Singer Chris Brown pleaded guilty Friday to the charge of affray three years after he was accused of injuring a music producer in a London nightclub.
Brown made the change of plea during a hearing at London’s Southwark Crown Court. He had previously denied more serious charges over the 2023 altercation.
Prosecutors dropped charges of assault, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and having an offensive weapon in return for the guilty plea, according to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service.
Brown’s co-defendant, Omololu Akinlolu, who performs under the name Hoody Baby, also entered a guilty plea to a charge of affray, which stems from someone who fights another person in a public place.
The 37-year-old singer was freed on bail again Friday and will be sentenced on Oct. 26 for the affray charge.
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Brown is accused of launching an “unprovoked attack” on producer Amadou “Abe” Diaw at the Tape nightclub in London in February 2023 while he was on tour.
Prosecutor Hannah Nicholls alleged that Brown struck Diaw several times with a tequila bottle and then punched and kicked him.
The attack was caught on surveillance camera in front of a club full of people, prosecutors 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,” said Claire Campbell, senior crown prosecutor in CPS London South.
“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,” Campbell added in a statement on Friday.
Last July, Brown entered pleas of not guilty to causing actual bodily harm and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.
Akinlolu also pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing actual bodily harm, having previously denied attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm.
Brown was originally charged with a single count of causing grievous bodily harm after his arrest in May 2025 but prosecutors subsequently brought an indictment adding two counts: assault causing actual bodily harm and having an offensive weapon, a bottle.
The Sensational singer was released on US$6.7-million bail last May, which allowed him to start his Breezy Bowl XX tour in June 2025.
Judge Tony Baumgartner said Brown could continue his tour, including several stops in the U.K., but would have to pay the bail to guarantee his appearance in court. The judge also said that Brown would be asked to forfeit the money if he breached bail conditions.
Brown’s bail conditions include surrendering his passport if he is not travelling on tour, living at a specific address known to the court, not contacting Diaw, not visiting the Tape nightclub where the incident took place and not applying for international travel documents.
—With files from The Associated Press
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