San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama said Thursday he believes Britney Spears grabbed him from behind as he was walking into a restaurant at a Las Vegas casino, and that the security detail he was with pushed the pop star away.
Wembanyama said he wasn鈥檛 told that 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 and that the run-in was 鈥渟uper embarrassing,鈥� and denied grabbing Wembanyama, saying she only 鈥渢apped him on the shoulder to get his attention.鈥�
She said she had recognized him earlier in the evening and when seeing the No. 1 pick in this year鈥檚 NBA draft 鈥� a 7-foot-3 French standout who is entering the NBA with as much acclaim as anyone since LeBron James 20 years ago 鈥� and she 鈥渄ecided to approach him and congratulate him on his success.鈥�
Spears said, 鈥淗is security then back handed me in the face without looking back, in front of a crowd. Nearly knocking me down and causing my glasses off my face.鈥�
Police said a report was filed on an incident at the Aria Resort & Casino, but gave no further details.
Spears鈥� attorney Mathew Rosengart declined comment, citing the police investigation.
Wembanyama said security advised him to not stop for anyone as he walked into the restaurant, mindful that pausing could cause a stir and allow a crowd to build.
鈥淪omething did happen, a little bit, when I was walking with some security from the team to some restaurant,鈥� Wembanyama said. 鈥淲e were in the hall. There was a lot of people, so people were calling (at) me, obviously. There was one person who was calling me but we talked before with security.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 stop. That person was calling me, 鈥楽ir, sir,鈥� and that person grabbed me from behind,鈥� Wembanyama said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 see what happened because I was walking straight and didn鈥檛 stop. That person grabbed me from behind 鈥� not on my shoulder, she grabbed me from behind. I just know the security pushed her away. I don鈥檛 know with how much force but security pushed her away. I didn鈥檛 stop to look so I could walk in and enjoy a nice dinner.鈥�
Spears said in her social media posts that she gets swarmed by people all the time, including that same night, but her 鈥渟ecurity team didn鈥檛 hit any of them.鈥�
TMZ first reported details of the event that took place Wednesday night near a restaurant at the casino. TMZ said Spears was in a group of four trying to enter a restaurant for dinner and that she 鈥渨as swarmed by fans as she entered the casino.鈥� TMZ鈥檚 account of the encounter with Wembanyama was similar to Spears鈥�; the site said she tapped him on the shoulder and wound up being struck in the face and having her glasses knocked off.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know for a couple hours, but when I came back to the hotel 鈥� I thought it was no big deal, and then security of the Spurs told me it was Britney Spears,鈥� Wembanyama said. 鈥淎t first, I was like, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e joking,鈥� but yeah, it turns out it was Britney Spears. I never saw her face. I just kept walking straight.鈥�
He was unaware that the situation had made headlines until Thursday.
鈥淚 saw the news obviously this morning. I woke up to a couple of phone calls,鈥� Wembanyama said.
Wembanyama 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 number of onlookers as he entered a local high school for practice with the Spurs on Thursday morning.
___
Like us on and follow us on .
