FILE – Britney Spears appears at the 29th annual GLAAD Media Awards in Beverly Hills, California on April 12, 2018, and Victor Wembanyama, NBA basketball first-round draft pick for the San Antonio Spurs, speaks during a news conference in San Antonio on June 24, 2023. Wembanyama said on Thursday, July 6, 2023 that he believes Britney Spears grabbed him from behind as he entered a restaurant at a Las Vegas casino and that the security guards who he was together would have pushed the pop star away. (AP photos by Chris Pizzello, left, and Eric Gay, file)
By TIM REYNOLDS (AP Basketball Author)
LAS VEGAS (AP) – After a brief investigation into the altercation between pop star Britney Spears, San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama and a member of the player’s security team, no charges will be filed, Las Vegas police said Friday after finding that she accidentally “hit” herself in the face.”
Spears said she was hit by a security guard while attempting to approach Wembanyama near a restaurant at a Las Vegas casino complex on Wednesday night. Wembanyama said a person he later found out to be Spears grabbed him from behind.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said Spears actually hit herself when someone pushed her hand away from Wembanyama as she reached up to pick the No. 1 overall pick.
In their now-completed investigation, police determined that the security guard did not intentionally or unlawfully use force against Spears. There were no arrests and no one was brought in, the report said.
In the report, police said surveillance footage of the event “showed Britney in the process of patting the Spurs player on the shoulder.” When she touches the player (redacted), without looking, she pushes her hand off the player, which leads to Britney hitting herself in the face with her hand.”
Spears filed a police complaint for assault.
Wembanyama is expected to make his NBA Summer League debut for the Spurs on Friday night in Las Vegas. The 7-foot-11 French teenager was the No. 1 pick in last month’s NBA draft and is entering the league with the most acclaim since LeBron James in 2003.
The altercation occurred on Wednesday evening; Spears said she recognized Wembanyama at another hotel earlier that evening, and when she saw him again at the Aria Resort & Casino, “decided to approach him and congratulate him on his success.”
Spears said, “His security then slapped me in the face in front of a crowd without looking back. He almost knocked me out and ripped my glasses off my face.”
Police questioned Spurs and Spears security guards, both of whom said taking your hand off someone’s shoulder was a standard response, the report said. The Spurs guard said he spoke to Spears afterwards, identified himself and apologized. Spears’ security team said she also apologized, the police report said.
Spears’ Los Angeles attorney Mathew Rosengart did not immediately respond to phone and email messages regarding the police report on Friday.
Spears said in posts on Twitter and Instagram on Thursday that the clash was “super embarrassing” and denied grabbing Wembanyama, saying she just “tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.” She also said she was hoping for an apology from the team or the security guard, who she said was involved.
Wembanyama had a different account of events. He said security advised him not to stop for anyone entering the restaurant, knowing that stopping could cause a stir and encourage a crowd to gather. He said a person shouted “sir, sir” at him, “and that person grabbed me from behind,” he said.
Hours later, he was told that this person was Spears. He never saw her, he said, because he never turned around.
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Associated Press journalists Ken Ritter and Rio Yamat from Las Vegas contributed to this report.
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