Toward the end of his memoir You Thought You Know, Kevin Federline issues a serious warning about his ex-wife Britney Spears and their sons Sean Preston, 20, and Jayden James, 19. “Now, more than ever, they need your support,” he wrote, according to an excerpt obtained by The New York Times. “I’ve been their buffer for years, but now it’s bigger than me. It’s time to sound the alarm.”
Although Federline does not cite a specific issue in the excerpt, he makes it clear that he is deeply concerned about Spears. He suggests that the pop star needs professional support, which he believes she is not receiving after the end of the “Free Britney” movement. The campaign had focused on ending the conservatorship she was under from 2008 until 2021. “All those people who put so much effort into that should now put the same energy into the ‘Save Britney’ movement,” he wrote per The Times. “Because this is no longer about freedom. It’s about survival.”
Federline had primary custody of Sean and Jayden for much of the conservatorship, during which Spears often went long stretches without seeing her sons. In the book, he claims that fear sometimes surrounded their visits to her home. “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,” he wrote. “Then she’d turn around and pad off without explanation.”
According to The New York Times, Federline and Spears “haven’t spoken in years,” but he maintains, “I’ve never, ever, once, been against Britney. I’ve only tried to help my sons have an incredible relationship with their mother. And it’s hard because when I really reflect on everything that’s happened — my kids do not know the woman that I married. And I’ve spent two decades trying to bridge that gap.”
More details are expected to appear in the book, which Federline previously said would provide answers to long-standing questions. So far, the excerpts have raised even more uncertainty. One passage in particular has drawn attention, where Federline wrote, “The truth is, this situation with Britney feels like it’s racing toward something irreversible. It’s become impossible to pretend everything’s OK.”
Since the conservatorship ended, Spears has spent more time with her sons, who moved to Hawaii with Federline in 2023. This past December, she spent Christmas with her youngest son for the first time in two years. In her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, Spears reflected on her complicated relationship with her children, the conservatorship, and her custody battle with Federline. “My freedom in exchange for naps with my children,” she wrote. “It was a trade I was willing to make.”
Federline wrote, from his point of view, “the clock is ticking, and we’re getting close to the 11th hour. Something bad is going to happen if things don’t change, and my biggest fear is that our sons will be left holding the pieces.”
Representatives for Spears did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
In a statement to People, a representative for Spears said, “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].”
