Britney Spears calls allegations in Kevin Federline’s memoir ‘extremely hurtful’ | Britney Spears

Britney Spears has responded to ex-husband Kevin Federline’s allegations in his upcoming memoir about their marriage, calling his portrayal of her “very hurtful and stressful.”

In “I Thought You Knew,” Federline details his two-year marriage to Spears and their 2007 divorce, which was followed by a lengthy custody battle over their two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James.

Federline claims in the book that he witnessed Spears using cocaine while breastfeeding, and that she sometimes acted erratically with their children. In an excerpt published by The New York Times, Federline claimed that their children “would sometimes wake up in the night to find her standing silently in the doorway, watching them sleep—‘Oh, you’re awake?’—with a knife in her hand. Then she would turn and leave without explanation.”

Federline told the New York Times that he had not spoken to Spears in years, but said he learned about her alleged behavior from their two sons.

Federline also writes in the book about the conservatorship Spears underwent between 2008 and 2021, which saw her father take control of her life and finances. The arrangement prompted Spears’ fans to form the #FreeBritney movement to regain her independence.

While the #FreeBritney movement may have “started from a good place,” Federline wrote in the book, “All those people who put so much effort into this must now put the same energy into the Save Britney movement. Because it’s no longer about freedom. It’s about survival.”

“This situation with Britney feels like it’s headed toward something irreversible,” he writes. “It has become impossible to pretend that everything is fine. From where I sit, the clock is ticking, and we are approaching eleven o’clock. Something bad will happen if things do not change, and my greatest fear is that our children will be left holding on to the pieces.”

On Wednesday, Spears spoke out against Federline’s portrayal in a statement on social media.

“The constant gaslighting from an ex-husband is extremely hurtful and exhausting,” the eight-time Grammy Award-winning artist wrote on X. “I have always begged and screamed to have a life with my children.”

She said she felt “frustrated by the situation” and that she had rarely seen her sons, now 19 and 20, in recent years.

“Relationships with teenage boys are complicated,” she wrote. “They need to take responsibility for themselves. With one son who has only seen me for 45 minutes in the last five years and the other who has only made four visits in the last five years. I feel proud too. From now on I will let them know when I am available.”

“Believe me, those white lies in this book, they’re going straight to the bank and I’m the only one really hurting here,” she added.

She said she had been living a “sacred and private life” since her release from guardianship.

In a previous statement, a spokesperson for the pop star told the New York Times: “With the news from Kevin’s book, once again he and others are taking advantage of her, and unfortunately this comes after Kevin’s child support has ended. All she cares about is her children, Sean Preston and Jayden James, and their well-being during this excitement. She has detailed her journey in her memoir.”

In Spears’ 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me, the pop star claimed that during the custody battle, “Federline tried to convince everyone that I was completely out of control.”