Lawyers Tell Us Why Sam Asghari WON'T Dare Expose Britney Spears
Sam Asghari has filed for divorce from Britney Spears after 14 months of marriage, according to TMZ. In the time since the news broke, there have been numerous reports indicating that the former couple had an "iron clad" prenuptial agreement that was put in place to protect the singer and her assets, suggesting a smooth dissolution of marriage. However, there has also been some chatter about Asghari getting ready to attempt to renegotiate that pre-martial contract. A source tells Page Six that Asghari is preparing to make a move in hopes of getting more money out of his soon-to-be ex-wife and that he's ready to go public with "extraordinarily embarrassing information" if she does not comply. At Nicki Swift, we often like to get a professional's opinion on matters just like this, so we reached out to a couple of lawyers who were more than happy to weigh in.
First, the president of Los Angeles-based West Coast Trial Lawyers and former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani set the record straight on the report that Asghari is threatening to release information about Spears if she refuses to make changes to their prenup. "California law prohibits people from threatening to release damaging information for financial gain. The law also applies to threats to gain an advantage in a civil dispute, such a divorce proceeding. That's extortion and it's a crime," Rahmani tells us. And there could be another legal layer on top of this.
Sam Asghari may have signed an NDA prior to marrying Britney Spears
Lawyer Neama Rahmani also spoke to Nicki Swift about the potential legal ramifications that could be in play if Sam Asghari is really making such threats after signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). "If he and Britney Spears have an NDA, non-disparagement, or other agreement in the prenup, that may also be a legal basis for Britney to keep her soon-to-be ex-husband's mouth shut," Rahmani said.
Meanwhile, family law attorney Holly Davis of Austin, Texas-based Kirker Davis also spoke to us about the concept of an NDA. Davis said that she would be "shocked" if Spears' lawyers didn't include an NDA as part of the prenup documents "because Britney's conservatorship case was sealed and given that there was highly sensitive and potentially embarrassing information about Britney that justified her having a conservator in the first place, there's no way that Britney's legal team would allow a giant loophole for that information to get out in a possible divorce."
Davis also said that if Asghari really wants to renegotiate their pre-marital terms, he probably won't be very successful. "He will likely lose based on the terms of most premarital agreements which have strong language and consequences for a person who after the fact tries to bust up the terms," she tells us. In addition, Davis believes that Asghari will have a hard time revealing his Spears secrets "without getting sued." So there's that.
Britney Spears has reportedly brought out the big guns
This is certainly not Britney Spears' first divorce rodeo (it's actually her third), and she's reportedly made moves to ensure she's well taken care of throughout the process. According to Variety, Spears hired celebrity divorce attorney Laura Wasser, and is still working closely with her conservatorship lawyer Mathew Rosengart. Spears' legal counsel will work diligently to ensure the terms of her prenuptial agreement are carried out and there's no funny business to be had.
And, as far as TMZ's report that Spears' support system has dwindled to nothing following her split from Sam Asghari? Not so fast, says Holly Davis. She actually thinks that Spears' legal team could be even more involved in what's going on behind closed doors with Spears and her estranged husband. "My sense is that her legal team is still supporting her with regard to the conservatorship, and they may actually be behind some of the relationship decisions involving divorce. If that were the case, Britney could use all her remaining funds to support herself and her mental health and she likely has the legal team that is proactively protecting her and trying to prevent a conservatorship," Davis explains.
Will this split actually get messy? Only time will tell.