Singer Britney Spears and NBA rookie Victor Wembanyama opened up Thursday about their encounter the night before, after reports emerged that a member of the basketball player’s security detail bumped into her outside a Las Vegas restaurant.
In a tweet, Spears said that on her way to dinner Wednesday night she “recognized an athlete” in her hotel lobby and then saw him again at another hotel’s restaurant. Spears said that after she approached the athlete to praise him for his accomplishments, tapping him on the shoulder, a member of his security team “kicked me back in the face,” knocking off her glasses and causing her to nearly fall.
Spears did not mention Wembanyama or his team, the San Antonio Spurs, by name but said that she expected an apology from the player, his security and his team. Spears filed a police report late Wednesday, according to TMZ.
The Spurs did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The New York Times. Police in Las Vegas declined Thursday to provide details about the incident to The New York Times, and said it could take three to five days to release records of what happened. Officials in the department acknowledged the incident in a statement to multiple outlets, saying that “around 11 pm, LVMPD officers responded to a property in the 3700 block of Las Vegas Boulevard regarding a battery investigation,” but that no arrests or citations were made. done
Earlier on Thursday, Wembanyama offered a different version of the events during a meeting with reporters. He said “there was one person calling me”, but Spurs security told him not to stop for anyone as he walked to the restaurant, as doing so could have invited a crowd. He then said that a person “grabbed me from behind, not on my shoulder” and that he knew his security had moved her away.
“I don’t know with how much force, but security pushed her away,” Wembanyama said, adding that he didn’t know the woman was Spears until hours later. “I didn’t stop looking, so I kept walking and enjoyed a nice dinner.”
Wembanyama, the 19-year-old Frenchman who was the first pick in the 2023 draft, is scheduled to make his NBA summer league debut Friday night in Las Vegas. At more than 7 feet tall, Wembanyama, who averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game last season with a French professional team, is one of the most heralded NBA prospects in recent decades.
Claire Fahy contributed reporting.