Britney Spears is under
investigation for alleged battery after a staff member at her home accused the
singer of striking her, US authorities have said.
Police officers attended
Spears’s home in southern California after the staff member reported
the dispute on Monday night, the Ventura county sheriff’s office said. No one
was injured.
Reports taken by police would
be handed over to prosecutors for consideration, the sheriff’s office said. No
further details were given.
Spears’s lawyer, Mathew
Rosengart, said in an email that the investigation was “overblown sensational
tabloid fodder, nothing more than a manufactured ‘he said she said’ regarding a
cellphone, with no striking and obviously no injury whatsoever”.
“Anyone can make an
accusation, but this should have been closed immediately,” he said.
Spears has a home in Thousand
Oaks, about 40 miles (64km) west of Los Angeles.
She hired Rosengart last
month as she seeks to regain greater control of her life 13 years into a
court conservatorship that has power over her money and affairs. She has said
in court hearings that the arrangement is “abusive”.
Rosengart has made his first
priority removing her father, James Spears, from his role as conservator of
her finances.
James Spears said in a court
filing last week that he planned to step down from the role, but gave
no timetable.
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