Britney Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline have shared strong reactions to a British tabloid report over the weekend claiming that the star is using illegal drugs.
“[The] lies and attempts to exploit minors is click bait and another repulsive example of where, unfortunately, certain journalism has sunk today,” Federline wrote in a statement on his Instagram Story on Monday (June 12).
The singer’s former husband — with whom she shares sons Sean Preston, 17, and Jayden James, 16 — lashed out at The Daily Mail and The Sun, saying it saddened his family that the publications “decided to fabricate lies and publish the heart ache our family has endured, along with the trauma of our minor children” in the papers.
The Mail piece alleged that Federline and Spears’ family is afraid that she is using the highly addictive drug crystal meth. “It’s terrifying. She is the mother of my boys,” the Mail reported Federline saying, while claiming that her sons are “refusing” to meet their mother.
The British tabloid reports were claimed to have been the result of a series of conversations between Federline and the writer, and though K-Fed slammed the results as hurtful and untrue, he did not specifically call out any particular claim the writers made.
Spears was equally upset, posting a stock photo of a boy bullying a girl on the school ground along with a long note decrying the reporting, also without addressing the specific allegations on Instagram. “The fact that people are claiming things that are not true is so sad … This may not even be them saying such things because it doesn’t make any sense to me for them to be saying that,” she wrote in a lengthy caption. The rest of the note appeared to relate to the singer’s reportedly strained relationship with her teenage sons.
The Mail report appeared to suggest that the claims about Spears’ alleged drug use came as part of an in-process documentary that has been in the works since last July. The piece suggested that the star’s estranged father — who was in charge of her day-to-day affairs for 13 years during her restrictive conservatorship that ended in November 2021 — has worried that his daughter will meet the same fate as Amy Winehouse, who died at 27 after a struggle with drugs and alcohol.
“It’s sad because everyone sits back as if that’s ok to make up lies to that extent … Why am I told I have to sit back and rise above ???” Britney Spears asked her in post. “When they all go so low ???”
In his Instagram Story, Federline said that he did allow the Daily Mail writer and her team into his home “because we trusted them … but that was lost and we severed ties back in March for many reasons we choose not to go into here.” He said it was “very distressing” that the reporter continues to “harass our family when we have repeatedly asked her to leave us alone.” Federline said he and his family did speak with the reporters a few times in a fashion he described as “respectful” and “with love and compassion for Britney and the Spears family.”
A spokesperson for Spears had no additional comment beyond the singer’s post, and a spokesperson for Federline has not yet returned a request for comment. Billboard has also reached out to the Daily Mail for comment on Federline’s and Spears’ statements.
Spears’ lawyer, Matthew Rosengart, confirmed to Billboard on Monday that he sent a legal note to the Mail on Sunday also vehemently denying the report of her alleged drug use. “Kevin Federline himself has now acknowledged the falsity of the story, asserting that it contains ‘fabrications’ and ‘lies’ about Britney. In addition to exploiting and making false claims about Britney, particularly regarding ‘crystal meth,’ the ‘story’ also exploits her minor children, which is beyond the pale,” read the letter, with Rosengart noting that Federline’s comments about “lies” specifically refer to what he said were the “false allegation regarding ‘crystal meth.’”
