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Kevin Federline, the former husband of pop icon Britney Spears, offers new insights into their strained relationship in his forthcoming memoir, “You Thought You Knew.”
Federline, a former dancer in Spears’s entourage, portrays Spears as allegedly exhibiting erratic behavior as a wife and mother, stating that he remains concerned for her well-being.
Spears has publicly criticized the book, slated for release on Tuesday, accusing Federline of attempting to capitalize on his association with her.
In the memoir, shared with the BBC in advance of its publication by Listenin, Federline makes several allegations against Spears.
He alleges that Spears engaged in unhealthy behavior as a mother, including drinking while pregnant and using cocaine while breastfeeding their two sons. Spears has previously denied substance abuse issues.
Federline further claims that their sons were fearful of Spears during their teenage years. “They would awaken sometimes at night to find her standing silently in the doorway, watching them sleep – ‘Oh, you’re awake?’ – with a knife in her hand,” he writes. “Then she’d turn around and pad off without explanation.”
Federline also expresses concern for his estranged former wife, writing: “The truth is, this situation with Britney feels like it’s racing toward something irreversible. From where I sit, the clock is ticking, and we’re getting close to the 11th hour.”
He writes that he supported the conservatorship, which controlled many aspects of Spears’s life for years. Regarding the Free Britney movement, Federline writes that he “never fully got behind it.”
The couple’s relationship began in the summer of 2004, after Spears’s period of peak commercial success.
They married several months later and soon welcomed two sons: Preston, now 20, and Jayden, now 19.
Spears filed for divorce in 2006, with the divorce finalized in 2007.
The couple engaged in a public custody battle, ultimately resulting in Federline being granted sole custody of their sons.
Following Federline’s acquisition of full custody, Spears’s behavior was described by Federline in his book as erratic.
She garnered media attention for incidents such as shaving her head and striking a photographer’s car with an umbrella.
These incidents raised concerns about her mental health, leading to two hospitalizations and the establishment of a temporary conservatorship in 2008, which was later made permanent.
Spears remained under this controversial arrangement until 2021, with her father and others controlling her finances and personal affairs. She did not regain custody of her children until the conservatorship was terminated.
Spears has accused Federline of attacking her through his recent promotional appearances for the book. She described the memoir’s contents as “extremely hurtful and exhausting,” but suggested the book would outsell her own memoir.
In her memoir, “The Woman in Me,” Spears accused her ex-husband of trying to “convince everyone I was completely out of control.”
Spears has also defended her relationship with her sons. “I have always pleaded and screamed to have a life with my boys,” she wrote on social media on 15 October, adding that “relationships with teenage boys is complex.”
A Spears spokesperson stated to US media: “With news from Kevin’s book breaking, once again he and others are profiting off her and sadly it comes after child support has ended with Kevin. All she cares about are her kids, Sean Preston and Jayden James, and their well-being during this sensationalism. She detailed her journey in her memoir.”
The BBC has contacted Federline’s lawyer for comment on Spears’s counter-accusations.
While the pair dominated headlines during their relationship and divorce, Federline has largely remained out of the public eye in recent years. Attention on Spears has more recently focused on her social media activity.
Federline has stated that he contemplated writing a book for many years but waited until his children were older to complete it.
“I picked it up and put it down quite a lot over probably a five-year period,” he told the Associated Press. “I think that it’s a very good description of me, who I am, the father I’ve become, the husband I am, the ex-husband I am.”
He also told AP: “I want my children to be able to move forward in their lives and know that the actual truth of everything is out there.”
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