London — Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown pleaded not responsible Friday to a cost associated to the intense beating of a music producer with a bottle in a London nightclub in 2023.
Brown, 36, sporting a blue swimsuit, white shirt and black-rimmed glasses, pleaded not responsible in Southwark Crown Courtroom to at least one depend of making an attempt to trigger grievous bodily hurt with intent.
Singer Chris Brown walks exterior Southwark Crown Courtroom in London on June 20, 2025.
Isabel Infantes / REUTERS
Brown’s pal and fellow musician Omololu Akinlolu, 38, who performs underneath the identify “Hoody Baby,” pleaded not responsible to the identical cost.
Prosecutors stated Brown and Akinlolu assaulted producer Abe Diaw at a bar within the Tape nightclub within the swanky Mayfair neighborhood in February 2023. Brown allegedly launched an unprovoked assault on Diaw and hit him a number of instances with a bottle after which punched and kicked him.
The assault was caught on surveillance digital camera in entrance of a membership full of individuals, prosecutors stated.
Brown was launched final month on 5 million-pound ($6.75 million) bail, which allowed him to start out his “Breezy Bowl XX” world tour earlier this month.
Brown, who burst onto the music scene as a teen in 2005, gained his first Grammy for greatest R&B album in 2011 for “F.A.M.E.” after which earned his second in the identical class for “11:11 (Deluxe)” earlier this 12 months.
His hits embody songs akin to “Run It,” “Kiss Kiss” and “Without You.”
He’s at present touring the U.Ok., enjoying this weekend in London with subsequent reveals in Eire, Scotland, France and Portugal. He returns to North America on the finish of July to play Miami, earlier than transferring throughout the U.S. with a two-night cease in Toronto alongside the best way.
His trial was scheduled for Oct. 2026.
Brown has a historical past of authorized points relationship again to his felony conviction within the 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend Rihanna. He pleaded responsible to felony assault on the time. In 2014, Brown pleaded responsible to hitting a person exterior a Washington, D.C., lodge. In 2024, Brown, alongside along with his paid entourage, allegedly beat a number of males who attended his live performance in Texas.
Earlier this 12 months, Brown sued Warner Bros. Discovery for defamation over labeling the singer as an abuser within the 2024 documentary “Chris Brown: A History of Violence.”
Extra from CBS Information
