Pop singer Britney Spears' former husband has been charged with four offences after being detained at the pop icon’s Los Angeles home shortly before her wedding to Sam Asghari.
Jason Alexander was charged with two counts of misdemeanour battery, one count of misdemeanour vandalism, and one count of misdemeanour trespassing, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.
Initially, police officers were summoned over a trespassing incident reported at the Thousand Oaks, California address of Spears, according to US media outlets. Sergeant Cyrus Zadeh was cited as saying that Alexander, a childhood friend whom Spears married in Las Vegas in 2004 before an annulment was obtained just 55 hours later, managed to “find his way onto the property and was confronted by security".
Shortly before the incident, Alexander posted an Instagram* live story claiming he had arrived to "crash" Spears and Asghari's wedding.
"I'm here to crash the wedding because nobody is here except Sam. Where the f**k is the family?... So here's inside scoop of the bulls**t wedding", Jason Alexander said on Instagram Live, according to screen recordings cited by E! News.
Sergeant Zadeh added that the incident with Alexander occurred before the wedding, and those involved were seeking to prosecute.
Meanwhile, sources described the “Baby One More Time” vocalist as "shaken up" by the perturbing incident. Her close to 100 guests, including Donatella Versace, Paris Hilton, and the singer's brother Bryan, were also said to have been taken aback.
“Everyone was shocked. It threw the wedding schedule way behind because everyone had to stop to talk to security and police about what happened”, a source was cited as saying.
Another source told People that the Toxic singer was “freaking out” over the incident.
Britney’s assistant, Vicky T, went on social media to assure fans that the vocalist was “safe” after the arrest.
Thursday's wedding was the singer's third trip to the altar. Britney Spears divorced her second husband, Kevin Federline, in 2007. They share two children, sons Sean Preston, 16, and Jayden James, 15.
Spears, 40, and fitness trainer Asghari, 28, met on the set of her Slumber Party music video in 2016. The two got engaged in September 2021.
Earlier, a spokesperson for Sam Asghari, Brandon Cohen, was cited as saying of the wedding:
"I am very ecstatic this day has come, and they are married. I know he wanted this for so long. He is so caring and supportive every step of the way".
The marriage came after a 13-year conservatorship which controlled Britney Spears’ life was terminated by the Los Angeles Superior Court in November 2021.
Earlier this year, Spears announced she was expecting her third child with Asghari, but confirmed in May the loss of her "miracle baby early in the pregnancy".
*Instagram is banned in Russia over extremist activities.