The pop star's ex-husband slams reports from 'The Sun' and the 'Daily Mail,' which allege that she was on crystal meth.
Kevin Federline is shutting down a report that claims Britney Spears is on drugs.
In a statement shared with TMZ, and later on Federline's Instagram Stories, the former dancer slammed the reports, published over the weekend by The Sun and Daily Mail, in which journalist Daphne Barak shares a series of conversations she claims she had with Federline regarding Spears.
"I fear she's on meth -- I've been praying someone would make it public and that she wakes up... It's terrifying. She is the mother of my boys," Barak alleged Federline told her.
Federline, who shares sons Sean, 17, and Jayden, 16, with Spears, called the reporting "false" and "repulsive."
"It saddens our family that Daphne Barak and Erbil Gunasti have decided to fabricate lies and publish the heart ache our family has endured, along with the trauma of our minor children in the Daily Mail and The Sun," Federline's statement reads. "We did allow Daphne & Bill into our home because we trusted them, but that trust was lost and we severed ties back in March for many reasons we choose not to go into here."
He continues, "It is very distressing that she continues to harass our family when we have repeatedly asked her to leave us alone. As was previously published, our family did speak with Ms. Barak and Mr. Gunasti a few times, and this was done in a respectful way with love & compassion for Britney and the Spears family. Her lies and attempts to exploit minors is click bait and another repulsive example of where, unfortunately, certain journalism has sunk today."
Spears responded to the report with a post of her own, in which she addressed her sons and their strained relationship. "The fact that people are claiming things that are not true is so sad ... This may not even be them saying such things because it doesn't make any sense to me for them to be saying that … With Preston saying 'she needs to listen to us before it's too late' … Do you remember every visit you came to my home, you went into your room and locked the door ??? I never saw you guys … Jayden played the piano and we made music together … But the day I told him I wanted to see you guys more, I never saw you again," she wrote.
Spears also shared her hopes that the report is indeed false and fired back at the media for "bullying" her. "It makes me sad because I tried so hard to make things nice for you and it was never good enough. So you guys go behind my back and talk about me … it breaks my heart and the news is so low … l've always felt like the news bullies me … It's sad because everyone sits back as if that's ok to make up lies to that extent ... Why am I told I have to sit back and rise above ??? When they all go so low ??? Hopefully it is just the news being hateful and Kevin nor Preston said any of those things either way I will be fine working out to Throb !!!"
Spears' attorney, Matthew Rosengart, sent the Daily Mail a legal letter on Sunday asking for the outlet to "immediately delete and retract that false and defamatory story and conduct an internal investigation regarding this matter and the abuse of Britney and her children." In the letter, Rosengart also states that he has "separately learned that on several occasions, Ms. Barak sought to contact Britney under false pretenses, again using her minor children, which is exploitative, harassing and outrageous."
In a statement to ET regarding the report, Rosengart says, "Kevin Federline himself has now acknowledged the falsity of the story, asserting [in his own statement] that it contains 'fabrications' and 'lies' about Britney. In addition to exploiting and making false claims about Britney, particularly regarding 'crystal meth,' the 'story' also exploits her minor children, which is beyond the pale. This writer also repeatedly sought to contact Britney under false pretenses, using her children as bait, which is outrageous. This was poor and shoddy 'journalism' even in today's era of clickbait journalism."
ET has reached out to Federline's rep for comment.
Barak spent time with both the Federline and Spears' families last summer while filming an ITV News special on the pop star and her relationship with her sons.
In an email to ET, Barak said they spent 12 days filming last year with Federline and his family, including his kids with Spears, and "only a small percentage has been released and made headlines." Barak claims that that during her time with the family both Kevin and his wife made "vicious attacks against Britney."
Her rep later released another statement to ET where she stood by her statements made in The Sun and in the Daily Mail.
"We are absolutely standing by the story as published in The Mail on Sunday and the Sun on Sunday. We spent months working with Kevin, his wife and family, including Britney’s boys, Jayden and Preston, for a new documentary. We spent 12 days filming together. In that time, Kevin expressed his fears that Britney might be using crystal meth to Daphne, to our producer Erbil Gunasti, to members of our production and to mutual friends. He did so clearly and repeatedly. Kevin also made it clear to Daphne that he hoped someone would expose the situation, as he saw it, because that would be the way to get help for Britney. We have hours of taped and filmed material, and other documentary evidence, with Kevin expressing his views about Britney – sometimes in vicious terms," reads the statement. "Daphne stated in previous TV interviews that some parts were too hurtful for Britney, and therefore - will not be used. Perhaps Kevin has been disappointed by a fair-minded account of the situation – an account that makes it clear that Britney IS correct in a number of the things she has said, not least the fact that she is funding the lifestyle of others, including his own."
ET has reached out to Federline's lawyer for a response to Barak's latest remarks.
In the documentary, Jayden explained why he and his brother, Sean, missed their mom's June 2022 wedding to Sam Asghari.
"At the time it just wasn't a good time to go," Jayden said. "I'm not saying that I'm not happy for her. I'm really happy for them, but she didn't invite the whole family and then if it was just going to be me and Preston, I just don't see how that situation would have ended on good terms."
Spears responded to the doc with a post on Instagram, in which she wrote that her love for her children "has no boundaries and it deeply saddens me to know his outcry of saying I wasn't up to his expectations as a mother."
The new reporting from Barak comes amid Federline's request to move his sons to Hawaii alongside their stepmom, Victoria Prince -- a move Spears consented to.
Last month, ET learned that Rosengart wrote a letter dated May 31 to Federline's attorney informing him that the singer does not intend to interfere with Federline's plans to uproot the family and relocate to Hawaii. Spears has offered her full consent but was not thrilled about Federline turning the matter into a public spectacle.
In the letter, as first reported by Page Six, Spears' attorney slammed Federline's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, for publicizing the matter and "creating unnecessary drama and a false 'dispute' by publicly discussing the issue." What's more, Rosengart added that in doing so "it was undignified, ungracious, and unnecessary."
A source told ET that Spears, who has not seen her sons in more than a year, "loves and has always supported her children and wants them to be happy." In a statement to ET, Kaplan said, "I responded to Mr. Rosengart about how I feel about that and I am not going to involve myself in an involuntary pen-pal relationship with him."
As for Federline's reaction, Mr. Kaplan added, "I'm sure Kevin is very pleased. He needs to make plans for the move and these plans take months to put it into effect."
As for the move to Hawaii, a source previously told ET that Federline has DJ opportunities there, and Prince has a job offer at a university. Federline's sons are eager to make the move sometime in July, at which point Jayden would continue classes remotely and Sean will have already graduated.
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