Britney Spears Says Hit in Face by Wembanyama's Security

French basketball player Victor Wembanyama was caught up in an incident involving his security and pop star Britney Spears. Patrick T. Fallon / AFP
French basketball player Victor Wembanyama was caught up in an incident involving his security and pop star Britney Spears. Patrick T. Fallon / AFP
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Britney Spears Says Hit in Face by Wembanyama's Security

French basketball player Victor Wembanyama was caught up in an incident involving his security and pop star Britney Spears. Patrick T. Fallon / AFP
French basketball player Victor Wembanyama was caught up in an incident involving his security and pop star Britney Spears. Patrick T. Fallon / AFP

Las Vegas police said Thursday they had investigated an incident between French NBA top draft pick Victor Wembanyama's security and pop star Britney Spears, who said she had been hit in the face.

Wembanyama is in Las Vegas ahead of his first game in the NBA Summer League against Charlotte on Friday and was heading to a restaurant when he was spotted by fans -- and Spears.

Media reports said that Spears was pushed away by Wembanyama's security, which the singer's husband Sam Asghari said was "violent" and "out of control."

Wembanyama told reporters after practice that he only heard of Spears' involvement some hours after his dinner, AFP said.

"There was one person who was calling me but we talked before with the security (to not) stop because it's gonna make a crowd," said the Frenchman.

"That person was calling me 'sir sir' and that person grabbed me from behind, so I didn't see what happened because I was walking straight.

"I don't know with how much force but security pushed her away and I didn't stop to look so I kept walking and enjoyed a nice dinner."

Spears said she had simply wanted to greet the player and questioned Wembanyama's account.

"I recognized an athlete in my hotel lobby as I was heading to dinner. I later went to a restaurant at a different hotel and saw him again. I decided to approach him and congratulate him on his success," she said on Instagram.

"I tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. I am aware of the players statement where he mentions 'I grabbed him from behind' but I simply tapped him on the shoulder," she said.

"His security then backhanded me in the face without looking back, in front of a crowd. Nearly knocking me down and causing my glasses [to fall] off my face."

The Las Vegas Police Department investigated the incident but did not take any action.

"On July 5, 2023, at approximately 11 p.m., LVMPD officers responded to a property in the 3700 block of Las Vegas Boulevard regarding a battery investigation," the police said in a statement.

"The incident has been documented on a police report and no arrest or citations have been issued. No further details will be provided at this time."

Asghari posted on social media that Spears had been "assaulted."

"The violent behavior of an out-of-control security guard should not cast a shadow on the accomplishment of a great young man on the rise @wemby," he wrote.

"I can't imagine a scenario where an unarmed female fan, showing any kind of excitement or appreciation for a celebrity would cause her to be physically assaulted, much less being hit in the face for tapping someone on the shoulder."



‘Secrets of the Penguins’ to Be Premiered on Eve of Earth Day

A group of adult Emperor penguins travel along the sea ice on their bellies after exiting the water against, as the ice shelf is seen in the distance, on the Ekström Ice Shelf, Antarctica, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on April 17, 2025. (National Geographic/Bertie Gregory/Handout via Reuters)
A group of adult Emperor penguins travel along the sea ice on their bellies after exiting the water against, as the ice shelf is seen in the distance, on the Ekström Ice Shelf, Antarctica, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on April 17, 2025. (National Geographic/Bertie Gregory/Handout via Reuters)
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‘Secrets of the Penguins’ to Be Premiered on Eve of Earth Day

A group of adult Emperor penguins travel along the sea ice on their bellies after exiting the water against, as the ice shelf is seen in the distance, on the Ekström Ice Shelf, Antarctica, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on April 17, 2025. (National Geographic/Bertie Gregory/Handout via Reuters)
A group of adult Emperor penguins travel along the sea ice on their bellies after exiting the water against, as the ice shelf is seen in the distance, on the Ekström Ice Shelf, Antarctica, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on April 17, 2025. (National Geographic/Bertie Gregory/Handout via Reuters)

Years of filming, often in extreme conditions, has provided new insights into the extraordinary challenges endured by penguins for a documentary series to be premiered on Monday, the eve of Earth Day.

"Secrets of the Penguins" is voiced by US actor Blake Lively and hosted by National Geographic explorer Bertie Gregory, who hopes to engage the widest possible audience with the natural world.

He says filming that included 274 days on the Ekström Ice Shelf in Antarctica, home to around 20,000 emperor penguins, as well as in locations from Cape Town in South Africa to the Galapagos Islands, led to discovering "new penguin secrets".

"I have filmed penguins a lot before," he said. "I thought I knew penguins. I was so wrong."

The three-part series, to be screened on Disney+ on Monday, and on Nat Geo Wild from Tuesday, in all took more than two years to film.

The highlights include penguin chicks jumping off a 50-foot (15 m) ice cliff in order to dive into the sea for the first time in their young lives.

"As soon as the first one went ... they all started to jump. It was an amazing moment to witness," Gregory said, adding the exploit has never been broadcast before.

"They're the only animal in the world to raise their young during the Antarctic winter. It is the coldest, darkest, windiest place on Earth," he said further.

Gregory says the significance goes beyond any one species.

"We should want to look after penguins, not just because it makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside, but because we need healthy, wild places for so many things," he said.

The 31-year-old explorer has two Daytime Emmy Awards for the series "Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory" and a BAFTA Television Craft Award for shooting British naturalist David Attenborough's "Seven Worlds, One Planet".

He does not see himself taking on the mantle of the 98-year-old Attenborough, who is still at work.

"He's one of a kind," Gregory said. "There is no replacement."