R&B singer Chris Brown has pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to affray after a confrontation at a Mayfair club in 2023.
The 37-year-old had been facing trial later this year after he hit a former friend twice over the head with a bottle on the dancefloor at the Tape private members’ club in Mayfair.
On Friday at Southwark Crown Court, a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Abraham Diaw was dropped along with two charges of possessing an offensive weapon – a bottle – in a public place and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.
Prosecutors said that Chris Brown struck his victim twice over the head with a glass bottle before his vocal coach, Omololu Akinlolu, joined and punched the man to the head.
The victim was also kicked while he was sitting defenceless on the floor, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) added. He attended St Mary’s Hospital with head and knee injuries.
Brown was charged along with his vocal coach, Omololu Akinlolu, 40, who had also denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm and has now pleaded guilty to affray.
The pair will be sentenced on 26 October for the affray charge.
Claire Campbell, Senior Crown Prosecutor in CPS London South, said: “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.
“This kind of violence is entirely unacceptable, and the Crown Prosecution Service will work tirelessly – with the police and partners across the criminal justice system – to pursue cases like this and prove that no one is above the law.”
The singer, wearing a tan suit, gold-rimmed sunglasses and a St Louis Cardinals baseball hat, was flanked by security guards as he arrived at court, where a small group of fans had gathered.
At earlier hearings, Brown was ordered to pay a £5 million security fee as part of his bail conditions, which also allowed him to go on a world tour as long as he surrendered his passport on arrival in each country.
He was released on bail again on Friday.
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