Britney Spears. Shutterstock
Britney Spears is under investigation for battery after her housekeeper accused the pop star of slapping a cell phone out of her hands.
The alleged altercation happened at the 39-year-old Grammy winner’s California home on Monday, August 16, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office tells Us Weekly. The staff member reported that Spears “struck her,” but there were no injuries. Deputies responded to the house and conducted an investigation.
The results of the investigation will be sent to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office for consideration of misdemeanor battery charges. However, the sheriff’s office says the matter was classified as a “very minor misdemeanor.”
NBC News reported on Thursday, August 19, that the housekeeper claimed that Spears confronted her when she came back to the house and hit a phone out of her hands. The woman called deputies to the house before going to a sheriff’s station to file a report. Authorities tried to contact Spears about the alleged incident, but she refused to speak with them, the sheriff’s office claimed to the outlet.
Spears’ attorney, Mathew Rosengart, downplayed the accusations in a statement to Us on Thursday. “This is overblown sensational tabloid fodder — nothing more than a manufactured ‘he said, she said’ regarding a cell phone, with no striking and obviously no injury whatsoever,” he said. “Anyone can make an accusation, but this should have been closed immediately.”
The investigation comes amid the “Toxic” singer’s ongoing legal battle over her conservatorship, which she has been under since 2008. She spoke out about the ordeal for the first time in June during a court hearing.
“I just want my life back. It’s been 13 years, and it’s enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve owned my money,” Spears told a judge at the time, expressing her desire to terminate the conservatorship. “And it’s my wish and my dream for all of this to end without being tested.”
The Princess of Pop has also been vocal about wanting her father, Jamie Spears, permanently removed as the conservator of her estate. His legal team stated in court documents obtained by Us on August 12 that he “intends to work with the court and his daughter’s new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator.” However, his resignation did not happen on the spot, as the filing said that he “is willing to step down when the time is right.”
Rosengart told Us in a statement at the time that Jamie’s acknowledgement of his daughter’s wishes was “a major victory for Britney Spears and another step toward justice.” However, he still encouraged her father, 69, to “step aside immediately.”
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