It’s been a bit of a bumpy stretch for Britney Spears in recent years. Since debuting in 1999 with her debut album, “Baby One More Time,” Spears has been an international success. She followed that up with an even bigger record in 2000 called “Oops, I Did It Again,” and a legend was born. Spears hasn’t been without pitfalls, though, as most teen idols go through ups and downs. However, her downs were way down, and with the emerging fad called the internet, her exploits were on full display for the world to see.
She continued her run of success into the new millennium, with high-profile romances and breakups with the likes of Justin Timberlake and Kevin Federline on display for the world to watch. While she mostly survived unscathed, she had several memorable mental health breakdowns, including a visit to a psych ward in 2008.
It became so bad that in 2008 her father used a California law to assert a “conservatorship” over his daughter, effectively taking control of her finances. The move caused much stress on the family relationship and ended after 13 years.
Since it ended, Britney has had a bit of a career resurrection, appearing to be more mature, older, and more responsible than in the last decade. She has even hit the gym and regained her youthful figure while posing for racy Instagram photos. Britney Spears appears to have come out the other side and become a mature, responsible adult.
She has changed so much, in fact, that perhaps Victor Wembanyama’s security detail didn’t know who she was when they allegedly gave her a backhanded slap in a Las Vegas restaurant Thursday night.
Wembanyama, the first overall pick of the San Antonio Spurs in this year’s NBA Draft, was in Las Vegas Thursday, seemingly to do some fine dining and spend some of his newfound fortune. That is when Spears noticed him and decided she wanted to say hello. It didn’t go well.
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The NBA player alleges that someone grabbed him, and his security detail took out the trash, but he had no idea who it was. Britney’s version is very different. Spears shared her side of the story on social media: “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.”
After explaining that she noticed Wembanyama earlier in the night, she decided to go in for a closer look: “I decided to approach him and congratulate him on his success. It was really loud, so I tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.”
The player claims that Britney grabbed him from behind, but the wounded pop icon had a different take. She said she was “aware of the players statement where he mentions ‘I grabbed him from behind’ but I simply tapped him on the shoulder. His security then back handed me in the face without looking back, in front of a crowd. 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.”
Wembanyana, for his part, apparently was doing as his handlers instructed and didn’t stop or look up. He said: “That person was calling me, ‘Sir, sir,’ and that person grabbed me from behind. 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.”
The obvious optics of a very large professional athlete requiring security to rough up a woman aside, why even go to a place like Vegas if you aren’t going to acknowledge fans and well-wishers? The obvious privilege aside, shouldn’t a rookie that has never played a game at the professional level be permitted to speak to fans and begin to establish goodwill with the lowly peasants that pay his salary? Even if one is Britney Spears.
Apparently, since the security detail allegedly smacked first and asked questions never, Wembanyama had no idea it was a pop legend. He said: “I didn’t know for a couple hours. 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 filed a police report but apparently would be satisfied by an apology. That is a pretty generous ask considering she is a legend, and he has never scored a point in an NBA game. Spears said: “Physical violence is happening too much in this world. Often behind closed doors.”
She added that she has: “yet to get a public apology from the player, his security or their organization. I hope they will.”
The NBA is already suffering from an image crisis. With flagging ratings and few likable stars, the league and the Spurs would be well advised to fire the security team, do some damage control, apologize, and maybe even try to be a little more fan-friendly moving forward.
Featured image credit: By https://www.flickr.com/photos/rhysadams/ – https://www.flickr.com/photos/rhysadams/12415111215/in/set-72157640738664433, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33270915