Britney Spears has confirmed she filed a police report after an “embarrassing” incident in which she was allegedly backhanded and knocked to the ground by a member of the NBA star Victor Wembanyama’s security team on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
The alleged incident, which both Spears and Wembanyama have separately spoken about, occurred at the Catch restaurant at the Aria hotel at around 8.30pm. Spears, her husband, Sam Asghari, and two other guests were entering the restaurant when she spotted Wembanyama, the NBA’s tallest active player at 2.26 metres (7ft 4in).
In a statement on social media, Spears said she recognised the 19-year-old French phenomenon and “decided to approach him and congratulate him on his success”. She alleged that she approached Wembanyama to ask for a photo and tapped him on his shoulder because it was “really loud”.
“I’m aware of the player’s statement where he mentioned I grabbed him from behind, but I simply tapped him on the shoulder,” Spears said. “His security then backhanded me in the face without looking back in front of a crowd.”
Speaking to media earlier on Thursday, Wembanyama alleged that Spears “grabbed him from behind – not on my shoulder” and he did not see her face, only knowing that his security detail had pushed an individual away.
Spears said her glasses were knocked off her face in the incident, which she described as “embarrassing”, and thanked the Las Vegas police department for their assistance.
“I get swarmed by people all the time,” she said. “In fact, that night, I was run by a group of at least 20 fans, my security team didn’t hit any of them.”
The security guard allegedly apologised to the 41-year-old pop star as she continued with dinner, stating: “You understand how it is when you’re being swarmed by fans.” After their security teams conferred, Spears’s team filed a police report alleging battery.
“On 5 July 2023 at approximately 11pm, LVMPD [Las Vegas police] officers responded to a property in the 3,700 block of Las Vegas Boulevard regarding a battery investigation,” police said on Thursday. “The incident has been documented on a police report and no arrest or citations have been issued. No further details will be provided at this time.”
Wembanyama, who has been called a “once-in-a-millennium prodigy”, will make his highly anticipated NBA debut for the San Antonio Spurs this Friday in Las Vegas as part of the NBA’s Summer League, according to NBA insider Marc Stein. He is considered by many to be the most promising NBA prospect since LeBron James entered the league in 2003.
Spears has been living in Los Angeles since a judge terminated her family’s 14-year conservatorship over her in 2021. The ruling allowed the singer to assume control of her reportedly $60m estate and no longer pay a team of professionals and attorneys to oversee her affairs. She married Asghari in June 2022.
