It seems Britney Spears’s life has gone from soap opera to spy novel.

Sam Lutfi’s younger sister Christina testified in a Los Angeles court Wednesday that she recently snuck a cell phone to the pop star at a Beverly Hills hotel – a plan allegedly hatched by Spears herself.

Spears, 27, whose phone access is strictly limited by her father Jamie, had initially called Sam’s cell phone number in mid-January to speak with Christina.

“[Britney] told me she wanted to get a hold of Sam,” said Christina, 25, whose brother had once been Spears’s manager. “She wanted him to help her find a lawyer, and wanted someone to get a prepaid cell phone to her. She was scared because her father was blackmailing her with visitation rights over her kids.”

Spears allegedly told Christina to meet her on the fifth floor gym of the Peninsula Hotel on Jan. 16. When Christina arrived, Spears was working out with her mother while a bodyguard stood nearby. But they rendezvoused in a sauna where Christina gave her a phone, saying it was from Sam and ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib, which Spears then hid in a locker. “She asked me, ‘Will Sam be able to help me?’” Christina added.

The phone, however, was later discovered by Spears’s security team and confiscated from her purse.  (There’s more!) (more…)

Keira Knightley is brutally attacked by her boyfriend in a shocking new domestic violence ad for the charity Women’s Aid.

The two-minute clip, which debuts April 6 in movie theaters, opens with the actress, 24, heading home from a long day of filming.

When she gets home, her boyfriend verbally and physically attacks her because he thinks she’s having an affair with a costar.

As the camera pans out, Knightley lays on the floor as the beating continues. The location is revealed to be an empty film set.

“Isn’t it time someone called cut?” the ad says.

Atonement director Joe Wright directed the spot, which Knightley says she volunteered to do because “while domestic violence exists in every section of society we rarely hear about it.”

Adds the actress, “Domestic violence affects one in four women at some point in their lifetime and kills two women every week.”

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Project Runway is returning to television this summer — and it will air on Lifetime.

According to the network, legal battles surrounding beleaguered reality show’s already-filmed sixth season have been amicably resolved. “The Weinstein Company will pay NBCU for the right to move Project Runway to Lifetime. All of the parties are pleased with the outcome,” the networks say in a joint statement.

Changing gears, the upcoming season of Project Runway relocated from New York to Los Angeles, though it will continue to be hosted by Heidi Klum and judged by Michael Kors and Nina Garcia. Tim Gunn will also mentor the designers. As usual, the finale was shot during New York Fashion Week — this year on Feb. 20.

But ongoing legal disputes prevented producers from revealing any information about the cast, and the three final collections were shown blindly, with their designers unidentified. International Herald Tribute editor Suzy Menkes acted as the guest judge at the show.

In addition, sources close to the show have told PEOPLE that Project Runway’s season 6 will utilize “local resources” in Los Angeles — namely focusing more on Hollywood — and will feature appearances by Christina Aguilera, Eva Longoria Parker and Rebecca Romijn.

Project Runway producer Harvey Weinstein expressed his appreciation for the resolution to the legal battle. “I want to personally congratulate Jeff Zucker and NBCU on their success in the litigation and thank Jeff for resolving this in a professional manner,” he said in a statement.

No additional details about the cast or specific airdates have been released.

On Tuesday, Bravo, Runway’s original home, announced details about its new design competition, The Fashion Show, and introduced the cast. That show, featuring Kelly Rowland and Isaac Mizrahi, will air May 7.

According to Lifetime, the network will also air a companion series, Models of the Runway, alongside Project Runway. “All of us at Lifetime are thrilled to move forward with Heidi, Tim, Nina, Michael, The Weinstein Company and the entire Project Runway team,” network president and CEO Andrea Wong said in a statement. “We are proud to add these shows to our growing slate of original programming.”

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Bauer Griffin

Fame

Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler have split again, their reps confirm to Usmagazine.com.

The couple — who divorced in 2004 but reconciled last September after Barker’s near-fatal plane crash — called it quits “after a nasty fight broke out at his house last night and cops were called…[when] Shanna started freaking out and acting irrational,” a source tells Us.

No charges were filed.

“Travis confronted Shanna about her having an affair with Gerard Butler while he was in the hospital recovering,” the source says. Butler and Moakler were spotted getting cozy at the Hollywood opening of Shin Korean BBQ last October.

Barker “just wants to focus on his music and his children right now. He is done with her drama,” the source says.

In February, Barker told Us he “couldn’t be happier” after reuniting with Moakler, who was spotted wearing her wedding band at a Grammys party.

Barker’s rep tells Us: “After surviving the plane crash his driving force in life is the love he has for his kids. He is tired of all other drama and is ready to move on.” (more…)

Melissa Rycroft is getting used to being hugged.

In the past few weeks, the former Bachelor contestant turned Dancing with the Stars front-runner has been embraced — literally — by everyone from waitresses to fellow shoppers at the mall, to American Idol’s top dawg, Randy Jackson.

Spotting the judge as she walked from her trailer on the lot where both DWTS and Idol tape, Rycroft couldn’t believe Jackson even knew who she was. “He was like, ‘Heeeeeeey, how are you?’ ” the 26-year-old Dallas beauty says. And, then, of course, it happened: Jackson pulled her into a big bear hug.

“Just three months ago I was on the other side,” Rycroft says in the latest issue of PEOPLE, on sale Friday. “I am so not a celebrity.”

But ever since her six-week engagement to Jason Mesnick on The Bachelor ended when he dumped her on national TV for runner-up Molly Malaney, she has become just that. Seven days after the televised kiss-off, Rycroft was on DWTS, where public sympathy — and her natural dancing ability — has made her a fan favorite.

Yet despite her way with the waltz, fame was never part of Rycroft’s plan. Instead? The former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader intended to spend the months after her Bachelor split nursing her wounds. “I go through stages,” Rycroft says of her grieving process. “I will shut down and lock myself in my room. And then I’ll get to the point where I can’t be by myself and I have to be around other people all the time. Otherwise I’ll drive myself nuts crying. I cry it out. Then one day I wake up and go, I’m okay.”

And if Rycroft sounds like an old pro at bouncing back after breakups, it’s because Mesnick wasn’t the first guy to let her get away.

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