Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown avoided prison time Monday for beating a music producer with a tequila bottle at a London nightclub three years ago.
The 37-year-old was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for a year.
He had faced up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a count of affray in July for the attack on the dance floor of Tape, a private club in the swanky Mayfair neighbourhood in February 2023.
Video footage played in court showed Brown having to be pulled away from the victim, his former friend Abraham Diaw, after striking him twice in the head with a bottle.
“The repeated use of a glass bottle in that way, especially aimed at the head, was plainly dangerous; it carried the risk of delivering a more serious injury than was ultimately sustained,” Judge Tony Baumgartner said in Southwark Crown Court.
Despite the seriousness of the attack, Baumgartner said Brown did not qualify for a custodial sentence because he pleaded guilty and there were several mitigating circumstances, including stable employment and charity work. The judge acknowledged Brown’s previous convictions but said he had maintained a clean record in recent years.
Previous brushes with the law
Brown has faced repeated legal trouble since his felony conviction in the 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, hours before the pair were due to perform at the Grammys.
He has been arrested in several U.S. states over altercations but was either not charged or prosecutors later dropped the charges. In 2019 he was arrested in Paris and questioned on suspicion of rape, but was released without charge.
In return for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped charges of assault, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and having an offensive weapon, a bottle.
Brown’s friend and vocal coach Omololu Akinlolu also pleaded guilty to affray and was given a four-month suspended sentence.
Affray is the use or threat of unlawful violence that leads someone to fear for their safety.
Brown has apologised for the attack
Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe said Brown played a leading role in the attack.
“By any circumstances, when one watches that footage, it is Mr Brown that moves first,” Stonecliffe said.
Defence lawyer Sallie Bennett-Jenkins said Brown apologised to all those at the club that night, though she emphasised the attack lasted no more than 20 seconds.
“This is an ugly and unattractive incident,” Bennett-Jenkins said. “It is something which undoubtedly would have caused distress to those who are present and for which Mr Brown … offers a profound apology to all those present.”
Diaw was discharged from the hospital with head and knee injuries, Stonecliffe said.
Crowds greet Brown outside court
Brown was cheered outside the courthouse by fans who came from as far as Italy and the Netherlands.
His face was covered behind a black mask and dark glasses, and his bleached hair was mostly hidden from view under a black ball cap. He wore a black leather jacket and light-colored turtleneck.
He blew a kiss to one fan and appeared to sign an autograph for another as he moved through a pack of photographers and onlookers.
Not everyone was cheering for him. When he arrived at court in the morning, a lone voice could be heard shouting at him to ask when he was going to learn that violence is not OK.
Brown left the United Kingdom after the brawl but was arrested in May 2025 at a Manchester hotel after flying to the city for a concert. He had been free on bail of 5 million pounds ($6.7 million), which allowed him to tour Europe and North America the past two summers.
Brown rose to stardom as a teen in 2005 and won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for “F.A.M.E.” He earned his second in the same category for “11:11 (Deluxe)” in 2025.