Chris Brown avoids prison time for brawling at London nightclub

Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown avoided prison time Monday for beating a music producer with a tequila bottle at a London nightclub three years ago.

Brown was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for a year.

Brown, 37, faced up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a count of affray in July for the attack on the dancefloor of Tape, a private club in the swanky Mayfair neighborhood in February 2023.

Affray is the use or threat of unlawful violence that leads someone to fear for their safety.

Video footage played in court showed Brown having to be pulled away from the victim, his former friend Abraham Diaw, after striking him twice in the head with a bottle.

“The repeated use of a glass bottle in that way, especially aimed at the head, was plainly dangerous, it carried the risk of delivering a more serious injury than was ultimately sustained,” Judge Tony Baumgartner said.

Despite the seriousness of the attack, Baumgartner said Brown did not qualify for a custodial sentence because he pleaded guilty and there were several mitigating circumstances. The judge acknowledged Brown’s previous convictions but said he had maintained a clean record in recent years.

Brown left the United Kingdom after the brawl but was arrested in May 2025 at a Manchester hotel after flying to the city for a concert. He had been free on bail of £5 million ($6.7 million), which allowed him to tour Europe and North America last summer.

Brown, who rose to stardom as a teen in 2005, won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for “F.A.M.E.” He earned his second in the same category for “11:11 (Deluxe)” in 2025.

He has been in repeated legal trouble since his felony conviction in the 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, hours before the pair were due to perform at the Grammys.

He has been arrested in several US states over altercations, and in 2019 he was arrested in Paris and questioned on suspicion of rape. He was released without charge.

This story has been updated with developments.

Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

格莱美获奖歌手克里斯·布朗周一免于牢狱之灾，他三年前在伦敦一家夜总会用龙舌兰酒瓶殴打了一名音乐制作人。

布朗被判处八个月监禁，缓刑一年。

37 岁的布朗于 2023 年 2 月在伦敦高档的梅菲尔区一家名为 Tape 的私人俱乐部的舞池里袭击他人，他于 7 月承认犯有扰乱公共秩序罪，面临最高三年的监禁。

斗殴是指使用或威胁使用非法暴力，导致他人感到自身安全受到威胁。

法庭播放的视频片段显示，布朗用酒瓶两次击打受害者（他的前朋友亚伯拉罕·迪亚乌）的头部，之后被人拉开。

“反复以这种方式使用玻璃瓶，尤其是瞄准头部，显然是危险的，它有可能造成比最终所受伤害更严重的伤害，”法官托尼·鲍姆加特纳说。

尽管袭击性质严重，鲍姆加特纳法官表示，布朗认罪且存在多项减刑情节，因此不符合监禁刑罚的条件。法官承认布朗曾有犯罪记录，但表示他近年来一直保持良好记录。

布朗在斗殴事件后离开了英国，但在2025年5月飞往曼彻斯特参加演唱会后，在曼彻斯特一家酒店被捕。他此前以500万英镑（约合670万美元）的保释金获得自由，这使他得以在去年夏天巡演欧洲和北美。

布朗在 2005 年以青少年身份成名，2011 年凭借专辑《FAME》获得格莱美最佳 R&B 专辑奖，2025 年凭借专辑《11:11 (Deluxe)》获得该奖项的第二座格莱美奖。

自 2009 年因殴打当时的恋人蕾哈娜而被判重罪以来，他一直麻烦不断。事发时，他和蕾哈娜原本计划在格莱美颁奖典礼上表演，而就在几个小时前，蕾哈娜遭到殴打。

他曾因与人发生冲突在美国多个州被捕，2019年在巴黎因涉嫌强奸被捕并接受讯问，后被无罪释放。

本文已根据最新进展进行更新。