It appears Britney Spears and San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama have different interpretations of what happened Wednesday night.
The two figures made headlines Thursday when it was reported that Spears was slapped by a member of Wembanyama’s security detail. According to that initial report, Spears spotted the 7-foot-5 rookie at the Catch restaurant of the ARIA Hotel in Las Vegas. She approached him for a picture when Damian Smith, the Director of Team Security for the Spurs, backhanded her and caused her to fall to the ground.
Smith later went to Spears’ table to apologize as he didn’t immediately recognize her.
Wembanyama addressed the situation later that day.
“I saw the news — obviously — this morning” he said. “I woke up to a couple phone calls … Something did happen a little bit when I was walking with some security of the team to some restaurant. We were in a hall. There was a lot of people, so people (were) calling me, obviously. And there was one person who was calling, but we talked before with the security (and they said), ‘Don’t stop because it’s gonna make a crowd,’ so I couldn’t stop … And that person grabbed me from behind.
“I didn’t see what happened because I was walking straight and we were told, ‘Don’t stop.’ But that person grabbed me from behind, not on my shoulder. She grabbed me from behind. I just know that 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, so I kept walking and enjoyed a nice dinner.”
Spears released her own statement disputing Wembanyama’s claim that she grabbed him.
“I recognized an athlete in my hotel lobby as I was walking to dinner,” she said. “I later went to a restaurant at a different hotel and saw him again. 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. 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.”
— Britney Spears 🌹🚀 (@britneyspears) July 6, 2023
She then criticized the security detail for going to such lengths to deal with the crowd.
“I get swarmed by people all the time,” she continued. “In fact, that night, I was swarmed by a group of at least 20 fans. My security team didn’t hit any of them.”
Although Smith apologized to Spears, a police report was filed later that night. It is not being handled as a criminal matter because he was trying to protect the star player.
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