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, carrying a blue swimsuit, white shirt and black-rimmed glasses, pleaded not responsible in Southwark Crown Courtroom to 1 rely of trying to trigger grievous bodily hurt with intent.
Isabel Infantes / REUTERS
Brown’s pal and fellow musician Omololu Akinlolu, 38, who performs below the title “Hoody Baby,” pleaded not responsible to the identical cost.
Brown was arrested at a resort in Manchester in northern England resort final month. It was the primary time he returned to Britain for the reason that alleged incident, the Reuters information company stories.
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 begin his “Breezy Bowl XX” world tour earlier this month.
Brown, who burst onto the music scene as a teen in 2005, received his first Grammy for finest 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 yr.
His hits embrace songs corresponding to “Run It,” “Kiss Kiss” and “Without You.”
He’s presently touring the U.Okay., taking part in 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 way in which.
His trial was scheduled for Oct. 2026.
Brown has a historical past of authorized points courting 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 outdoors a Washington, D.C., resort. In 2024, Brown, alongside together with his paid entourage, allegedly beat a number of males who attended his live performance in Texas.
Earlier this yr, Brown sued Warner Bros. Discovery for defamation over labeling the singer as an abuser within the 2024 documentary “Chris Brown: A History of Violence.”
