last week if Mr. Lutfi could come to our home and hurt us,” she says.

We’ve reached out to Sam Lutfi for comment.