Chris Brown pleads guilty to affray in London nightclub case

American R&B singer Chris Brown pleaded guilty on Friday to affray, a public order offence, over a 2023 brawl at a London nightclub, avoiding a UK trial.

Brown, 37, entered the plea at Southwark Crown Court in London. He had previously denied several other charges linked to the incident, including attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of an offensive weapon, namely a bottle. A prosecutor said those charges will be dropped at a later date.

According to an indictment, the new charge involved admitting to using or threatening unlawful violence that would have led others to fear for their safety.

Brown appeared in court with co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu, 40, also a US national. Akinlolu also pleaded guilty to affray. Both men are due to be sentenced in London on October 26. Under English law, affray can be punished by a fine or by up to three years in prison.

The charges relate to an alleged incident at Tape, a private members' club in Hanover Square, London, on February 19, 2023, while Brown was touring in the UK. Prosecutor Claire Campbell told a previous hearing that Brown and Akinlolu carried out what she described as a vicious and unprovoked attack in a crowded nightclub, and alleged that Brown used a glass bottle to strike the victim's head twice. The victim was allegedly struck several times with a bottle before being pursued, punched and kicked.

Brown had been on £5.0 million, or $6.7 million, bail. He spent nearly a week in jail in May 2025 before being released after police arrested him at a five-star hotel in Manchester. A judge later allowed him to continue a scheduled tour that had begun in June in Amsterdam. Brown was released again on bail ahead of the sentencing hearing.

Brown is known for mid-2000s songs including "Kiss, Kiss". The source also noted past legal troubles, including his 2009 felony conviction for assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna, a 2012 nightclub altercation involving members of Drake's entourage in which French basketball player Tony Parker suffered an eye injury from a thrown bottle, and Brown's 2014 guilty plea to assaulting a fan in Washington.