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Britney Spears has responded to her ex-husband Kevin Federline’s claims in his upcoming memoir about their marriage, calling his depiction of her “extremely hurtful and exhausting”.
In You Thought You Knew, Federline details his two-year marriage with Spears and their divorce in 2007, which was followed by a protracted battle over custody of their two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James.
In the book, Federline claims he witnessed Spears use cocaine while breastfeeding, and that she sometimes behaved erratically around their children. In an excerpt published by the New York Times, Federline alleged their sons “would awaken sometimes at night to find her standing silently in the doorway, watching them sleep – ‘Oh, you’re awake?’ – with a knife in her hand. Then she’d turn around and pad off without explanation.”
Federline told the New York Times he had not spoken to Spears in years, but said he learned about her alleged behaviour from their two sons.
Federline also writes in the book about the conservatorship Spears was under between 2008 and 2021, which saw her father control her life and finances. The arrangement prompted Spears’ fans to form the #FreeBritney movement to have her independence restored.
While the #FreeBritney movement may have “started from a good place”, Federline writes in the book, “All those people who put so much effort into that should now put the same energy into the ‘Save Britney’ movement. Because this is no longer about freedom. It’s about survival.”
“This situation with Britney feels like it’s racing toward something irreversible,” he writes. “It’s become impossible to pretend everything’s OK. From where I sit, the clock is ticking, and we’re getting close to the 11th hour. Something bad is going to happen if things don’t change, and my biggest fear is that our sons will be left holding the pieces.”
On Wednesday, Spears disputed Federline’s depiction in a statement on social media.
“The constant gaslighting from ex-husband is extremely hurtful and exhausting,” the eight-time Grammy-winning artist wrote on X. “I have always pleaded and screamed to have a life with my boys.”
She said she felt “demoralised by this situation” and that she had seldom seen her sons, who are now 19 and 20 years old, in recent years.
“Relationships with teenage boys is complex,” she wrote. “They need to take responsibility for themselves. With one son only seeing me for 45 min in the past five years and the other with only four visits in the past five years. I have pride too. From now on I will let them know when I am available.”
“Trust me, those white lies in that book, they are going straight to the bank and I am the only one who genuinely gets hurt here,” she added.
She said she had been living a “sacred and private life” since she was released from the conservatorship.
In an earlier statement, a spokesperson for the pop star told the New York Times, “With news from Kevin’s book breaking, once again he and others are profiting off her and sadly it comes after child support has ended with Kevin. All she cares about are her kids, Sean Preston and Jayden James and their wellbeing during this sensationalism. She detailed her journey in her memoir.”
In Spears’ 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me, the pop star claimed that, during their custody battle, Federline “tried to convince everyone that I was completely out of control”.
