Britney Spears Addresses Incident With Victor Wembanyama’s Security Team, Disputes Athlete’s Statement

Whatever happened between Britney Spears and Victor Wembanyama’s security team is unclear, as both sides have differing stories. An incident involving Spears occurred on June 5 with the San Antonio Spurs player in Las Vegas. The “Baby One More Time” singer claims a security guard struck her in the face when she tried to get Wembanyama’s attention. TMZ broke the story. Spears took to her Instagram account to share her side of the story. “Traumatic experiences are not new to me and I have had my fair share of them. I was not prepared for what happened to me last night. She says she recognized the basketball player in her hotel and later saw him again and wanted to give him a congrats. “‘I grabbed him from behind’ but I simply tapped him on the shoulder. His security then backhanded me in the face without looking back, in front of a crowd,” she wrote.  “I get swarmed by people all the time,” Spears added. “In fact, that night. I was swarmed by a group of at least 20 fans. My security team didn’t hit any of them.”

Wembanyama told reporters that he didn’t witness the incident because he was walking with his security through a swarm of people. He says that he heard someone calling him, but that security had forbidden him from stopping along the trail. “That person was calling me, ‘Sir, sir,’ and that person grabbed me from behind,” he said. “I didn’t see what happened because I was walking straight and they told me ‘don’t stop.’ But that person grabbed me from behind – not on my shoulder, she grabbed me from behind. I just know the security pushed her away. I don’t know with how much force though, but security pushed her away. I didn’t stop to look.”

Wembanyama was asked if the person calling out to him was the pop princess. “I didn’t know for a couple hours,” he said, adding, “Then the security of the Spurs told me it was Britney Spears. At first, I was like, ‘No, you’re joking,’ but yeah, it turns out it was Britney Spears. I never saw her face. I just kept walking straight.”

Spears noted in her Instagram statement that the incident was “super embarrassing to share with the world,” but that “it’s important to share this story and to urge people in the public eye to set an example and treat all people with respect.”