Britney Spears accuses Kevin Federline of ‘gaslighting’ and criticises sons’ behaviour

Britney Spears has hit back at her ex-husband Kevin Federline’s shocking claim that she stood in their sons’ bedroom doorway holding a knife as they slept.

The Toxic hitmaker, 43, and Federline, 47, were together from 2004 to 2007, tying the knot just three months into dating and welcoming sons Sean Preston, 20, and Jayden James, 18.

In an excerpt of Federline’s new memoir You Thought You Knew, as seen in The New York Times, Kevin alleged that the boys feared staying at their mum’s home due to her erratic behaviour.

He wrote: ‘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. Then she’d turn around and pad off without explanation.’

Now Spears has hit out at her ex-husband and her sons in a social media post, accusing Federline of ‘gaslighting’.

‘The constant gaslighting from my ex-husband is extremely hurtful and exhausting,’ she began, ‘I have always pleaded and screamed to have a life with my boys.’

Explaining that relationships with teenage boys is ‘complex’, Spears admitted: ‘I have felt demoralised by this situation and have always asked and almost begged for them to be a part of my life.

‘Sadly, they have always witnessed the lack of respect shown by my own father for me. They need to take responsibility for themselves.’

Spears then claimed one son had only seen her for 45 minutes in the past five years, and the other had visited her just four times over the same period.

‘I have pride too,’ she said. ‘From now on I will let them know when I am available.’

The popstar added that ‘white lies’ in the book are going ‘straight to the bank’ and she is the ‘only one who genuinely gets hurt here’.

The star added that she will ‘always love’ her children.

In response to concerns about Spears in recent years over seemingly erratic social media posts, the star said she’s an ‘intelligent woman trying to live a sacred and private life’.

‘I speak on this because I have had enough and any real woman would do the same,’ she added.

A representative for Britney previously told Metro in response to Federline’s book claims: ‘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.’

Federline says in the book that Britney’s ‘situation feels like it’s racing toward something irreversible’ following the termination of her controversial 13-year conservatorship under her father’s control in 2021.

Asked what’s going on in Britney’s life, he told The Hollywood Reporter: ‘I think that if anybody’s paying attention that they can kind of see for themselves.

‘All I really want is for her to be happy and healthy, and I want her to be around for our kids.

‘My kids want her to be around for a long time. So I’ve sounded the alarm. It’s become a situation that I need people to start supporting my sons and their mother.’

The Gimme More hitmaker told her side of the story in her memoir, The Woman in Me, released two years ago.

In Britney’s book, which is being made into a film directed by Jon M. Chu, she detailed the split from her perspective and claimed Kevin ‘wouldn’t let her in’ to see the boys.

She describes being ‘completely beside [herself] with grief’ and ‘pleading’ and ‘begging’ her ex-husband to let her see her ‘babies’.

Around this time, Britney shaved her head and infamously attacked a paparazzi with an umbrella, incidents which she detailed in her memoir, saying she was at breaking point.

Her relationship with her sons has remained tentative as they continue to live with their dad in Hawaii.

However, in recent years they began to reconcile with Jayden telling The Daily Mail in 2022 that he ‘100 percent thinks it can be fixed’.

‘It’s just going to take a lot of time and effort. I just want her to get better mentally,’ he said. ‘When she gets better, I really want to see her again.’

Metro has reached out to representatives for Kevin Federline.

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