Chris Brown Pleads Not Guilty in UK Assault Case — What’s Next for the Singer?
Chris Brown was in court in the U.K. on Friday, where he pleaded not guilty to attacking a music producer with a bottle in February 2023.
The singer, 36, is charged with attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm on Abraham Diaw, whom he allegedly attacked in a London nightclub.
During his appearance at Southwark Crown Court, Brown was mostly silent. He spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and to enter his not guilty plea, Reuters reported.
Brown was arrested in May shortly after arriving in Manchester ahead of his “Breezy Bowl XX” tour. He was briefly jailed before posting a $6.7 million bond.
Chris Brown’s tour is not canceled
After Brown’s arrest, there was speculation that his legal problems might force the cancellation of his upcoming tour. That did not happen.
On June 8, he performed in Amsterdam, followed by dates in Germany. In mid-June, he returned to the U.K., where he performed in Cardiff and Manchester. The European tour continues through June and July with a series of performances in the U.K. and Ireland, including dates in London, Manchester, Birmingham, and Glasgow. Following concerts in Portugal and France, he’ll return to the U.S. in late July, where he’ll tour through mid-October, hitting cities such as Atlanta, Miami, Detroit, and Memphis.
When does Chris Brown’s trial start?
Brown’s U.K. court case should not interfere with the rest of his tour. The trial is not scheduled to begin until October 26, 2026. Once it starts, the legal proceedings should last five to seven days, according to The New York Times.
The Grammy-winner faces two additional charges: assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and carrying an offensive weapon. He did not enter a plea on those counts on Friday. Instead, his lawyer asked for more time to assess the evidence. Court will reconvene on July 11, where Brown is expected to enter a plea.
If convicted, Brown could spend between two and 16 years in prison.
Legal problems may only help ‘bad boy’ singer’s image
Brown’s latest legal drama does not appear to be dampening the enthusiasm of his fans. Tickets are reportedly selling well for his upcoming concerts. After he was released from jail in May, he quickly took the Instagram to brag about going “from the cage to the stage” (via Capital XTRA). Rather than hurting his reputation, the court case could simple boost his bad boy image.
“His latest arrest for allegedly attacking someone with a bottle in a nightclub barely made a dent, and unless it’s something truly career-ending, most fans seem to move on within days,” music PR expert Bob Bradley told The Mirror. ‘For better or worse, it seems like his core fan base has accepted that this kind of behavior comes with the package — and they’re willing to overlook it.”
“What’s wild is that these controversies don’t seem to hurt him as much as you’d expect,” Bradley added. “If anything, they continue to feed into this ‘bad boy’ persona that, for some, only adds to his appeal.”
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