Britney Spears sat in the darkened SUV in the hospital parking lot. For two hours, she waited patiently as her boyfriend, Kevin Federline, witnessed the birth of his second child, Kaleb.
When the baby arrived, Spears and Federline returned to the superstar’s LA home, while Federline’s then-fiancée Shar Jackson was left alone in her hospital room holding her newborn son.
In one of the biggest shocks in her new memoir, The Woman in Me, released this week, Spears insists she had “no idea” that Federline had a pregnant fiancé and was already the father of a two-year-old daughter at the time. they met. met in 2004.
She writes: ‘I was living in a bubble and didn’t have many close, close friends to confide in and get advice from. I had no idea until we’d been together for a while and someone said to me, “You know he has a new baby, right?”
But today, in an exclusive interview, Federline’s ex-fiancée Shar Jackson dismissed Spears’ claim, claiming that the Toxic singer not only took Federline from her, but that she was fully aware of the pregnancy and even left the hospital in Orange County, California was waiting when Kaleb was born.
TOGETHER: Britney Spears with Kevin Federline at a Grammy party in 2006
Abandoned: Shar Jackson in 2004 when she was pregnant with Federline’s child
Speaking for the first time about the heartbreak she endured, former child actress Jackson, 46, said: ‘I felt betrayed and crushed. I thought, ‘How can you do something like that?’
Jackson, star of 1990s American sitcom Moesha, had been dating backup dancer Federline for two years when he met Spears at Joseph’s nightclub in Los Angeles in April 2004. Jackson said: “When Kevin met Britney, we three children (Federline was stepfather to her two oldest children and they had a daughter together, Kori) and one on the way, and we lived in a six-bedroom house in Orange County, California. One day, when I was having morning sickness and about six months pregnant, Kevin had an audition for a coke commercial or something in LA… and then I didn’t hear from him for three days.
‘I later found out that they met at a club the first night when he went out with his friends. I felt angry and betrayed and I became numb. I went on autopilot.”
In her book, Spears, 41, insists Federline, 45, “did her a number” by hiding his secret family. When a friend finally told her Jackson was pregnant, Spears says she confronted him, writing in her memoir that she screamed, “You have kids?” Do you have children? Not one child, but two children.’
Jackson first met Spears when the singer was dating Justin Timberlake. In another bombshell from the book, Spears writes that she felt “forced” to abort Timberlake’s baby and that he later broke up with her via text message.
Jackson said: “I met Britney long before Kevin came along. We ran in the same circles and I was good friends with the guys from NSYNC (Timberlake’s boy band). I thought she was cute and adorable. I wouldn’t say Britney and I ever became close, but we were always respectful and cordial to each other.” Jackson was madly in love with Federline after meeting him at a dance studio. “We moved in together after about a year and got engaged right after our daughter Kori was born,” she said. ‘I was very much in love. Not only was he beautiful, but he also took my two older children under his wing. I thought, ‘Oh my God, he’s perfect.’
Even after discovering Federline cheated on her, Jackson says she fought to save their relationship. ‘We didn’t break up, we agreed to sort it out. Then he told me he had booked a commercial and had to film it abroad.’ Federline even met Spears – and photos of them embracing on a beach appeared in the papers. Jackson said, “For about a day and a half I was in a state of disbelief. Then I called him and said, “I need to know if you’re going to be with the kids” or not, because it’s not a part-time gig. If you don’t want that responsibility, tell me now so we can cut ties completely.” At that moment I didn’t care about Britney. It wasn’t about her. I felt betrayed and crushed. I thought, “How can you do something like that?” ‘
Shar Jackson attends the BoxLunch Gala celebrating Feed America at City Market Social House on November 9, 2022
Federline never returned to the parental home. He and Spears became engaged in July 2004, just days after Jackson gave birth to Kaleb. Federline and Spears married in September and had two sons – Sean, now 18, and Jayden, now 17 – before splitting in 2006.
In her book, Spears writes, “When I married Kevin, I meant it with all my heart.” But Federline became ‘captivated by fame and power.’ “Over and over again in my life I have seen how fame and money ruin people,” Spears wrote. “And I saw it happen to Kevin in slow motion.”
Through it all, Jackson remains close to Federline, who now lives in Hawaii with Victoria, his wife of ten years, their two children and Sean and Jayden. And Jackson harbors no ill will toward Spears. “I think her relationship with Kevin was a fantasy for both of them. To me, anything built on a rocky foundation won’t last, and they started off rocky because he was in a relationship. I never hated Kevin, because if you really love someone, you can’t hate him.’
Representatives for Spears and Federline were contacted for comment.