Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown pleaded guilty Friday to affray over an altercation in a London nightclub in a fight that injured a music producer, avoiding a trial that had been scheduled for October. The 37-year-old made the change of plea during a hearing at London’s Southwark Crown Court.
In return for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped more serious charges of assault, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and having an offensive weapon. The incident alleged occurred at Tape, an exclusive private members’ club in London’s Hanover Square in the Mayfair neighborhood, on February 19, 2023, while Brown was touring in the United Kingdom. Brown had previously denied attacking music producer Abraham Diaw with a bottle during that incident. Prosecutors said the fight was caught on surveillance camera in front of a club full of people.
A senior prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service described the attack as serious. “This was a vicious and unprovoked attack by Brown and Akinlolu in a crowded nightclub where Brown used a glass bottle as a weapon to strike the victim’s head twice,” she said.
Brown’s friend and vocal coach Omololu Akinlolu, 40, also pleaded guilty to affray. The two men had been due to stand trial in October. According to court details, the victim was allegedly struck several times with a bottle before being pursued, punched and kicked in a separate area of the nightclub.
Brown had been held on a bail of 5 million pounds, equivalent to approximately $6.75 million, which allowed him to tour Europe and North America. He was arrested in Manchester in May 2025 after returning to Britain for the first time since the incident. He spent nearly a week in custody before being released on bail. When released again Friday, he was in a tan suit, gold-rimmed sunglasses and a St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap, and he signed autographs for fans as he left the courthouse.
Both Brown and Akinlolu will be sentenced on October 26 for the affray charge. The offense carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. The agreement to plead guilty to the lesser charge of affray resolved what had been expected to be a contentious five to seven-day jury trial, allowing both men to avoid the more serious charges they had previously denied.
Brown has been a prominent figure in the music industry since rising to stardom as a teen in 2005. He won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for “F.A.M.E.” and earned his second in the same category for “11:11 (Deluxe)” in 2025. The singer has faced legal difficulties before, having pleaded guilty to felony assault of his then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009.