Britney Spears and NBA star Victor Wembanyama have both given their version of events after the singer was allegedly slapped by the NBA star's bodyguard outside a Las Vegas restaurant.
The 41-year-old pop star spotted Wembanyama, 19, outside the Catch restaurant on Thursday night (local time) and reportedly spoke to him in a faux British accent before one of his bodyguards "knocked her glasses off" in an alleged altercation.
Wembanyama has now claimed that despite reports that she had "tapped him" on the shoulder, she "grabbed him" from behind.
He told KENS 5: "So what happened last night is...I saw the news, obviously, and then I woke up to a couple of phone calls. 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 — and so 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 so I could walk in and enjoy the nice dinner."
The sports star went on to add that he was shocked to learn that the woman who approached him was in fact the Baby One More Time singer as he claimed he "hadn't seen" the woman's face to begin with.
He added: "At first I was like, 'no, you're joking,!' But, yeah, it turns out it was Britney Spears. But I didn't know because I didn't see her face, I just kept walking straight in a line."
Spears said she had been trying to "congratulate" Wembanyama on his NBA success when she was allegedly struck by one of his bodyguards.
She wrote on Instagram: "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. I recognised an athlete in my hotel lobby as I was heading to dinner. 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."
The Gimme More singer went on to add that she was "aware" that Wembanyama had made a statement in which he alleged that Spears had indeed "grabbed him" but she insisted that it was a "simple" tap on the shoulder and reminded him that even though she had been "swarmed" by a group of 20 fans herself, none of her security team lashed out.
She added: "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 back handed me in the face without looking back, in front of a crowd. Nearly knocking me down and causing my glasses off my face.
"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."
According to TMZ, the incident has now become a "criminal investigation" and on the morning after it took place, Wembanyama told the press that he had no idea that Spears was the woman involved in the altercation because he was unable to see her face and just kept walking into the Catch restaurant.
What's more, eyewitness Brian Grajales claimed that the Louisiana native had been using a faux British accent throughout the alleged incident and could be heard yelling as she was escorted from the premises.
He said: "She was approaching him, like I said, with a British accent saying 'excuse me, sir!' And I guess trying to get his attention for possibly a picture but when they walked right into the Catch restaurant, that's when she leaned in and got her way into this circle. She started to put his hand on his back shoulder or his back - he's pretty tall, so towards his back and that's when the bodyguard just turned around, slapped her face, and knocked off her sunglasses.
"I didn't know it was Britney til this morning. Victor walked right into the restaurant and kept going. A couple of people stayed behind sort of to, I would say, to check on her. I'm guessing they didn't know it was Britney so just to restrain this person from getting any closer. That's when they walked her out of the restaurant and she screamed — using a British accent — 'this is f****** America', it was an angry tone.
"We didn't see her at that point walk in but when we finished our meal and walked out, she was still hanging around and I guess she had a group of people around her. And then she walked through ARIA covering her face with a hat."
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