Britney Spears has promised to be super-candid in her upcoming memoir, The Woman in Me. That radical honesty has also seemingly extended to her feelings about the recent incident in which she alleged that she was struck by highly touted NBA rookie Victor Wembanyama’s security detail in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Police Department concluded its probe last week into the incident and said in a statement that no charges would be filed “against the person involved.”
In an Instagram video posted on Tuesday night (July 11), the singer addressed what she said was a recent comment about the run-in in Vegas “that a lot of people are talking about.” Without naming names, Spears said she heard a news report about a radio station “talking smack… and talking s–t” saying that “I deserved to be smacked” because Wembanyama’s security detail were just doing their job and protecting their client.
“I’ve been with the most famous people in the world… *NSYNC at one time, girls would like literally throw themselves at them on my way into the place actually I was knocked down by three 12-year-olds trying to get my picture,” the singer said about her 1998 Second II None Tour, on which she opened for future boyfriend Justin Timberlake’s boy band.
“My security, not one time, touched them or even came near them,” she explained. The point or relaying that story, she said, was that, “I didn’t appreciate the people saying that I deserved to be hit. Because no woman ever deserves to be hit.” Spears explained that she tapped the 7′ 5″ tall San Antonio Spurs center on the back and then was “backhanded.. hit my face,” causing her to fall to the floor, where her best friend scooped her up and held her.
She said she got an apology at her table 30 minutes later, but noted that she has yet to receive a public apology. Before the LVPD investigation, Spears filed a police report alleging battery after she claimed that she was stuck in the face by a member of Wembanyama’s security team while trying to greet him in a Vegas hotel.
According to TMZ, which first reported the news, Spears was dining with husband Sam Asghari and two friends at Catch at the Aria Hotel when she saw the Spurs No. 1 pick and wanted to take a photo with him. When she tapped Wembanyama on the shoulder, Director of Team Security for the Spurs Damian Smith reportedly pushed her, hitting her in the face and causing the singer to fall to the ground.
As Britney noted, Smith then reportedly apologized to her, saying he didn’t recognize the pop star at the time of the incident, with Spears reportedly accepted the apology. TMZ reported that law enforcement checked the Aria Hotel’s security footage, which reportedly showed Smith pushing Spears’ hand away from Wembanyama, causing her own hand to strike her in the face before she fell.
In a statement shared by Associated Press, Wembanyama said that Spears “grabbed me from behind,” and that he didn’t know it was the “Womanizer” singer until several hours later. “I just know the security pushed her away. I don’t know with how much force but security pushed her away. I didn’t stop to look so I could walk in and enjoy a nice dinner,” he said.
In an Instagram post last week, Spears first recounted her Beatlemania-style experiences while touring with *NSYNC and praised herself for resisting the instinct to hit the security guard back, even as she said she was still a “huge fan” of the preternaturally gifted Wembanyama. “It’s not his fault his security hit me … s— happens !!!,” she said.
Billboard has reached out to Spears’ team and the Spurs for additional information and comment on the incident, with neither responding at press time.
Watch Spears discuss the Wembanyama run-in below.
