All eyes have been on Las Vegas in recent days after a security guard employed by the San Antonio Spurs allegedly slapped Britney Spears. According to Spears, she had approached NBA rookie Victor Wembanyama at the ARIA Hotel in order to try and get a picture with him. However, after tapping him on the shoulder, she was reportedly backhanded across the face by Damian Smith, the Spurs' Director of Team Security. Additionally, a witness claimed to corroborate Spears' story but also added that she was behaving somewhat erratically. According to Brian Grajales, Spears was speaking in a "British accent" while approaching Wembanyama. Furthermore, she screamed "This is fucking America" after Wembanyama was ushered inside.
Spears later filed a police report, which law enforcement was reportedly treating as a "criminal investigation." Meanwhile, both Spears and Wembanyama made contrasting statements about the incident. Wembanyama claimed he had been grabbed from behind and only saw Smith push someone away. Furthermore, Wembanyama claimed that he had not been told it was Spears until several hours after the incident. However, Spears refuted most of his statement, saying she had only tapped him on the shoulder. Furthermore, Spears demanded apologies from Wembanyama, Smith, and the Spurs. However, at no point during the media frenzy was a video of the incident released to the public.
Assault Case Closed, Police Decline To Charge Smith
It now appears that the saga has reached its conclusion. On July 7, approximately 36 hours after the incident occurred, law enforcement in Las Vegas announced that they would be closing the case. Furthermore, police confirmed that "no charges will be filed" in the matter. However, they also declined to provide any additional details about the investigation or why it had been closed without charges filed.
There are myriad reasons why the case has been resolved this way. It's possible that an examination of the available evidence showed that charges were not warranted. In this hypothetical, video of the incident could have exonerated Smith. Alternatively, Spears or her team could have declined to press charges. Unfortunately, without any details from the police, we simply don't know. Regardless, whatever the reason, it appears that the story has reached its conclusion. Wembanyama can now fully turn his attention to his Summer League debut. If all goes to plan, Wembanyama will face the Charlotte Hornets at 9pm ET.
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