Britney Spears, as claimed by her ex-husband Kevin Federline in his latest memoir, You Thought You Knew, indulged in alcohol while pregnant with their two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James, and even experimented with cocaine before attempting to breastfeed them. The 47-year-old Federline reflects on their tumultuous three-year marriage with the 43-year-old pop icon, chronicling the highs and lows of their relationship and the subsequent custody battles.
In the book, Federline recounts the first time a "silent alarm" sounded in his head when he witnessed Spears consuming alcohol while pregnant and on medication. "That mix was... dangerous. F---ed up, honestly," he writes. "You're not supposed to drink when you're on meds like that. A couple of glasses of wine for her would hit like a whole bottle because of the medication."
Despite trying to make excuses for his then-wife, acknowledging the pressures of life in the public eye and accepting that alcohol and medication were her coping mechanisms, things came to a head at his album release party in October 2006. According to Federline, Spears, who had promised to stay home and watch the boys, including a six-week-old Jayden, showed up unannounced and started doing coke with an actress friend.
A rep for Spears did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, in her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, Spears maintains that she "never" had a drinking problem and that the only drug she ever took was Adderall. "I have never had any interest in hard drugs," she wrote.
A representative for the "Piece of Me" singer spoke out against Federline's decision to publish a book about their time together in a statement shared with PEOPLE ahead of its release. "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," the statement reads. "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."
In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) on October 15th, Spears addressed her relationship with her sons. "The constant gaslighting from my ex-husband is extremely hurtful and exhausting," she wrote. "I have always pleaded and screamed to have a life with my boys. Relationships with teenage boys are 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 added that her sons have always witnessed the lack of respect shown by their father for her and urged them to take responsibility for themselves.
