Britney Spears has responded to ex-husband Kevin Federline’s claims in her upcoming memoir about their marriage, calling his description of her “extremely hurtful and exhausting.”
In You Thought You Knew, Federline details his two-year marriage to Spears and their divorce in 2007, which was followed by a lengthy custody battle over their two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James.
In the book, Federline claims to have seen Spears use cocaine while breastfeeding and that she sometimes behaved erratically around their children. In an excerpt published by The New York Times, Federline claimed that their sons “would sometimes wake up at night to find her standing silently in the doorway, watching them sleep – ‘Oh, are you awake?’ – with a knife in his hand. Then she would turn around and walk away without explanation.
Federline told The New York Times that he hadn’t spoken to Spears in years, but said he learned of her alleged behavior 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. This arrangement prompted Spears’ fans to form the #FreeBritney movement to restore her independence.
Although the #FreeBritney movement may have “started from a good place,” Federline writes in the book: “Everyone who put so much effort into this should now put the same energy into the ‘Save Britney’ movement. Because it’s not about freedom anymore. It’s about survival.”
“This situation with Britney feels like a race toward something irreversible,” he wrote. “It has become impossible to pretend that everything is okay. From where I sit, time is running out and we are approaching the eleventh 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 took issue with Federline’s portrayal in a statement on social media.
“The constant gaslighting from my ex-husband is extremely hurtful and exhausting,” the eight-time Grammy-winning artist wrote on X. “I have always begged and screamed to have a life with my boys.”
She said she felt “demoralized by this situation” and had rarely seen her sons, now aged 19 and 20, in recent years.
“Relationships with adolescents are complex,” she writes. “They have to take responsibility. With one son only seeing me 45 minutes in the last five years and the other with only four visits in the last five years. I’m proud too. From now on I’ll let them know when I’m available.”
“Believe me, these white lies in this book are going straight to the bank and I’m the only one who’s really hurt here,” she added.
She said she has led a “sacred and private life” since being released from conservatorship.
In a previous statement, a spokesperson for the pop star told the New York Times: “With the news of Kevin’s book coming out, once again he and others are taking advantage of her and unfortunately, this comes after child support for Kevin ended. All she cares about is her children, Sean Preston and Jayden James and their well-being during this sensationalism. She detailed her journey in her memoirs.”
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.”
