Kevin Federline has a book dropping, and he is reopening the Britney Spears chapter with both hands. The headline: he says life was not cushy, even with tens of thousands a month coming in from Britney. She is calling that narrative harmful and self-serving. Buckle up.
What Kevin says he was paid
In his memoir 'You Thought You Knew' (as previewed by Us Weekly), Federline lays out the money and the math. He says people hear big numbers and assume you are set for life, but he paints a different picture of raising two kids in Los Angeles while trying to match the lifestyle they had with their mom.
- Marriage and split: Federline and Spears married in 2004 and divorced in 2007; they share two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James.
- Custody: After Spears' 2007–2008 mental health crisis, he was awarded primary custody, and she was ordered to pay child support.
- Child support: The court initially set it at $20,000 per month; after renegotiations in 2018, it reportedly rose to around $40,000 per month.
- Alimony: He says he also received $20,000 per month in alimony for half the duration of their roughly two-year marriage, which worked out to 13 months after the divorce.
Federline argues that juggling LA costs while trying to keep the boys' standard of living on par with time at their mom's burned through the money quickly. He also pushes back on the long-running narrative that he coasted on Britney's checks, saying he was hustling, grinding, and investing to build a stable life for himself and the kids.
Britney pushes back: 'gaslighting' and money motives
Spears responded as excerpts started circulating. On X on Oct. 15 (the post shows Oct. 16 on the platform, because internet time zones are chaos), she said the way her ex is framing things is painful and manipulative, and that she has always fought to be close to her sons.
The constant gaslighting from my ex-husband is extremely hurtful and exhausting. I have always pleaded and screamed to have a life with my boys.
She added that dealing with teenage sons is complicated and said she has felt demoralized by the situation, accusing Federline of cashing in on her name: those white lies in that book are going straight to the bank, and she is the one who gets hurt. Her team told Us Weekly that with news from Kevin's book breaking, once again, he and others are profiting off her — and, pointedly, that this is happening right after his child support ended.
Federline denied that to Us Weekly: 'Money's not the root of this thing. If she has the right to tell her story, why don't I?' Still, with both sons now adults and the support checks finished, his finances are back under the microscope.
The heavier allegations in the book
This is where it gets especially messy. According to Page Six's reporting on the memoir, Federline alleges troubling behavior from Spears during their marriage and parenting years. He claims she used drugs while breastfeeding; that the boys would sometimes wake up at night to find her standing silently in their doorway holding a knife, greeting them with a flat 'Oh, you are awake?'; and that she once punched Preston in the face when he was around 10 or 11.
He also says that after one visit with their mom, the boys returned with fully bleached hair and irritated, burned scalps — not highlights, but bleached down to the skin. None of this is independently verified, and Spears has made it clear she disputes his portrayal.
Federline told Entertainment Tonight that his goal is to sound the alarm about Spears' current state: 'I just wish that she would get help. I am not going to just expose her personal life. But it is 10 times worse than anything I have said in my book.' He also urged fans to put the same energy into 'Save Britney' that they once put into 'Free Britney.'
Where this lands
Two very different versions of the same history, a lot of raw feelings, and a book on the way. Federline's 'You Thought You Knew' is out Oct. 21, 2025 in the U.S. Expect more back-and-forth once people can read the full thing — and yes, more debate over what was support, what was alimony, and what was real life in the middle of all that fame.