Britney Spears and her husband have spoken out after an incident at a popular restaurant that left to an alleged battery.
On Wednesday night, the 41-year-old Toxic hitmaker was dining at ARIA Hotel’s Catch restaurant in Las Vegas with husband Sam Asghari when she approached NBA star Victor Wembanyama in hopes of taking a selfie with the basketballer.
After touching the sportsman’s shoulder to get his attention, however, Spears was allegedly slapped by his head of security Damian Smith who reportedly used enough force to knock her off her feet.
In a press conference shortly after the high-profile incident, Wembanyama insisted that Spears grabbed him from behind, forcing his security team to react before they could recognize her.
Dismissing 19-year-old Victor’s recollection of the event, Spears insisted she hadn’t grabbed the basketballer but merely “tapped him on the shoulder” in hopes of getting his attention.
She also said Smith nearly knocked her down because she “was not prepared” for the alleged battery.
“It was really loud, so I tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.
I am aware of the player’s statement where he mentions ‘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. Nearly knocking me down and causing my glasses off my face,” Spears wrote in a lengthy statement.
“I get swarmed by people all the time. In fact, that night, I was swarmed by a group of at least 20 fans. My security team didn’t hit any of them.”
The former popstar went on to call this story “super embarrassing” while encouraging people to share it nonetheless to “set an example and treat all people with respect.”
Reacting to the unfortunate development was also Britney’s husband, Sam Asghari, who branded the slap as “violent behavior of an out-of-control security guard.”
“The blame should fall on the coward who did this, the people who hired him without proper vetting, and a systemic culture of disregard for women within sports and entertainment,” he said.
Britney’s security team has since the shocking altercation filed a formal police complaint against Wembanyama’s security guard Damian Smith. The latter allegedly apologized for his action shortly after the incident saying that he didn’t recognize Spears and that he thought his client was in danger.
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