Britney Spears won't face charges after her housekeeper accused the pop star of a physical altercation that involved slapping a phone out of the housekeeper's hand, the Ventura County District Attorney's office announced Wednesday.
Spears was accused of getting into an argument with her housekeeper on Aug. 16 related to veterinary care for the singer's dog. The housekeeper said it turned physical and left her phone damaged, and the Ventura County Sheriff's Department was called to the pop star's home.
Deputies began a misdemeanor battery investigation, and the case was then submitted to prosecutors to review.
The case was reviewed by the Ventura County District Attorney's Misdemeanor Unit Supervisor Blake Heller, the office said in a statement. On Wednesday, prosecutors declined to file charges "based on insufficient evidence that a crime had occurred and the lack of injury to the housekeeper or significant damage to the phone."
According to the district attorney's office, the housekeeper told deputies the phone's screen protector had been damaged.
After reports of the incident became public, Spears' attorney Mathew Rosengart described the incident in a statement to BuzzFeed News as "overblown sensational tabloid fodder."
"If this involved Jane Doe rather than Britney Spears it would not have been pursued or covered at all," he told BuzzFeed News Wednesday. "We're glad the DA's Office has done the right thing. Sadly, it is apparent that some have learned nothing from the past, and we sincerely hope the media and others will be more respectful of Ms. Spears in the future."
Reports of the altercation came after Spears is caught in the middle of a legal battle to end a 13-year-long conservatorship and regain control of her life.