LOS ANGELES – Britney Spears’ self-styled manager took the stand in his defamation lawsuit against her parents on Tuesday, claiming he acted to protect her from paparazzi and others during a critical period in her life.

Sam Lutfi told jurors how he met Spears at a nightclub in May 2007 and said she struck up a conversation by asking him if she could have his hat.

He said he told her no. “She liked that. She doesn’t get told ‘no’ often. So it was refreshing to hear ‘no’ once. We started talking, hit it off and she started calling and texting me. We hung out and became friends,” he said.

Lutfi described the singer at that time as being “in crisis mode. She was very distraught. She was having a child custody battle and was in the middle of a divorce.” He added that she also had drug problems.

Lutfi said he met her right after she had shaved her head during a very public meltdown. “She was dealing with a lot of anxiety,” he said.

The witness, whose testimony was interrupted frequently by objections by lawyers for Spears’ parents Jamie and Lynne Spears, was asked by his attorney if he took steps to control the press mob that was following her constantly.

Lutfi said he alleviated the problem with photographers by texting them where Spears would be going so they could follow her at a safe distance.

“I also started setting up meetings at her home with press photographers so they could get to know her as a human being,” he said, referring to himself as the singer’s “manager.” He did not say when he became her manager.

In his lawsuit, Lutfi alleges that Lynne Spears defamed him in her book about her daughter’s darkest days. She depicted him as a Svengali-like figure who exploited Britney’s vulnerabilities and gave her drugs to control her.

He denies those allegations and portrays himself as the singer’s protector who managed her career during the period when she was in distress and hospitalized for mental problems.

High school names award for Burnett

LOS ANGELES – Carol Burnett is being honored by her alma mater.

Hollywood High School’s Performing Arts Center announced Tuesday that it is naming an annual award after Burnett and that the 79-year-old entertainer will be its first recipient.

She will receive the Carol Burnett Honor of Distinction Award on Jan. 10 at the El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard, just around the corner from the high school she graduated from in 1951.

Other famous alumni of the Sunset Boulevard campus include Judy Garland, Rudolph Valentino, Cher, Laurence Fishburne, John Ritter and Mickey Rooney.

Fonda to star in TV comedy, ‘Now What?’

LOS ANGELES – Jane Fonda made her TV series debut this year with guest shots on Aaron Sorkin’s HBO series, “The Newsroom.” Apparently, she liked how that felt because the actress is on board for another series, this time as star.

“Now What?” is a single-camera half-hour comedy in development at ABC, according to Variety. Fonda, 74, will star as a mother who becomes roommates again with her daughter after the latter writes a blog post titled, “Dear Mom, Here’s Why I Hate You.” The mother refuses to move out until they resolve their differences.

The series was created by former “Pushing Daisies” writer Abby Gewanter and will be produced by Mike Tollin and Ben Spector.

Fonda, a two-time Oscar winner, also will appear soon as Nancy Reagan in director Lee Daniels’ next film, “The Butler.”