Britney Spears was smacked by a member of NBA star Victor Wembanyama’s security team Wednesday night after asking for a photo at a Las Vegas restaurant, according to TMZ.
Insider could not independently confirm whether Spears or Victor Wembanyama’s crew were engaged in the altercation. Photos show Wembanyama and Spears in the same restaurant, but do not show the alleged confrontation.
According to TMZ, Spears and her husband, Sam Asghari, were out for dinner at Catch at the Aria Hotel with two other friends when she spotted Wembanyama.
Spears, a fan, approached the NBA player and patted him on the shoulder to get a photo, according to TMZ.
Damian Smith, the San Antonio Spurs’ director of team security, then backhanded Spears, knocking her to the ground, TMZ reports.
Smith later apologized to Spears, telling TMZ that when he smacked her, he had no idea who she was.
Spears addressed the event on Twitter on Thursday, calling it “traumatic,” “cruel,” and “demoralizing.”
She stated that she recognized Wembanyama and approached him to “congratulate him on his success.”
“I simply tapped him on the shoulder,” Spears explained. “His security then hit me in the face without looking back in front of a crowd. “Almost knocked me down and caused my glasses to fall off my face.”
Later, TMZ reported that Spears’ and Wembanyama’s security teams spoke before Spears filed a police report.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told Insider that officers were investigating a “battery” claim at the restaurant that night, but would not disclose who was involved.
According to a statement from Las Vegas police, “the incident has been documented on a police report, and no arrest or citations have been issued.”
The LVMPD reported on Friday that no charges had been brought in the matter.
Wembanyama, a 19-year-old French basketball phenom, previously made news when the Spurs selected him as the first choice in the 2023 NBA draft.
The “Boys” singer has been a basketball enthusiast since she was a child, and she even played for her high school team. Spears also participated in a celebrity basketball game with her ex, Justin Timberlake, in the early 2000s.
Spears married Asghari in June 2022, after being liberated from a legal conservatorship that had kept her from doing so. The couple celebrated their first anniversary on June 9, and Asghari commemorated the occasion with Instagram stories.
Later in June, Spears released a video of herself dancing on a yacht, claiming she was seeing her estranged sister Jamie Lynn Spears “on set” of her new Paramount+ film “Zoey 102.”
Representatives for Spears and the San Antonio Spurs did not immediately reply to Insider’s inquiries.
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