CELEBRITIES
Britney Spears furious about Wembanyama incident: “I have yet to receive a public apology”
Singer Spears has taken to social media to offer another statement on last week’s clash with security guards for basketball star Victor Wembanyama.
Pop icon Britney Spears says she’s waiting for a public apology over last Wednesday’s altercation with NBA star Victor Wembanyama’s security team.
In a message on social media late on Tuesday, the Grammy winner also hit out at an unnamed radio station for allegedly saying she “deserved to be smacked”.
“No woman ever deserves to be hit”
“I didn’t appreciate the people saying that I deserved to be hit, because no woman ever deserves to be hit,” Spears said. “I simply tapped him [Wembanyama] on the back and was backhanded.”
She added: “I did get an apology at my table [from Wembanyama’s security], 30 minutes later, but I have yet to receive a public apology.”
Spears clashes with Wemby security in Las Vegas
A video posted by TMZ last week showed Spears approaching Wembanyama at a restaurant in a Las Vegas hotel, before being forcefully knocked backwards by one of the San Antonio Spurs rookie’s bodyguards.
On Thursday, Spears said in a statement that she had gone up to Wembanyama “to congratulate him on his success”, adding: “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.”
Wembanyama has said he was unaware that Spears had approached him, revealing that he had been following security guards’ instructions not to stop for anybody, to avoid allowing a crowd to build around him.
“I didn’t know for a couple hours, but when I came back to the hotel... I thought it was no big deal, and then the security of the Spurs told me it was Britney Spears,” the Frenchman said during a media appearance for the NBA Summer League.
“At first, I was like, ‘You’re joking,’ but yeah, it turns out it was Britney Spears. I never saw her face. I just kept walking straight.”
No police charges against security guard
Las Vegas police have said they won’t be filing charges against the security member involved in the incident, having deemed that it was Spears who inadvertently struck herself in the face.
According to a police report seen by People magazine, the bodyguard brought up “his left hand to push Britney’s hand away from the individual. [He] used enough force when pushing Britney’s hand away that it caused her hand to hit her face, causing her sunglasses to fall off.”