The sports and music worlds have been caught up in a wild saga in recent days after a security guard employed by the San Antonio Spurs allegedly slapped Britney Spears. According to Spears, she had approached NBA rookie Victor Wembanyama at the ARIA Hotel in order to try and get a picture with him. However, after tapping him on the shoulder, she was reportedly backhanded across the face by Damian Smith, the Spurs’ Director of Team Security. Additionally, a witness claimed to corroborate Spears’ story but also added that she was behaving somewhat erratically. According to Brian Grajales, Spears was speaking in a British accent while approaching Wembanyama. Furthermore, she screamed “That's America for you! Fuck you all!” after Wembanyama was ushered inside the restaurant.
Spears later filed a police report, which law enforcement was reportedly treating as a “criminal investigation.” Meanwhile, both Spears and Wembanyama made contrasting statements about the incident. Wembanyama claimed he had been grabbed from behind and only saw Smith push someone away. Furthermore, Wembanyama claimed that he had not been told it was Spears until several hours after the incident. However, Spears refuted most of his statement, saying she had only tapped him on the shoulder. Furthermore, Spears demanded apologies from Wembanyama, Smith, and the Spurs. Despite this, police in Las Vegas declined to file any charges in the case.
Video Reveals True Nature of Spears-Wembanyama Incident
The video, released by TMZ, corroborates some elements of the accounts of both parties while refuting other details. First, the detail that Spears was speaking in a British accent does appear to be real. She can be heard trying to catch Victor Wembanyama's attention by repeatedly yelling "sir" after him. Furthermore, she can also be heard yelling, still with a British accent, "That's America for you! Fuck you all!" after the incident occurred. Additionally, the video appears to support Spears' claim that she only tapped Wembanyama on the shoulder.
However, the video also makes it clear why charges were not filed in the incident. Most importantly, Smith did not directly or intentionally slap Spears as claimed. Instead, Smith appears to knock Spears' hand away from Wembanyama's back. As a result, either his arm or her hand makes incidental contact with her face. However, it would be dishonest to call it a "backhand". Furthermore, Spears was not knocked to the ground as she initially claimed. Additionally, Wembanyama was not being "swarmed" by fans at the time of the incident. At the moment Spears approached, there was three or four team personnel walking beside Wembanyama. However, the video makes it clear that there was no intentional malice and that the reports that Spears had been directly "slapped" were at best, exaggerated.
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