Pop icon Britney Spears and fresh-faced NBA star Victor Wembanyama are an unlikely pair, and yet, the two have been sharing headlines over the past couple days: Reports surfaced that on July 5 at the Catch restaurant in Las Vegas’ ARIA Hotel, Spears was slapped by Wemby’s security when she approached him.
Since the incident, both Spears and Wemby have shared their perspectives on what happened, and there were some differences in their stories. Now, though, there’s video of the altercation, and it backs up Spears’ version of events.
Today (July 7), TMZ shared a video of the incident. The clip shows Wemby and some others with him heading into Catch as Spears quickly approaches him from behind. Spears repeats, “Sir,” in an apparent effort to get his attention. Spears catches up to him and taps him on the shoulder (or as high up on the 7’3″ athlete’s back as she could reach). Then, a man next to Wemby slaps Spears’ hand away and appears to also hit her in the face.
After the incident, Wemby was asked about it and he said he had been told by San Antonio Spurs security to not stop moving when in public, so as to not draw a crowd. He continued, “But that person grabbed me from behind, not on my shoulders, she grabbed from behind, so I just know that the security pushed her away. I don’t know with how much force, though, but security pushed her away and I didn’t stop to look, so I kept walking and enjoyed a nice dinner.”
Spears, meanwhile, wrote, “I recognized 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. I am aware of the players 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.”
