Singer Chris Brown free on bail while awaiting trial over alleged London nightclub attack

CBC

21-05-2025

A British judge ordered Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown released on 5-million-pound ($9.3 million Cdn) bail on Wednesday while facing allegations he beat and seriously injured a music producer with a bottle in a London nightclub in 2023.
The decision by a judge in Southwark Crown Court revives Brown's world tour, which was cast in doubt when another judge ordered him held in custody after he was charged last week with causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Judge Tony Baumgartner said that Brown could continue with this tour, including several stops in the U.K., but would have to pay the bail to guarantee his appearance in court.
Brown was initially scheduled to appear in court again on June 13.
If he had been held until then, Brown would have missed at least two dates on his upcoming tour, which starts next month in Europe.
Brown, 36, is accused of launching an unprovoked attack on producer Abe Diaw at the Tape nightclub in the swanky Mayfair neighborhood in February 2023 while he was on his last tour.
Prosecutor Hannah Nicholls said last week in Manchester Magistrates' Court that Brown struck Diaw several times with a bottle and then punched and kicked him in an attack caught on surveillance camera in front of a club full of people.
American musician Omololu Akinlolu, 38, who performs under the name Hoody Baby and is a friend of Brown, was also charged in the attack.
Neither Brown nor Akinlolu have entered a plea yet. Both men were ordered to appear in court again on June 20.
Brown, who burst onto the music scene as a teen in 2005, won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for F.A.M.E. and then earned his second in the same category for 11:11 (Deluxe) earlier this year. His hits include songs such as Run It, Kiss Kiss and Without You.