AGUILERA SUES FORMER MANAGER

Christina Aguilera filed a fraud and breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit against her former manager, Steven Kurtz, in Los Angeles Superior Court Friday (10/13).

The lawsuit follows Aguilera's sudden dropping of Kurtz as her manager last week (hitsdailydouble, 10/10).

Kurtz, who had managed Aguilera's career since she was 17, is accused of exercising "improper, undue and inappropriate influence over [Aguilera's] professional activities," as well as inducing Aguilera to sign a written agreement in 1999, which established Kurtz as her exclusive personal manager.

Aguilera has since signed on with new manager Irving Azoff, which, of course, was first reported here and later picked up and not attributed (10/10). Not that we're bitter or keeping track or anything. You know, we're just saying.

The lawsuit revolves around Aguilera's agreement to pay Kurtz 20% of all "commissionable income" she earned. As part of that agreement, Kurtz was allowed to "associate other management professionals of his choice to assist in providing services to [Aguilera] and represented such association would not require [Aguilera] to pay any additional monies." Both Kurtz's father, Normand Kurtz, and Kurtz's business associate, Katrina Sirdofsky, were "pre-approved" as acceptable "management professionals" with whom Kurtz could associate.

The suit alleges that Sirdofsky was being paid a weekly salary of $4,000 on top of any 20% commission paid to Kurtz. "The true facts are that Kurtz did not place [Aguilera's] interest above his own; did not act fairly and honestly in protecting [Aguilera's] rights and interests; did not advise [Aguilera] independently of his own interests; took actions which inured to his own benefit; and took actions adverse to [Aguilera's] interests," the suit said.