Journalist Claims Britney Spears' Family Fear She Is Addicted To Crystal Meth
Before we get onto Britney and Kevin's statements, let’s remind ourselves what Barak actually alleged. According to the Daily Mail article, Barak said: "Kevin Federline told me: 'I fear she’s on meth – I’ve been praying someone would make it public and that she wakes up. It’s terrifying. She is the mother of my boys.'" Barak also quoted Kevin as saying: "Every time the telephone rings, I fear that there will be devastating news. I don't want the boys to wake up one morning and find their mother has taken an overdose."
Barak mentioned Britney's relationship with her sons, and recalled one particularly terrifying moment that allegedly happened when the boys, who were around 11 and 12 at the time, stayed over at her house. "They say they found her standing near the door of Jayden's bedroom in the middle of the night – with a kitchen blade in her hand," Barak wrote, adding, "'She was standing there with a knife,' Jayden told his dad."
Also in the article, Barak recalled the moment that Britney's friends and family rented a 'safe house' in Los Angeles and hired interventionist Matt Brown to help her, but their plans for an intervention fell through. "During filming for an upcoming documentary I have made on the Spears family, I watched on, horrified, as their carefully hatched plan unraveled," she said, adding, "As Kevin, who was waiting nervously for an update, told me: 'I don’t want the boys to wake up one morning and find their mother has taken an overdose.'" Barak spoke about her original claims in an interview with Jeremy Kyle on TalkTV after Kevin and Britney refuted the claims, and still seemed to stand by them.
Kevin Federline Refutes Barak's Claims
Following the article, Kevin released a statement that suggested that Barak "decided to fabricate lies" about the "Toxic" singer. "It saddens our family that Daphne Barak and Erbil Gunasti have decided to fabricate lies and publish the heartache our family has endured, along with the trauma of our minor children in the Daily Mail and The Sun," he told TMZ, in reference to a similar report in The Sun which Barak also wrote.
"We did allow Daphne & Bill into our home because we trusted them, but that trust was lost and we severed ties back in March for many reasons we choose not to go into here. It is very distressing that she continues to harass our family when we have repeatedly asked her to leave us alone."
Britney's Lawyer Addresses 'False And Defamatory Fabrications'
According to People, Britney's lawyer Mathew Rosengart sent a legal letter to The Daily Mail, saying: "The Daily Mail, through Daphne Barak, posted a story yesterday containing numerous false and defamatory fabrications concerning my client Britney Spears that are attributed to Kevin Federline and his children, in particular regarding 'crystal meth.'"
Rosengart noted that Federline "acknowledged the falsity of Ms. Barak’s story" and added: "I have separately learnt that on several occasions, Ms. Barak sought to contact Britney under false pretenses, again using her minor children, which is exploitative, harassing, and outrageous. And moreover, Britney’s representatives were never contacted prior to the publication of the story, further demonstrating actual malice and reckless disregard for the truth." He finished off: "Britney is indeed a public figure, but this conduct is beyond the pale and completely unacceptable. It is shoddy even by today’s standards of 'journalism' and the unfair scrutiny she has faced."
The 'Mail On Sunday' Says It 'Stands By' Barak's Article
According to People, The Mail on Sunday released a statement that stands by Barak's story, saying: "Daphne Barak and her team spent months working with Kevin, his wife and family, including Britney’s boys, Jayden and Preston, for a new documentary. They spent 12 days filming together. Daphne Barak has assured us that the quotes attributed to Kevin and the family are accurate and fairly reflect the interviews conducted, in which Kevin expressed his fears that Britney might be using crystal meth to Daphne and to her producer Erbil Gunasti and members of the film crew. He did so clearly and repeatedly."
"Kevin also made it clear to Daphne that he hoped someone would expose the situation, as he saw it, because that would be the way to get help for Britney," the statement continued. "The allegation about crystal meth was put to Britney’s representatives by the Sun on Sunday, with whom we were collaborating, to which there was no response."
Britney Speaks Out Following Barak's Article
On June 11th, Britney addressed the allegations on Instagram in the caption of a picture of a little girl crying, seemingly being bullied by three other kids.
"The fact that people are claiming things that are not true is so sad," Britney's post began, before she started questioning whether her sons really did say those things in the first place! "This may not even be them saying such things because it doesn't make any sense to me for them to be saying that," she continued. "With Preston saying 'she needs to listen to us before it's too late'… Do you remember every visit you came to my home, you went into your room and locked the door? I never saw you guys… Jayden played the piano and we made music together… But the day I told him I wanted to see you guys more, I never saw you again."
"It makes me sad because I tried so hard to make things nice for you and it was never good enough," she continued. "So you guys go behind my back and talk about me. It breaks my heart and the news is so low. l've always felt like the news bullies me…"
She finished off by saying: "It's sad because everyone sits back as if that's ok to make up lies to that extent… Why am I told I have to sit back and rise above? When they all go so low? Hopefully it is just the news being hateful and Kevin nor Preston said any of those things either way I will be fine working out to Throb."