Chris Brown Pleads Guilty Over Alleged Nightclub Attack, Will Face Sentencing Later This Year

Chris Brown has pleaded guilty to affray in relation to an alleged incident at a London nightclub in 2023.

The singer, 37, entered the plea at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Friday, July 24, in a hearing that took less than five minutes, the BBC reported.

His co-defendant, 40-year-old rapper HoodyBaby, real name Omololu Akinlolu, also pleaded guilty to the charge.

Brown was accused of attacking Abraham Diaw, a former friend, at Tape nightclub in Mayfair on Feb. 19, 2023.

In the alleged fight, which prosecutors said was caught on a surveillance camera in front of the club, per Sky News, Diaw was allegedly hit over the head with a bottle of Don Julio 1942 tequila, per a complaint by Diaw filed in 2023.

Brown and Akinlolu previously pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and grievous bodily harm last June. These charges, along with Brown’s charge of possessing an offensive weapon, have been dropped, the BBC reported.

Per Reuters, the “With You” hitmaker was greeted by fans cheering and chanting, “Breezy! Breezy!” when he left the court before signing autographs.

Brown was initially arrested by London’s Metropolitan Police at a hotel in Manchester on May 15, 2025, on suspicion of grievous bodily harm in relation to the incident.

He was released on a £5 million (about $6.7 million) bail on May 21. His bail conditions allowed him to continue on the European leg of his Breezy Bowl XX tour, provided he surrendered his passport on arrival in each country.

In November 2023, Diaw sued Brown. In the complaint, which was obtained by PEOPLE, Brown was accused of using “crushing blows” to hit Diaw in the head.

Diaw requested that the civil suit be dismissed with prejudice last June, meaning he cannot refile, per court documents from Los Angeles County viewed by Billboard. However, Brown still faces sentencing for the affray charge in the U.K., with a hearing scheduled for Oct. 26, the BBC reported.

The singer’s guilty plea comes weeks after he was ordered to pay nearly $13 million in damages to his former housekeeper after a dog attack at his home in 2020.

Maria Avila, his former housekeeper, was attacked by a 200 lb. Caucasian shepherd called Hades, who Brown owned for security purposes.

He claimed he warned Avila, who has been left permanently disfigured as a result of the attack, about Hades’ aggression.

But after a two-week trial in Los Angeles, Brown and his company, Black Pyramid LLC, were ordered to pay Avila $12.9 million in damages for negligence.