Victor Wembanyama uses ‘innocence gestures’ in first statement about Britney ‘slap’ but it’s ‘ill-judged,’ expert says
A BODY language expert has claimed Victor Wembanyama’s Britney Spears slap statement was riddled with unfortunate mimicry and laughter.
And she said the answer as to whether the singer “tapped” the Spurs rookie or not as she approached him at a Vegas hotspot lies in the NBA player’s “bear hug” gesture.
Victor, 19 publicly responded to Britney’s allegation of being “backhanded” by the basketball star’s security on July 5 when the 41-year-old approached him for a photo.
Victor’s message came around the time the Toxic hitmaker released a Tweet about the dramatic event online.
Her July 6 Twitter post explained how she had seen “an athlete” at two hotels the night before.
Britney went on to say how she “decided to approach him and congratulate him on his success” at the second one.
Describing how she “tapped” Victor on the shoulder she added that his security team “backhanded me in the face,” and knocked her glasses off.
In her post, she said the experience was “super embarrassing to share.”
She wrote: “Traumatic experiences are not new to me and I have had my fair share of them, ” before adding: “I was not prepared for what happened to me last night.”
The 7-foot-4 basketball player also broke his silence and reeled off a different version of events outside Catch in the Aria Resort & Casino.
He claimed a person grabbed him from behind.
In an exclusive interview, body language expert Judi James told The U.S Sun: “Victor’s delivery to the press is surprising as he seems rather immature and ill-advised to do this statement.
“The smiles and the laughter at certain points risk being an enduring image that could be seen as inappropriate.
“Victor’s overriding body language suggests a popular guy who is used to being liked and he looks like he expects that response too.
“The player’s body language looks ill-judged though.
“Victor is smiling and laughing as he talks about the phone calls he has been getting since the event.
“He gives off a collusive laugh as well.”
The French teen, who is in Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League and is about to play his first game, spoke quickly to the waiting media.
“Victor talked about enjoying a nice dinner and used eye contact as though expecting people to laugh along with him,” added Judi.
“He used plenty of ‘innocence’ gestures to suggest he knew nothing about what happened or who was involved.
“Victor’s hands are also frequently raised in an upward cupped position and there are some micro-shrugs.
“When he started his own storyline of the event, his brows are raised and eyes rounded, also rituals to project innocence.
“When explaining how Britney approached him, Victor also mimed more of a partial bear hug.
“This beggars the question if Britney’s movement was indeed a tap, grab, or more of a friendly hug.
“He then adds ‘I don’t know’ and his arms splay to the sides to endorse these words.”
Britney, who was at the bustling hotspot with her husband Sam Asghari appears to be waiting for an apology from the player and his team.
According to TMZ, the pop star’s security had even spent time with Victor’s bodyguard after the incident and then filed a police report.
A spokesperson for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said police responded to a battery investigation at the location at 11 pm on July 5.
“The incident has been documented on a police report and no arrest or citations have been issued,” the spokesperson said in a statement obtained by The U.S. Sun.
But our expert noted how Victor grinned throughout his monologue, filling it with vagueness and miming.
“Victor puts Britney into this timeline by referring to her as ‘somebody’ and ‘that person’,” added Judi.
“He throws in some mime rituals with his hand as he tells his version of the storyline.
“Mime or illustrative gestures often help the audience to ‘see’ what happened in their mind’s eye.
“It can help the audience understand better and can be convincing.”
In his statement, Victor told how “the security pushed her away” but that he did not “know with how much force” as he continued walking and did not turn around to look.
He also explained that he was not at first aware that the person in question was Britney Spears.
The player added that he “thought they were joking” when he was told.
“His very natural-looking mime comes when he mimes answering his phone to all the calls about the drama,” added Judi.
“The first grin comes then.
“His cheeks get rounder with an eye smile while his dimpled mouth smile shows his upper teeth to suggest a sharing of a joke.
“Victor grins here as though excited by the attention although he then changes the mood.
“He then looked down with a more sober facial expression.
“His second mime comes as he seems to illustrate the risk of a crowd crush by putting both hands up facing together.
“He says, ‘‘That person grabbed me from behind’ which comes with more of a flapping hand gesture and then he cups in another innocent gesture.
“But then he does seem to repeat ‘That person grabbed me from behind.’
“He mimes more of a grab or this partial bear hug.
“His arms splay to the sides to endorse these words, but the use of the word ‘grab’ plus the arm mime looks pretty comprehensive.
“He even lightly punches one hand into the palm of the other to add emphasis here.
“He explains that he ‘enjoyed a nice dinner’ and shows a wide, dimpled grin and another laugh plus eye contact with the journos.
“Victor laughs again when he describes finding out who it was. ‘I never saw her face’ comes with the cupped hand.”
This has not been the first that Britney has been embroiled in drama at a west coast venue alongside Sam over the last few months.
In January and before a reported recently failed intervention, Britney experienced an alleged meltdown at a Los Angeles restaurant.
At the time, the mom-of-two was said by witnesses to have been acting strangely at Joey in Woodland Hills.
As guests tried to video her, she used a menu to shield her face from a camera.
This is something that her husband, Sam has since denied.
James suggested perhaps Britney and Victor could even find a way forward.
“This might have been something that could end amicably with both Britney and Victor, ” added Judi.
“The pair of them could sweetly make friends and hug this out.
“But the contradictory versions might make that difficult.
“Fans would probably adore an apology and a mutual hug.
“The current pile-in could make that difficult though.”