Britney Spears Details ‘Complex’ Relationship With Sons, Blames Kevin Federline’s ‘Gaslighting’

Britney Spears is setting the record straight on where she stands with her kids.

On Wednesday, October 15, the singer, 43, penned a lengthy post on social media calling out her ex-husband Kevin Federline — with whom she shares sons Sean Preston, 20, and Jayden James, 19 — for claims he made about her in his upcoming memoir, You Thought You Knew. 

“The constant gaslighting from ex-husband is extremely hurtful and exhausting,” the “Toxic” hitmaker, who was married to Federline, 47, from 2004 to 2007, wrote.

“I have always pleaded and screamed to have a life with my boys. Relationships with teenage boys is complex,” she continued. “I have felt demoralized 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 own father for me,” Spears wrote. “They need to take responsibility for themselves. With one son only seeing me for 45 min in the past 5 years and the other with only 4 visits in the past 5 years. I have pride too. From now on I will let them know when I am available.”

The Grammy winner went on to write that Federline’s “white lies” from his book “are going straight to the bank,” pointing out she’s “the only one who genuinely gets hurt here.”

“I will always love them and if you really know me, you won’t pay attention to the tabloids of my mental health and drinking,” she added. “I am actually a pretty intelligent woman who has been trying to live a sacred and private life the past 5 years. I speak on this because I have had enough and any real woman would do the same.”

In an excerpt of Federline’s book published by The New York Times on Tuesday, October 14, the former backup dancer alleged that when he and Spears’ sons were teenagers, they said they didn’t want to go to the pop star’s house anymore, as they were scared.

“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,” Kevin wrote. “Then she’d turn around and pad off without explanation.”

In response to Federline’s claims, a representative for Spears also shared a statement with People, noting, “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 [The Woman in Me].”