Chris Brown's Legal Problems: A Timeline of Trouble

Yahoo

23-05-2025

Chris Brown was arrested at his hotel in the U.K. on May 15, 2025, marking the latest entry in a long list of legal problems that have plagued the 35-year-old singer since his 2009 arrest for assaulting former girlfriend Rihanna.
More from Billboard
Rob49 Responds to Negative Reception to Justin Bieber's Verse on Unreleased 'WTHelly' Remix
Dance Moves: Mau P, Zack Martino & Calvin Harris Hit New Highs
Producer Spotlight: Carl Bown Tops Producer Charts Thanks to Breakout Sleep Token Album
The singer was detained by the Metropolitan Police at the five-star Lowry Hotel in Salford and has been charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm, according to Reuters. The arrest is tied to an alleged 2023 London nightclub assault in which Brown is accused of smashing producer-promoter Abraham Diaw with a bottle over the head, then proceeding to kick him at the Tape nightclub in Central London.
Brown has dealt with myriad legal issues throughout his career. For example, in 2024, a lawsuit was filed in Texas claiming that Brown and several accomplices 'brutally and severely beat' four men backstage at Dickies Arena in an unprovoked attack following the show. 'The violence included Brown and his entourage surrounding the Plaintiffs, throwing chairs at them, and repeatedly kicking, stomping, and beating them,' the complaint read. 'The unprovoked violence included multiple strikes to the Plaintiffs' heads and chests, and ultimately involved stomping them while they were down. The brutal, violent assault participated in and directed by Brown, severely injured all Plaintiffs.'
Brown's series of legal entanglements include the singer's guilty plea for beating his then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, for which he was sentenced to five years' probation and community service and forced to undergo domestic violence counseling. The 'Forever' singer has also been arrested and/or sued multiple times for various instances of alleged physical and sexual assault.
We've compiled a full timeline of Brown's legal troubles, from 2009 to present.
At 19 years old, Brown punched, choked and bit his then-girlfriend Rihanna, leaving her with visible facial injuries and in need of hospitalization. Brown turned himself in to the police and later plead guilty to one count of felony assault.
Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts asked Brown repeated questions about Rihanna during his visit to the show, after which the artist stormed off set, and threw a chair through his dressing room window.
Brown was involved in a brawl with Drake and his entourage at a New York nightclub, in which about eight people were injured due to broken bottles and punches thrown. The fight was reportedly over Rihanna, whom Drake has also dated.
Brown was involved in an altercation with Frank Ocean over a parking space outside a recording studio in West Hollywood, California. According to police reports, Brown pushed or punched the singer. Ocean did not press charges.
Brown's probation was revoked for his involvement in an alleged hit-and-run in Los Angeles. The charges were dropped at a hearing the following month after reaching a 'civil compromise' with his accuser.
Brown was arrested for felony assault after punching a man outside the W Hotel in Washington D.C. Brown and his bodyguard allegedly punched a man and broke his nose after he had tried to get in a picture with him and two women. Brown's charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and he voluntarily entered a rehab center while awaiting sentencing.
Brown checks out of rehab, and his representative shared that he would be continuing treatment for anger issues as an outpatient in Los Angeles. On Nov. 20, Brown was sentenced to 90 days at an anger management rehab facility, as well as submitting to drug testing and to take any prescriptions recommended by the facility.
A judge turned down a prosecutor's motion to send Brown to jail, citing the R&B singer's continued good behavior and progress in a rehabilitation program.
Superior Court Judge James R. Brandlin said probation officials reported that Brown is making good progress in treatment and must remain in the program unless he is given permission by the court or his probation officer. Brown was sentenced to three months of in-patient rehab in November after the singer was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault over an altercation several weeks earlier in Washington, D.C.
Brown was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, his rehab facility confirmed. According to court documents obtained by E! News, the facility determined that the singer suffers from both ailments, which are the causes of his history of aggression.
'Mr. Brown will also require close supervision by his treating physician in order to ensure his bipolar mental health condition remains stable,' a letter from the unnamed facility reads. 'It is not uncommon for patients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Bipolar II to use substances to self-medicate their biomedical mood swings and trauma triggers.
'Mr. Brown became aggressive and acted out physically due to his untreated mental health disorder, severe sleep deprivation, inappropriate self-medicating and untreated PTSD.'
The Grammy-winning R&B singer spent the weekend in a downtown Los Angeles lockup after a judge ordered him to be arrested for violating the rules and regulations of his treatment. Court records did not elaborate on the reason for Brown's dismissal from the facility in Malibu that was treating him for anger management, substance abuse and issues related to bi-polar disorder.
Brown admitted a probation violation over the altercation outside the Washington, D.C., hotel and was sentenced to remain on probation and serve an additional 131 days in jail. Superior Court Judge James R. Brandlin sentenced Brown to serve a year in county jail, but gave him credit for nearly eight months of time served. The credits include time the Grammy winner has spent in rehab and jail, as well as credits for good behavior while behind jail.
The singer was released from jail around midnight after serving 108 days of his 131-day sentence, TMZ reported. 'Humbled and blessed,' Brown tweeted after his release.
Brown's probation officially ends.
Brown was identified as the individual who allegedly assaulted another adult male during a basketball game at Palms Casino Resort, according to the Las Vegas police. The man was treated for non-life threatening injuries, which were sustained after a verbal spat led to a physical fight. In a press release, the LVMPD noted that Brown wasn't the only man who assaulted the victim.
'Chris is currently in Las Vegas as he is performing at Drai's on May 5th and receiving a Key to the Strip that day as well,' his rep said in a statement to CNN. 'He has a suite at the hotel that has a basketball court and invited friends to come play. An unruly individual showed up uninvited and was removed from the premises. Chris was not in an altercation with this person.'
Police responded to a report of battery that occurred inside a Palms hotel suite. When police arrived, the female victim appeared to have minor injuries sustained as a result of battery. Metro Police determined that the victim was attending a party inside a hotel room at the Palms hotel where an altercation took place over a cell phone. The victim alleges that she was battered by Brown when she took out her cell phone to take a picture of the singer, who then proceeded to take her phone from her. According to police, the victim was escorted out of the room by private security into the hallway, and proceeded to be escorted off property by hotel security.
The victim later returned to the hotel and reported the incident to Palms' security. Though detectives attempted to contact Brown, they were not permitted entry into the room and later determined that he had left the room prior to police arrival.
A representative for Brown said in a statement to THR that the '[victim's] statements are unequivocally untrue' and a possible motive for the accusation was retaliation since she had been removed from the private party due to her 'disruptive and out of control' behavior. 'Her claim that she had her phone in her possession inside the after party and was able to take a photo causing an altercation with Chris Brown is a complete fabrication,' Brown's rep said in the statement. 'This seems like a clear case of retaliation for her bruised ego.'
A crime report has been taken for misdemeanor theft and misdemeanor battery.
Brown was arrested at his home on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. According to the Los Angeles Times, model Baylee Curan said that Brown and another man became angry when she admired the man's diamond necklace. She also said that Brown threatened her with a gun before asking her to sign a nondisclosure agreement.
A short time later, Brown posted a series of (since deleted) Instagram videos in which he claimed his innocence. 'When I call the police for dangerous people that are stalking my life, they don't come till the next day,' he said in one clip. 'Let somebody make a f–ked up allegation about me and oh yeah, the whole f–king SWAT team. My n—a. I'm innocent. I'm tired of this s–t.'
He was later released from jail on $250,000 bail
The Grammy winner was court-ordered to stay 100 yards away from ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran and not attempt to contact her after she wrote in court filings that Brown had repeatedly threatened her since December. Tran also accused the singer of punching her in the stomach and pushing her down stairs a few years ago. Her filing does not offer any additional specifics or note if she reported the events to police. It states that no one was present at the time.
Tampa police reported that Brown 'sucker punched' a photographer after a disagreement over some pictures. According to one of the club's partner's, Brown showed up for a paid appearance at the 11,000-square-foot Aja Channelside club, and around 1 a.m., the club's in-house photographer attempted to take pics of the singer and his entourage when Brown's team told him to stop.
The partner said the unnamed photographer alleged that when he was taking crowd shots from behind Brown as the singer manned the DJ booth, the singer noticed and jumped over a couch to punch the photog in the face. In a video posted on the site, a person identified as Brown appears to throw a punch at an unseen person in a dark corner of the club.
Karrueche Tran was granted a five year restraining order against Brown.
California fish and wildlife agents seized Chris Brown's pet monkey from his Los Angeles home. Capt. Patrick Foy said that investigators determined the singer didn't have a permit for the capuchin monkey, named Fiji.
In December 2018, the singer was charged with two counts stemming from his possession of a pet capuchin monkey without a permit.
In March 2022, exotic animal dealer Jim Hammonds pleaded guilty to wildlife trafficking charges, with court documents claiming that the breeder illegally sold the singer the capuchin monkey for a total of $12,650. Prosecutors further alleged that Hammonds conducted the sale in Nevada to make it appear that a resident of the state had purchased the primate, since possessing one as a pet is illegal in Brown's home state of California. In June, Hammonds was sentenced to five years probation and more than $90,000 in fines for violating federal wildlife laws.
Brown was accused of co-conspiring, aiding and abetting in a 2017 sexual assault that took place during a party at his house in a lawsuit filed by attorney Gloria Allred on behalf of her client, a woman who will be known as Jane Doe.
According to the lawsuit, a copy of which was reviewed by Billboard, Doe had attended a concert at 1 Oak in West Hollywood, where she was invited to attend an after party at a recording studio where Brown and rapper Young Lo — whose real name is Lowell Grissom, Jr. — were working. When she arrived there, her phone was allegedly taken from her because Brown did not want any phones in the studio. Even when Doe wanted to leave, she claims her phone was not returned and she was then coerced into going to Brown's house in order to retrieve her phone.
While at Brown's house, the plaintiff claims alcohol and illicit drugs that she believed include cocaine, molly and marijuana were provided to guests. She also says Brown handed each female guest, including herself, a pill filled with white powder and instructed them to take it to have a 'good time.' Doe did not take her pill and instead sought to isolate herself in hopes she would be left alone.
Meanwhile, according to the filing, Doe's mother — with whom she is usually in close contact — became worried because she had not heard from her daughter and used an app to track the phone's location to Brown's house. Using that information, she called the police asking they go search for her daughter. The police did show up, but Brown refused to open the gate and denied them entry to his property.
The police left and the party continued, while Doe claims Grissom was 'evasive' and would not return her phone. From there, things took a turn for the worse. The plaintiff alleges that Brown, Grissom, a female guest referred to as Doe X — who is believed to be friends with Brown and Grissom and to have toured with them — and others planned to use drugs, alcohol and intimidation to 'coerce and force unwilling female guests to perform sexual acts for Defendants and others.' They allegedly lured the female guests into a bedroom and then falsely imprisoned those unwilling to voluntarily engage in sexual activity by going so far as to barricade the door and then further 'coerce, intimidate and sexually harass the unwilling female guests to commit sexual acts' on the defendants and others.
Brown, Grissom, Doe X and other unnamed defendants were accused of sexual battery, gender violence, hate violence, assault, interference with exercise of civil rights, intentional infliction of emotional distress and more.
Brown's lawyer, Mark Geragos, denies the allegations in the lawsuit. 'There's no case here,' Geragos stated during a live interview with TMZ's Harvey Levin. 'Chris is a target and for the last 10 years anybody who comes at him should know they're going to meet the full force of my firm.'
Geragos also claimed that the case is not currently under criminal investigation. 'If any of that were true it would have been criminally investigated. Obviously, it was and it was rejected,' he continued. 'Chris didn't do anything. My investigation shows that none of these allegations are true.'
After reports surfaced that Brown had been detained in Paris on potential charges of aggravated rape and drug infractions after a woman filed a rape complaint, his rep confirmed to Billboard that Brown had been released from custody and that all charges have now been dropped.
Brown subsequently denied rape allegations against him, posting a photo that reads 'This B—- Lyin'' in all caps. 'I wanna make it perfectly clear…..,' he elaborated in the caption, 'This is false and a whole lot of cap (sic)! … For my daughter and my family this is so disrespectful and is against my character and morals!!!!!''
Charges for the alleged Tampa nightclub assault were dropped.
An LAPD spokesperson told Billboard that officers responded to a report of a domestic argument in the 19600 block of Citrus Ridge Drive in the San Fernando Valley area — which corresponds with the address the Grammy-winning artist shared for his Tarzana, Calif. home on a promotional flyer for a garage sale he hosted in November 2019.
According to TMZ, the woman told police officers that Brown smacked the back of her head so hard her weave came off. However, The Los Angeles City Attorney's office later confirmed to Billboard that it 'declined to file charges due to insufficient evidence.'
Brown and Drake were slapped with a copyright infringement lawsuit over the 2019 single 'No Guidance,' which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Filed in U.S. District Court in Florida's Southern District, the complaint alleges that Brown, Drake and their various collaborators on the track (which was featured on Brown's 2019 album Indigo and featured Drake) lifted various lyrical and melodic elements from 'I Love Your Dress,' a 2016 song performed by plaintiff Braindon Cooper (performing as Mr. Cooper) and produced by co-plaintiff Timothy Valentine (credited on the track as Drum'N Skillz).
Among other alleged similarities, the accusers pointed to the fact that each song featured the phrase 'you got it' in the lyrical hook.
In a motion to dismiss the case, attorneys for Drake and Chris Brown said that lyrical phrase was clearly too simple and commonplace to be covered by copyright law. 'Plaintiffs' suit is premised upon the alleged similarity [to a] wholly generic lyrical phrase,' wrote James G. Sammataro of the law firm Pryor Cashman LLP, who reps the two stars. 'No one, including plaintiffs, can own or monopolize the non-copyrightable phrase 'you got it,' and it should come as no surprise that this phrase appears in countless other works.'
The case was later dropped in September 2022.
Brown and several members of his entourage, along with Brown's 11:11 Tour promoter Live Nation, are facing a lawsuit over an alleged assault that took place following Brown's concert in Fort Worth, Texas.
The lawsuit claims that Brown and several accomplices 'brutally and severely beat' four men — Larry Parker, Joseph Lewis, Charles Bush and Damarcus Powell — backstage at Dickies Arena in an unprovoked attack following the show.
'The violence included Brown and his entourage surrounding the Plaintiffs, throwing chairs at them, and repeatedly kicking, stomping, and beating them,' the complaint reads. 'The unprovoked violence included multiple strikes to the Plaintiffs' heads and chests, and ultimately involved stomping them while they were down. The brutal, violent assault participated in and directed by Brown, severely injured all Plaintiffs.'
In addition to Brown, the lawsuit names three members of his entourage — Conway, Hood Boss (a.k.a. Omololu Omari Akinlolu) and Sinko Ceej — as defendants. As for Live Nation, the complaint alleges that the concert promoter continued working with Brown despite his history of 'bad conduct and violent conduct.' According to the lawsuit, the company 'shamelessly profits and promotes Brown's The 11:11 Tour and brought Brown to Texas for financial gain. Live Nation failed to insure that the [participants] of the concert who may be around Brown, and his associates, were safe.'
Brown was taken into custody on May 15 after being arrested at his Manchester hotel and charged with 'inflicting grievous bodily harm,' which has been tied to a February 2023 London nightclub attack allegedly involving Brown.
According to The Independent, the victim, Abraham Diaw, accused Brown of smashing a bottle over his head, in addition to kicking him. Diaw has also filed a civil complaint against Chris Brown for $16 million, and is seeking damages for injuries and losses as a result of the alleged altercation.
The singer was denied bail and will remain behind bars until his next court date, which is slated for June 13. Brown's Breezy Bowl XX tour is now in jeopardy since the global stadium trek is supposed to kick off in Amsterdam on June 8.
A London judge released the musician on bail after he was initially denied bond days earlier. The magistrate ordered Brown to pay $5.4 million, plus an additional $1.3 million in seven days. He also has to surrender his passport while not traveling for his Breezy Bowl XX tour, which kicks off June 8.
Hours after his release, the R&B star shared a simple message on his Instagram Stories, writing, 'FROM THE CAGE TO THE STAGE!!!'
Best of Billboard
Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1
Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits
H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart