Kevin Federline writes in his new memoir that he was never “against” his ex-wife Britney Spears, and he only ever wanted her to have an “incredible relationship” with their sons, but her allegedly erratic behavior made them wary of being around her.
In “You Thought You Knew,” out Oct. 21, Federline describes a particularly alarming situation described by his sons, Sean Preston, 20, and Jayden James, 19, when they were teenagers, according to portions of the book excerpted in the New York Times Tuesday.
“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,” Federline writes, according to the New York Times. “Then she’d turn around and pad off without explanation.”
Such alleged behavior has prompted Federline, 47, to sound the alarm about Spears’ mental health — when there is not the kind of oversight that was provided by a conservatorship that a Los Angeles judge terminated in 2021.
“It’s become impossible to pretend everything’s OK,” Federline says. “From where I sit, the clock is ticking, and we’re getting close to the 11th hour. Something bad is going to happen if things don’t change, and my biggest fear is that our sons will be left holding the pieces.”
A spokesman for Spears, 43, declined to comment on Monday, the New York Times said.
Federline, a former dancer and self-described “teen knucklehead” from Fresno, began dating Spears in 2004 after she had become a pop superstar with hits like “Baby One More Time” and “Oops! … I Did It Again.” They wed that same year and their marriage faced intense media scrutiny, as they welcomed two children and as Spears’ personal problems began to emerge.
In his book, Federline alleges that Spears was using drugs and alcohol and prone to angry outbursts near the end of their marriage, the New York Times said. He also describes the evening when Spears was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and placed under a 72-hour involuntary psychiatric hold following a three-hour standoff involving their children.
“It was one of the hardest nights of my life,” Federline writes, according to the Times. “I felt sick over what she was going through. This was someone I had loved. Someone I had built a life with. The mother of my children.”
Federline and Spears’ 2007 divorce sparked a prolonged custody battle. The following year, Spears was placed under a controversial conservatorship, which allowed her father, Jamie Spears, to oversee her personal and professional finances and her medical care.
A Los Angeles judge terminated that conservatorship in 2021, following efforts by fans who were part of the so-called Free Britney movement to have the conservatorship terminated. Federline writes in his book that the Free Britney Movement may have “started from a good place,” but he says its public campaign had the unintended consequences of frightening off the people and professionals around Spears who would have the ability to step in and help.
“All those people who put so much effort into that should now put the same energy into the ‘Save Britney’ movement,” he writes. “Because this is no longer about freedom. It’s about survival.”
Federline acknowledges that has not spoken to Spears for years and has mostly observed his ex-wife from a distance as they co-parented, the Times said. What he knows about her alleged erratic behavior comes from their sons.
“I’ve never, ever, once, been against Britney,” Federline told the New York Times. “I’ve only tried to help my sons have an incredible relationship with their mother. And it’s hard because when I really reflect on everything that’s happened — my kids do not know the woman that I married. And I’ve spent two decades trying to bridge that gap.”
In recent years, Spears has expressed interest in repairing her relationship with her sons and has published social media posts about them spending time together, according to the New York Times.