Pal Tells Barbara Walters Britney's in 'Treatment'

By Brian Orloff

01/28/2008 at 12:50 PM EST

Video courtesy ABC.
Barbara Walters received a call from Britney Spears's manager and "very good friend" Sam Lutfi, the TV host told her cohorts on Monday's The View – reporting that Lutfi said the pop star was seeking help for what Walters termed "mental issues which are treatable."

"She has been to a psychiatrist," Walters, 78, said, recounting Lutfi's explanation over the phone. "She, I assume, is starting some kind of treatment."

Walters also reported that Spears was having trouble sleeping and was suffering from "mood swings," but that she was back in touch with her mother, Lynne Spears.

When those at the table challenged the veracity of Lutfi's report, Walters's response was, "I don't know if anybody is telling the truth or not telling the truth." But she noted, "He has been with her constantly. He seems to be enormously supportive."

Chiming in with her analysis was Whoopi Goldberg, who said, "I think this girl has worked and worked and worked – and she is burnt out."