Britney Spears’ lawyer has come to her defence after her ex-husband Kevin Federline leaked videos of her allegedly arguing with her teenage sons.
Mathew Rosengart, who represented Spears during her conservatorship trial, told Page Six Federline had “not only violated the privacy and dignity of the mother of his children, he has undermined his own children, whose privacy he should protect”.
“Britney Spears is a brilliantly talented, extremely hardworking icon, who is rightfully beloved and respected by millions around the world,” Rosengart told the publication. “The same, unfortunately, cannot be said about Mr Federline, who for reasons that are inexplicable, decided to give a gratuitous interview that has hurt the mother of his children.”
That interview, to be shared in three parts on Britain’s ITV, resulted in headlines about the boys’ reluctance to spend time with Spears, who immediately clapped back at the assertions.
“Reminder that the trauma and insults that come with fame and this business not only affect me but my children as well,” Spears wrote on one Instagram post.
As Tone Deaf previously reported, Instagram handle ‘federline4real‘ shared the damning video with the caption: “I can not sit back and let my sons be accused in this way after what they’ve been through. As much as it hurts us, we decided as a family to post these videos the boys took when they were 11 & 12.”
The high-profile lawyer added that Federline may have broken the law in posting the videos, as California is a two-party consent state, and Spears did not realise she was being filmed.
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“In addition to demeaning himself and violating societal norms, he has now also created various legal issues for himself including, but not limited to, implicating cyber-harassment and cyber-bullying statutes, among other things,” Rosengart said. “Whether he realizes it or not, Mr. Federline has not only violated the privacy and dignity of the mother of his children, he has undermined his own children, whose privacy he should protect.”
A source from Spears’ camp responded to the posts at the time, telling Page Six: “Kevin is disgusting. He is weaponising the kids by releasing the videos. But in these clips, Britney is just being a mum.”
Many fans agreed, with one tweeting: “Dear Kevin Federline. You released a ‘scathing’ video of a mum being a mum. Sometimes mums – gasp – have reactions. They might discipline by taking things away or ask for respect. This is shocking but sometimes mums will argue with their kids.”
“What Kevin and his family are doing is controlling and abusive,” another fan wrote on Twitter. “They are punishing Britney for responding to the hateful interview they decided to do. It is literally a set up, they want her to react so they then have an ‘excuse’ to post more stuff about her.”
Meanwhile, TMZ reported that Federline claimed sons Sean Preston, 16, and Jayden James, 15, are “in fear” that they could be “put in danger” by “overzealous” fans.
“We’re told Kevin believes Britney’s recent posts about their kids, especially Wednesday’s — where she called them hard to deal with and “there’s being rude then there’s being HATEFUL” — Kevin says the children are in fear they could be put in danger from overzealous Britney fans,” the outlet wrote.
