Britney Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline said in a series of interviews that will air this week that the children he shares with the 40-year-old singer have decided not to see their mother.
The Daily Mail exclusively published Federline’s remarks, which will air on ITV news.
The interview comes after Spears married 28-year-old Iranian-American model Sam Asghari over the summer and recently claimed that the Catholic Church refused to let her be married in a Catholic church.
“The boys have decided they are not seeing her right now,” Federline said of his sons Sean, 16, and Jayden, 15. “It’s been a few months since they’ve seen her. They made the decision not to go to her wedding.”
Federline reportedly argues that the conservatorship that Spears’ father had over her “saved” her from ruin. Spears’ father, Jamie, is now reportedly trying to get her mental health records unsealed by the courts.
“This whole thing has been hard to watch, harder to live through, harder to watch my boys go through than anything else,” Federline said. “It’s been tough. It’s the most challenging thing I’ve ever had to do in my life.”
“I try to explain to [the boys], ‘Look, maybe that’s just another way she tries to express herself,” Federline continued. “But that doesn’t take away from the fact of what it does to them. It’s tough. I can’t imagine how it feels to be a teenager having to go to high school.”
“If there was a way – any way – I could possibly say something to just open [Britney’s] eyes – but I haven’t found that yet,” he added. “I feel like, if I found that, I’d be on the phone trying to tell her.”
He said that he was “blindsided” by Spears’ decision to leave him and that his sole focus was getting 50% custody of the children.
After the two were awarded split custody, Spears had a public breakdown which ended up with her being hospitalized and Federline being granted sole custody of the children. The conservatorship was put into place shortly after that.
“There were so many different things that were happening within a short period of time. It just all came to a head and I don’t think anybody knew what to do,” Federline said. “I saw this man [Spears’ father] that really cared, and really cares about his family and wanting everything to be OK. When Jamie took over, things got into order. He saved her life.”
“I would absolutely welcome Jamie Spears back in the boys’ lives,” Federline continued. “Especially if that’s what the boys wanted. I don’t have any hard feelings towards Jamie Spears. People make mistakes. I feel bad for him. I feel like he’s been put through the wringer.”