Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown is to be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday over a brawl at a London nightclub three years ago, after pleading guilty to affray for attacking music producer Abraham Diaw with a bottle.
Brown, 37, pleaded guilty at the same court in July. Prosecutors said he struck Diaw twice over the head with a glass bottle at the Tape nightclub in Mayfair in the early hours of February 19, 2023, and that the attack — in a crowded club, in front of everyone there — was caught on the club's surveillance cameras. The court heard Diaw was punched and kicked as he tried to get away, and was treated in hospital for head and knee injuries. The surveillance footage itself has never been publicly released.
In return for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped the heavier charges Brown had been facing: assault, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm, and having an offensive weapon — the bottle. Affray carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison, and the judge said at the plea hearing that all options would be open to the court.
Brown's friend and vocal coach, Omololu Akinlolu, also pleaded guilty to affray and is being sentenced alongside him.
Chris Brown arriving at Southwark Crown Court for his guilty-plea hearing in July.
Brown left the United Kingdom after the 2023 fight and stayed away for more than two years. He was arrested in May 2025 at a hotel in Manchester after flying in for a concert, and has been free on bail of £5 million, which allowed him to keep touring Europe and North America over the summer.
The Crown Prosecution Service described the attack as vicious and unprovoked, and said no one is above the law.
Brown rose to stardom as a teenager in 2005 and won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for "F.A.M.E.", adding a second in the same category in 2025 for "11:11 (Deluxe)". His legal troubles go back to his felony conviction over the 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend Rihanna, and he has been arrested in several U.S. states over altercations since. In 2019 he was questioned in Paris on suspicion of rape and released without charge.
The sentence is expected later on Monday and this article will be updated when it is handed down.
📣 Join ProfiloPolitics on Telegram — breaking news first
Follow @profilopoliticsnews for every update on this story.