The alleged incident occurred at “Catch” restaurant, located inside the ARIA Hotel. Spears was dining at the restaurant with her husband and two friends. The pop icon allegedly saw Wemby in the restaurant, and wanted to go say hello. Upon approaching him, Damian Smith the director of Spurs security, who was accompanying the rookie, allegedly backhanded Spears, knocking off her glasses.
According to TMZ at that time Spears returned to her table, at which point the security guard approached her to apologize, reportedly saying “You understand how it is when you’re being swarmed by fans.” Spears accepted the apology, according to the report — but her own security detail spent some time talking to the Spurs’ guards before the two parted ways.
As a result of the incident Spears has allegedly filed a police report for battery with Las Vegas police, but it is not being treated as a criminal matter, as police determined the security guard was trying to protect Wembanyama, rather than hurt Spears.
Thankfully nobody was hurt, but it raises some unanswered questions. If we assume Spears simply approached Wemby, then how is any security guard trained as their first reaction to be to strike somebody? It doesn’t matter whether it’s stressful to be “swarmed by fans,” it’s not an excuse to just assault someone for approaching.
There is no video of the incident at this time, though it appears likely there will be some footage from the ARIA Hotel. We’ll have updates on this story as they become available.