A surprise witness came forward yesterday in the child custody battle between troubled singer Britney Spears and her former husband Kevin Federline, offering revelations of nudity and drug abuse at the singer's home.

Tony Barretto, 28, a former bodyguard to Spears, was also prepared to testify that there were safety issues with the couple's two sons after the singer came out of rehab, according to his lawyer.

The development came on a black day for Spears, when she was dropped by her management company, The Firm, only a month after she hired them for the release of her new album on November 13.

Spears and Federline - neither of whom was in court - are fighting over who should have custody of their two young sons, Sean Preston, two, and Jayden James, one. At present they have joint custody.

Gloria Allred, Mr Barretto's lawyer, said that her client had submitted sealed, written testimony about his allegations, but although he attended court he was not asked to give evidence in person.

"Our client was prepared to testify on issues of nudity by Ms Spears, drug use, and safety issues involving the children post rehab," said Ms Allred.

"We are shocked that Ms Spears' attorneys chose not to cross-examine our client as to the substance of his declaration."

Instead Scott Gordon, the Commissioner of the Family Court, held only a brief open session before clearing the court of everyone but lawyers for the warring couple, for private discussions about unsealing documents in the case.

Spears married Federline in October 2004, but the marriage did not appear happy for long, with Federline apparently unsettled at being overshadowed by his more famous wife. Spears was criticised for driving a car with her infant son unrestrained on her lap.

By the time she filed for divorce last November she seemed to have entered a personal bad patch. She partied hard, appeared in public with her head partially shaven, and finally entered rehab.

In July, she complained to police that one of her sons had been hit when a scuffle developed between a paparazzo and one of her bodyguards.

Her career also took a nosedive, and an attempted comeback at the MTV music awards earlier this month proved a flop.

Spears hired Mr Barretto when she left rehab in March, but fired him on May 17 because "he didn't hear her when she asked him to pick up her hat", according to Ms Allred.

Laura Wasser, a lawyer for Spears, described Mr Barretto as a disgruntled ex-employee. Ms Wasser left Spears' employ yesterday afternoon, but said that the singer would be in excellent hands with her new legal team. It was not clear whether she resigned or was fired.

Meanwhile Spears's former management company put out a statement yesterday, saying it had terminated its professional relationship with the singer. "We believe Britney is enormously talented, and has made a terrific record.

"But current circumstances have prevented us from properly doing our job."

In a separate development, Los Angeles police confirmed that in June officers had investigated alleged threats of a contract killing taken out against Federline, but had since closed the case.

Times Recommends

• Should Knox’s trial even have reached the courtroom?
• 'Was it real?' The US bailout nightmare
• Iranian opposition plays the long game