A complete timeline of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline's two-year relationship (2024)

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2004: Kevin Federline and Britney Spears meet in the summer of 2004 and get married three months later.

Britney Spears and her ex-husband Kevin Federline met at a club in Hollywood, according to the former backup dancer.

Federline told People in 2008, after their divorce: "Our eyes met and that was it. We just hit it off right away. I learned real fast how much of a whirlwind the press and everything was."

In her memoir "The Woman in Me," Spears also recounts how she met Federline. She says they met at Joseph's Cafe in Hollywood and there was a connection between them from their first look.

"That very first night we met, he held me — and I mean held me — in a pool for hours," Spears writes.

Spears also says that she didn't initially know Federline had a toddler and was expecting a second baby with his ex-girlfriend, claiming she only found out after someone else mentioned it to her. At that point, the "Toxic" singer says, she confronted Federline about having children with another woman.

On September 16, 2004, three months after they met, Spears and Federline got married early at a private home in Studio City, California. They had initially planned to wed in October.

They invited 27 of their family and friends for an engagement party and only told them moments before the ceremony that it was actually their wedding.

"I just thought it would be too much if we had done it when we were supposed to," Spears told People a few days after the spontaneous wedding. "It became this huge thing and I was like, 'What are we waiting for? We know this is the real thing, why not just do it now?' That's why I wanted to sneak and do it our little way."

Their marriage license did not come in time, so they were legally married later.

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2005-2006: Spears and Federline welcome two children together.

Spears also told People shortly after the wedding that she was excited to be a mother.

"I can see myself as a mom. Next year, at 23, I am so there," she said.

At the time, Federline had two children with his ex-partner, Shar Jackson, whom he separated from in 2004, after the birth of his second child, Kaleb.

In September 2005, Spears gave birth to the couple's eldest son, Sean Preston. She gave birth to their second child, Jayden James, a year later.

Spears says in her memoir that her biggest worry, while her sons were young, was protecting them from the paparazzi.

She writes that after Sean was born she was followed by her paparazzi from her home to shopping malls. However, when Jayden was born, she and Federline discovered ways to keep the boys hidden.

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November 2006: Spears files for divorce weeks after their second child was born.

Eight weeks after Spears gave birth to Jayden, she filed for divorce from the rapper.

Spears cited "irreconcilable differences" at the time, according to People.

They reached an initial divorce settlement in March 2007, agreeing to share custody of their children. But according to People, Federline resisted signing the papers over concerns about Spears' behavior. At the time, the "Toxic" singer was in rehab.

They eventually finalized the divorce in July.

In her memoir, Spears expresses that she was unhappy with Federline because he was away from home a lot as he pursued a music career.

"He told everyone else that being a father was everything to him — the best thing in his life," Spears writes. "You wouldn't know it. Because the sad truth was, he was away a lot."

She says she was "in denial" that the former rapper would leave her. Even her lawyer told her one day that if she didn't file for divorce, Federline would.

"I was led to believe that it would be better if I did it first so that I wasn't humiliated," she writes.

The "Gimme More" singer says she lost trust in people after her divorce from Federline.

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2007-2008: Federline fights for full custody of their sons after Spears' public breakdowns.

In 2007, Spears started to have a very public breakdown.

In February she shaved her own head in front of paparazzi at Esther's Hair Salon in Tarzana, California.

A couple of days later, Spears and her cousin were being pursued by photographers while driving through a gas station in Tarzana, California. After telling the paparazzi to leave her alone, Spears got out of her silver Mercedes, swung an umbrella at one of the photographer's cars, and then drove away. This was all caught on camera.

By October 2007, Spears' actions led to the court in LA awarding temporary custody of their sons to Federline.

In January 2008, People reported that Spears was put on lockdown for a mental evaluation after locking herself in a room with her youngest son, Jayden.

People reported that the officers responded to a call "about a custodial dispute regarding Britney Spears' children" at 8 p.m., one hour after the pop star was scheduled to give the boys back to Federline.

After the police arrived, they arranged the transfer, and Spears was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Los Angeles police Officer Jason Lee said at the time that officers "observed Ms. Spears under the influence of an unknown substance."

Days after this incident, the Los Angeles court awarded full custody to Federline and suspended Spears' visitation rights.

By July, there was another agreement that she would be allowed two visits and one overnight stay per week.

It was during this time that the "Circus" singer's father put her under what would be a 13 years-long conservatorship.

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December 2008: Federline speaks out after the custody battle, saying that he wants Jayden James and Sean Preston to have a relationship with their mother.

In December 2008, after the custody battle, Federline sat down with People to discuss coparenting with Spears.

During the interview, Federline said his happiest memory with his ex-wife was when they got married and then when they had their two sons. However, problems started to arise after their kids were born.

"It's hard enough to be in a marriage, and then have a kid, then kids, it changes everything," the former dancer said. "For me, I'd become more concerned with my children. Not that I ignored Britney, but my kids are always most important."

He also countered Spears' claim that he didn't spend enough time with her.

Federline said: "I didn't give her an ultimatum, but I was trying to work stuff out with her, and she didn't even talk to me or anything and went behind my back and filed [for divorce]. [I was] completely blindsided. It was a huge shock."

He continued: "She'd just had Jayden, and I'd been working for over a year. I did everything that I could to cater around the whole situation: built a recording studio in the house, made sure I could always work at home, try to help out as much as I can. It just … I don't know, I guess it wasn't enough."

Federline also explained that he wanted custody of his children so that Britney could get better for them.

"A reason why we ended up going through the custody battle is because I want my kids to have a mom and love her," he said. "I don't want to do this by myself. Part of the whole thing was to get them safe and get her to where she will always be there."

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2013: Spears and Federline attend their sons' soccer games together, bringing their respective partners.

In 2013, Spears and Federline were spotted together while attending their sons' soccer games.

In March, Spears met her ex-husband's new girlfriend, Victoria Prince, whom he already had a 19-month child with named Jordan Kay. Federline married Prince later that year.

In November, Federline got to meet Spears' boyfriend at the time, David Lucado, at another soccer game. When asked about it by TMZ, Federline said there was no awkwardness with Lucado, adding: "That was my first time meeting him. He's a cool guy."

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2015: Federline reflects on his relationship with Spears and says the good outweighs the bad.

In 2015, the DJ was asked about his relationship with Spears again during an interview with Us Weekly.

"That time of my life, it was great," he said. "It was fun, it was crazy, it was chaos…The limelight, the entertainment business, the lifestyle — period. When you're 25 years old, how do you handle that? Nobody can prepare you."

Federline said that although their relationship had "ups and downs," he had "so many great memories" that "outweigh the bad."

"For us to split up and me say that, it should speak very loudly," he said.

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2018: Federline asks for more child support.

In 2018, Spears and Federline got into another battle over child support payments.

In February, Us Weekly confirmed that the former dancer's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan sent a letter to Spears' team, explaining why Federline should get more than the $20,000 monthly payment he received at the time.

Kaplan also told People: "We think the reasonable needs for the children while they would be in Kevin's custody is probably three times what he's currently receiving."

According to court documents, Federline wanted to raise the payments to $60,000 a month.

"My income has changed significantly since the child support was last modified in approximately 2008 because I no longer earn a six-figure income like I did in 2008," Federline said in the documents. "I am simply less of a 'name' and less in demand than I was in 2008, which has negatively affected my income."

By September, Spears agreed to pay Federline "thousands more a month in child support" in a confidential deal, according to The Blast.

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2019: Spears and Federline negotiate a new custody arrangement.

In August 2019, Spears negotiated a new custody agreement to receive 30% unsupervised custodial rights of her children.

E! Newsreported that the agreement had been in place since 2018 before it was made official in court.

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June 2021: Federline makes his first public statement about Spears' conservatorship, in light of her court battle.

Federline shared his thoughts about Spears' conservatorship days after she formally asked the Los Angeles court to end her conservatorship.

Spears said in her testimony that she was put on medication against her willand her overseerswouldn't allow her to have her IUD removed to have children.

Spears also shared anecdotes about her father, Jamie Spears, "loving" having control over someone as powerful as her.

On June 29, Federline's attorney Kaplan told People that the DJ wanted what was best for Britney.

"[Kevin] certainly respects Britney and only hopes the best for her because when the best for her is achieved, it's the best for their kids. The kids love their mother and he wants there to be a healthy and strong relationship," Kaplan said.

Kaplan added of the former couple's children: "The best thing would be for their mom to be healthy and happy. And if either of those things aren't true, it doesn't provide for the best setting for custody to be exercised."

Kaplan also said that he feels that Spears had "not been served well by the conservatorship" and that his client Federline supports her challenge against her father "if it's what's best for her."

The court eventually ruled in Spears' favor and her conservatorship ended in November 2021.

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April 2022: Federline reacts to Spears' pregnancy.

In April, Spears announced that she was pregnant with her first child with Sam Asghari. Spears and Asghari had gotten engaged in September 2021.

"I lost so much weight to go on my Maui trip only to gain it back… I thought 'Geez … what happened to my stomach ???' My husband said 'No you're food pregnant silly!!!' So I got a pregnancy test … and uhhhhh well … I am having a baby," the "Toxic" singer said on Instagram.

Federline responded in a statement through his attorney Kaplan.

Kaplan told NBC News over the phone, according to Yahoo: "Kevin is aware of Britney's Instagram post. He wishes her the best for a happy, healthy pregnancy and congratulates her and Sam Asghari as they plan for the excitement of parenthood together."

A month later, Spears announced that she had had a miscarriage.

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April 2022: Spears accuses Federline of refusing to see her when she was pregnant in the 2000s.

In a now-deleted Instagram post, Spears said that Federline would refuse to see her in the days leading up to filing her divorce in 2006.

She wrote: "But geez my ex-husband wouldn't see me when I flew to New York with a baby inside me and Las Vegas when he was shooting a video !!!"

Spears added that she got advice from an unnamed person to get a divorce.

"I got a text saying, 'If you don't divorce Kevin he will publicly do it to you' … Since I hadn't seen him in a while I already knew it was over … I had my baby," she said.

In her memoir, Spears recalls this story, claiming that Federline's manager stopped her from seeing her former husband.

She also claims she was blocked from seeing Federline when she tried to go see him in a studio in Las Vegas, and that before she left she saw him partying and smoking weed.

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August 2022: Spears responds to Federline's interview, saying she wanted to keep her relationship with her sons private.

In the days following the exclusive interview, Spears responded through a series of Instagram posts.

She wrote on her Instagram Story: "It saddens me to hear that my ex husband has decided to discuss the relationship between me and my children ... As we all know, raising teenage boys is never easy for anyone."

She added: "I gave them everything ... Only one word: HURTFUL."

Spears also disagreed with Federline's claims that her sons are distancing themselves from her due to nude photos Spears shared on social media. Her new husband Asghari said on his own Instagram Story that Federline was trying to "vilify" Spears.

Later that week, Spears said in a now-deleted Instagram post that finding out her sons didn't want to visitknocked "the breath out of me."

"I talk about it because my heart doesn't understand cruelty. It breaks my heart because it seems to be that these days, cruelty does in fact win, although it's not about winning or losing !!!" the "Womanizer" singer wrote. "But I can't process how I dedicated 20 years of my life to those kids … everything was about them !!! For them to knock the breath out of me."

She continued: "This summer, they told me, 'we may come here less' and I was like that's fine. I called their dad and I told him that it seems like the boys are wanting to stop coming here as much, which I get because they have their own thing going on but I feel like they are being pretty harsh."

Spears said that Federline told her he would not let their sons come to the decision "on their own" but that she had not seen them since.

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August 2022: Federline releases a video that seemingly shows the singer arguing with her sons.

Federline responded to his ex-wife's Instagram posts with his own, sharing videos of the singer seemingly arguing with her sons.

He said the videos, which Insider viewed before they were deleted from the platform, were taken by their sons.

"I can not sit back and let my sons be accused in this way after what they've been through," Federline captioned the original post. "As much as it hurts us, we decided as a family to post these videos the boys took when they were 11 & 12. This isn't even the worst of it. The lies have to stop. I hope our kids grow up to be better than this. #NeverFearTruth."

After the video was deleted, Spears' lawyer Mathew Rosengart told People in a statement that the "Circus" singer would like to keep the issues with her sons private.

"Britney has faithfully supported her children and she loves them dearly," the statement said. "Whether he realizes it or not, Mr. Federline has not only violated the privacy and dignity of the mother of his children, he has undermined his own children, whose privacy he should protect."

Rosengart added: "Putting aside his ITV interview, Mr. Federline's ill-advised decision to post an old video of his 11 and 12-year-old children was cruel, bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. It was abhorrent. In addition to demeaning himself and violating societal norms, he has now also created various legal issues for himself including, but not limited to, implicating cyber-harassment and cyber-bullying statutes, among other things."

The lawyer added that he's working with Instagram to ensure Federline follows the rules of the platform and "exploring all appropriate relief against him."

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September 2022: Federline defends Spears' father, once again saying he "saved" her with the conservatorship.

During an interview with "60 Minutes Australia," Federline defended Jamie Spears again, saying that he "saved" his daughter.

"A hundred percent, I feel like he saved her back then," Federline said when asked whether Jamie saved his daughter by putting her in the conservatorship.

Federline added that he "couldn't get involved" with the conservatorship because he had to lookafter their two sons.

"I wasn't involved in any of it so I really don't know how the conservatorship came about, I don't know whose decision it was," he said. "All I know is that you have a family that is worried about their daughter and trying to do whatever they can to help her. That's all that I knew."

During the interview, Jayden said that he felt uncomfortable attending his mother's wedding because Spears did not invite other members of her family to the event.

"I'm really happy for them, but she didn't invite the whole family," the teenager said. "And then if it was just gonna be me and Preston, I just don't see how that situation would have ended on good terms."

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September 2022: Spears says a "huge part of me" died when she lost custody of her children.

In September, Spears shared that losing custody of her sons felt like "a huge part of me has died" amid her feud with Federline.

The "Gimme More" singer posted a series of audio clips on Instagram, including one in which she spoke about her sense of loss after losing custody of her children.

"From when they were six to nine years old, I had them 70% of the time, and of course, since they've been gone I've honestly felt like a huge part of me has died," she said in one of the clips. "Like, literally, have no purpose anymore. They were my joy. They were my everything. I looked forward to seeing them. That was what I lived for and then all of sudden they were gone and I was like, 'Did my heart just stop beating?'"

She added later: "Honestly, I don't understand how it's so easy for them to cut me off like that."

Spears also said that she doesn't want her boys to visit until she "feels valued."

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May 2023: Spears gives Federline permission to move with their sons to Hawaii.

Federline's lawyer told Peoplein May 2023 that Spears "consented" to Sean Preston and Jayden James moving to Hawaii with their dad, stepmom, and some of their stepsiblings.

"It's an opportunity for Kevin and his wife, and the boys are ready to get away from the LA microscope," Kaplan, Federline's lawyer, said.

In an August 2023 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Kaplan said that Federline and his whole family are "very happy" in Hawaii, aside from the fact that they were "grieving for the horrible tragedy that was visited upon the people of Maui" after the wildfiresthat month.

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August 2023: Federline tells Spears (via a statement from his lawyer) to "be strong" amid her split from Asghari.

Spears' husband Asghari filed for divorce from the singer in August 2023 after just over a year of marriage.

Amid the news, Federline's lawyer Kaplan told Entertainment Tonight that his client "wishes them both the best."

Kaplan's statement mentioned that Federline also supported the estranged couple "if they reconcile" but hoped that no matter what Spears decided, she didn't feel "alienated."

"Be strong, be focused, and get good advice from those around you before making important decisions," Kaplan said when asked if his client had any advice for Spears.

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October 2023: Spears says Federline "took the world from me" in her new memoir.

Spears' memoir "The Woman in Me" was published in October 2023.

In the book, she reflects on how Federline gained custody of their children and claims he stopped her from seeing them.

Spears writes that Federline deliberately tried to make people believe she was "completely out of control" in order to win custody of their children in 2007.

She claims that the moments she acted out publicly during that period, including shaving her head and hitting a photographer's car with an umbrella, were in response to not being given access to her children by Federline.

"Nobody seemed to understand that I was simply out of my mind with grief," Spears writes. "My children had been taken away from me."

"Kevin took my world away from me. He knocked the breath out of me," she writes.

Spears also says that she tried to appease her ex-husband with money in orderto see her children.

"I paid his legal bills, plus child support, plus thousands more a month so the kids could come along with me on the Circus Tour," the "Criminal" singer says. "Everything was almost like a deal with the devil for me to get what I wanted."

A representative for Federline didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment regarding the claims in Spears' memoir.