LAS VEGAS (AP) – No charges will be filed next a brief investigation of the altercation that include pop star Britney Spears, San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama and a member of the player’s security team, Las Vegas police said Friday.
Spears said she was hit by a security guard while trying to approach Wembanyama near a restaurant at a Las Vegas casino complex on Wednesday night. Wembanyama said a person, he was later told was Spears, grabbed him from behind.
But the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said Friday that Spears “inadvertently hit herself in the face” when someone pulled Wembanyama’s hand away from her.
In their investigation, which has now ended, police determined that the security guard did not intentionally or unlawfully use force or violence against Spears. No arrests were made and no one was cited, according to the report.
In the report, police said surveillance footage of the event “showed Britney going to touch the Spurs player on the shoulder. When she touched the player (redacted) she moved her hand away from the player without looking , causing Britney’s hand to slam into her shoulder. face.”
Spears filed a police report alleging assault.
It is planned to do Wembanyama his NBA Summer League debut for the Spurs in Las Vegas on Friday night. The 7-foot-3 French teenager was the No. 1 pick in last month’s NBA draft and enters the league with as much hype as anyone since LeBron James in 2003.
The altercation happened on Wednesday night; Spears said she recognized Wembanyama at another hotel earlier in the evening and when she saw him again at the Aria Resort & Casino she “decided to go up to him and congratulate him on his success.”
Spears said, “His security then face-lifted me without looking back, in front of a crowd. He almost knocked me over and knocked my glasses off my face.”
According to the report, police interviewed Spurs and Spears security guards, who said taking a hand off someone’s shoulder is a standard response. The Spurs security guard said he later spoke to Spears, identified himself and apologized. Spears’ security team said she also apologized, according to the police report.
Spears’ Los Angeles attorney, Mathew Rosengart, did not immediately respond to phone and email messages Friday about the police report.
Spears said in the posts Thursday
Twitter and Instagram that the confrontation was “super embarrassing” and he denied grabbing Wembanyama, saying he only “tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention”. He also said he hoped to get an apology from the team or the security guard he said was involved.
Wembanyama had a different account of events. He said he was advised by security not to stop anyone as he entered the restaurant, noting that taking a break could cause a commotion and allow a crowd to gather. He said one person was yelling “sir, sir” at him, “and that person grabbed me from behind,” he said.
He was told hours later that person was Spears. He never saw her, he said, because he never turned around.
