Britney Spears is speaking out against the “constant gaslighting” she says she’s been enduring from her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, who recently announced his new tell-all memoir, You Thought You Knew.
Federline’s book, expected to be released later this month (Oct. 21), claims to expose troubling details about his ex-wife, whom he was married to from 2004 to 2007.
On Wednesday (Oct. 15), Spears used social media to respond to her ex-husband’s recent claims in his new book, in which he alleges she engaged in concerning behavior around their sons, Jayden James and Sean Preston, including standing in their room at night with a knife.
"The constant gaslighting from ex-husband is extremely hurtful and exhausting," she wrote on X. "I have always pleaded and screamed to have a life with my boys. Relationships with teenage boys is complex."
"I have felt demoralized by this situation and have always asked and almost begged for them to be a part of my life," she continued. "Sadly, they have always witnessed the lack of respect shown by own father for me. They need to take responsibility for themselves."
She criticized Federline’s book for containing “white lies,” adding, “I am the only one who genuinely gets hurt here.”
“I am actually a pretty intelligent woman who has been trying to live a sacred and private life for the past five years,” she concluded. “I speak on this because I have had enough, and any real woman would do the same.”
Spears' social media post comes in the wake of her first husband, Jason Alexander, criticizing Federline over his tell-all book, You Thought You Knew, which alleges Spears cheated on him with a female dancer in Amsterdam.
Alexander accused Federline of rewriting history to make himself look blameless. In an Instagram post on Tuesday (Oct. 14), he wrote, “As someone who’s known Britney most of her life — not just as her first husband, but as a friend who’s seen what she’s gone through — I can’t stay silent.”
Spears and Federline divorced in 2007. The two went through a contentious custody battle over their two sons. Federline also revealed in 2022 that their sons had a strained relationship with Spears and had chosen not to see her for several months, including skipping her wedding.