LAS VEGAS – San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama said Thursday that he believes Britney Spears grabbed him from behind as he was entering a restaurant in a Las Vegas casino, and that the security team he was with pushed the pop star.
Wembanyama said he wasn’t told Spears was the person who grabbed him until hours later, and that he never actually saw her.
Spears, who filed a report with Las Vegas police, said in posts on Twitter and Instagram that the encounter was “super embarrassing” and denied grabbing Wembanyama, saying she only “tapped his shoulder to get his attention.”
The singer said she had recognized him earlier in the evening, and seeing the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA draft, a 7-foot-3 French standout entering with as much recognition as LeBron’s James 20 years ago, she “decided to go up to him and congratulate him on his success.”
Spears said: “Her security then punched me in the face without looking back, in front of a crowd. She almost knocks me over and knocks my glasses off my face.”
Police said an incident report was filed at the Aria Resort & Casino, but did not provide further details.
Spears’ lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, declined to comment, citing the police investigation.
Wembanyama said security advised him not to stop for anyone when entering the restaurant, aware that pausing could cause a stir and allow a crowd to form.
“Something happened, a little bit, when I was walking with some team security to a restaurant,” Wembanyama said. “We were in the hallway. There were a lot of people, so people were calling me, obviously. There was a person who was calling me but we spoke before for sure, ”he added.
“I could not stop. That person was calling me… and he grabbed me from behind,” Wembanyama said. “I didn’t see what happened because I was walking straight and I didn’t stop. That person grabbed me from behind, not my shoulder, he grabbed me from behind. I only know that security pushed her away. I don’t know how hard, but security pushed her. I didn’t stop to look so I could go in and have a nice dinner,” she stated.
Spears said in her social media posts that people are around her all the time, including that very night, but her “security team didn’t hit any of them.”
TMZ first reported details of the event that took place Wednesday night near a restaurant in the casino. The entertainment outlet said Spears was in a group of four trying to get into a restaurant for dinner and that she “was surrounded by fans when she entered the casino.”
TMZ’s account of the encounter with Wembanyama was similar to Spears’. The website said she touched him lightly on her shoulder and ended up getting hit on her face and even had her glasses knocked off.
“I didn’t know for a couple of hours, but when I got back to the hotel… I thought it was no big deal, and then Spurs security told me it was Britney Spears,” Wembanyama said. “At first, I was like, ‘You’re kidding.’ But yeah, it turns out she was Britney Spears. I never saw her face. I kept walking straight,” she assured.
The player did not know that the situation had made the news until Thursday.
“Obviously I watched the news this morning. I woke up to multiple phone calls,” said Wembanyama, who will make his NBA Summer League debut with the Spurs on Friday night in Las Vegas against the Charlotte Hornets.
He signed some autographs for fans at the Aria on Wednesday night and did the same for a small crowd as he entered a local high school to practice with the Spurs on Thursday morning.
