Britney Spears to Drop ‘Stalking’ Case Against Man
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pop star Britney Spears will drop her bid for a restraining order against the Japanese man she claimed had stalked her after lawyers for the two sides reached an agreement, a court spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
Attorneys for the 21-year-old singer were expected to file court papers on Friday asking that the case be dismissed, the spokeswoman said, but were not expected to release details of the out-of-court agreement.
Spears went to court last December to request that 41-year-old Masahiko Shizawa of Yokohama, Japan, be ordered to stay at least 1,000 yards away and claiming that he had been “stalking” her for months.
A spokesman for Spears could not be reached for comment. Lawyers for Spears and Shizawa also could not be reached.
Spears asserted in court papers that Shizawa had sent her hundreds of love notes, many with photographs of himself and one that said: “I’m chasing you.” The Louisiana-born superstar also alleged that Shizawa had tracked her to the homes of her divorced parents, her Hollywood home and a third residence.
But during a brief January court hearing, Shizawa’s lawyer called the stalking allegations a “cultural misunderstanding” and insisted that his client — reportedly a computer programmer — had no intent to bother Spears.
Spears, who as a child starred on The New Mickey Mouse Club, exploded onto the pop charts in the late 1990s with her debut album “…Baby One More Time” and followed it with two more hit albums.
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