Spurs No. 1 NBA draft pick Victor Wembanyama confirmed Thursday that he, team security and pop star Britney Spears were involved in an incident in Las Vegas Wednesday night.
Spears has filed a police report after the incident at a Las Vegas restaurant in which she was slapped by a Spurs security member who was with Wembanyama, according to TMZ. The Los Angeles Times confirmed Thursday that a police report was filed with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
The Times also submitted a public records request to see the police report but has yet to obtain a copy. Police did confirm in a statement to the Times that an incident occurred Wednesday night on the 3700 block of Las Vegas Boulevard, where officers were called “regarding a battery investigation.” No arrests or citations have been made.
Wembanyama told reporters later Thursday that “something did happen a little bit” when he was with security at a restaurant. He said he was walking when a person “grabbed” him from behind after trying to get his attention. He said he didn’t see what happened but “security pushed her away.” He added he didn’t know how much force was used and noted that he didn’t know it was Spears until hours later because he never turned around and never saw her face.
.@vicw_32 on the situation last night involving Britney Spears pic.twitter.com/I0mHJvJzs4
— Cassidy Hubbarth (@CassidyHubbarth) July 6, 2023
The incident reportedly happened at Catch restaurant in the Aria hotel, where Spears, her husband and two others went for dinner. She was swarmed by fans, per TMZ. While walking into the restaurant, Spears, who is a fan of Wembanyama, noticed the 7’3” Spurs center, went over to him to take a photo and reportedly tapped him on the back of his right shoulder. The director of team security for the Spurs, Damian Smith, instantly backhanded her, knocking her down and knocking her glasses off, according to the report.
Spears gathered herself and went back to her table, where Smith eventually went to apologize, saying, “You understand how it is when you’re being swarmed by fans.” He said that he did not know it was Spears, and she accepted the apology. However, Spears’s security team later had a conversation with Wembanyama’s and the police report was filed, according to TMZ.
Spears and the Spurs have yet to comment or confirm that the incident occurred.
