26 July,2026 10:10 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Chris Brown (Pic/X)
U.S. singer Chris Brown pleaded guilty on Friday to a charge of affray over what prosecutors described as a bottle attack on a producer in a London nightclub three years ago, with the more serious assault charges dropped. Brown, 37, and his vocal coach, Omololu Akinlolu, 40, stood in the dock at London's Southwark Crown Court and spoke only to confirm their names and plead guilty over the incident at London's Tape nightclub in February 2023.
The pair had been charged with attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm and a lesser charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, both relating to producer Abraham Diaw. They had previously denied the charges and were due to stand trial in October.
Brown and Akinlolu pleaded guilty to the charge of affray, admitting they "used or threatened unlawful violence towards another, and their conduct, taken together, was such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness... to fear for their personal safety."
Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe said the other charges would not proceed to trial. Brown and Akinlolu were granted bail ahead of their sentencing at the same court on October 26.
The maximum sentence for affray is three years' imprisonment, and Judge Tony Baumgartner said that "all options" remain open to the court.
Claire Campbell of the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement, "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 on the head twice. 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."
Prosecutors alleged Brown launched an "unprovoked attack" on Diaw with a tequila bottle, while Akinlolu and Brown allegedly continued assaulting him as he tried to flee.
Brown was arrested in May 2025 after returning to Britain for the first time since the incident. He was initially denied bail, throwing his worldwide Breezy Bowl XX tour into doubt. However, he was later released after agreeing to pay a security fee of 5 million pounds (approximately 6.66 million US dollars), allowing the tour to go ahead.
Apart from this case, Brown was recently ordered to pay nearly 13 million US dollars in damages after a Los Angeles jury found him negligent in a lawsuit filed by his former housekeeper, who suffered permanent injuries in a 2020 dog attack at his California home.
