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Chris Brown has pleaded guilty to a charge related to a 2023 altercation at a nightclub in the U.K.
During a hearing held on Friday, July 24, the R&B singer pleaded guilty to affray, which is defined as "using or threatening unlawful physical violence in a way that causes a reasonable person at the scene to fear for their safety." According to Variety, the charge stems from a brawl Brown and his co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu, also known as Florida rapper "HoodBaby" who serves as the singer's vocal coach, were allegedly involved in a brawl that happened at a London nightclub in 2023.
“This was a vicious and unprovoked attack by Brown and Akinlolu in a crowded nightclub where Brown used a glass bottle as a weapon to strike the victim’s head twice,” Claire Campbell, a senior prosecutor at CPS London South, said after the two were convicted. “This kind of violence is entirely unacceptable, and the Crown Prosecution Service will work tirelessly – with the police and partners across the criminal justice system – to pursue cases like this, and prove that no one is above the law.”
Brown was charged last year after they were accused of violently attacking music producer Abe Diaw at the TAPE Nightclub in London. In February 2023, Diaw claimed Brown hit him in the head several times with a bottle of Don Julio 1942 tequila. After his knees buckled, Diaw alleged Brown punched and kicked him while he was on the ground. He sought medical treatment at a hospital after the unprovoked attack and claimed he needed crutches to walk while he recovered.
The singer was arrested in the U.K. last May, right before he was scheduled to begin his "Breezy Bowl XX World Tour" in the U.K. He spent a couple of days behind bars before he was released on bail. Brown pleaded not guilty to the charges. His previous counts of assault causing actual bodily harm and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place were dropped before his latest plea.
In the U.K., an affray charge carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and/or a fine. Brown is set to be sentenced in October.