LONDON — Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown avoided jail Monday for beating a music producer with a bottle of tequila at a London nightclub three years ago.
Brown was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for one year.
Brown, 37, faced up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of affray in July for the February 2023 attack on the dance floor of Tape, a private club in the upscale Mayfair district.
Fighting is the use or threat of unlawful violence that causes a person 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 hitting him twice in the head with a bottle.
“The repeated use of a glass bottle in this manner, particularly in the direction of the head, was clearly dangerous, it was likely to cause more serious injuries than those ultimately sustained,” Judge Tony Baumgartner said.
Despite the seriousness of the attack, Baumgartner said Brown was not eligible for prison time 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 UK after the brawl, but was arrested in May 2025 at a Manchester hotel after traveling to the city for a concert. He was released on bail of 5 million pounds ($6.7 million), which allowed him to tour Europe and North America last summer.
Brown, who rose to fame as a teenager in 2005, won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for “FAME.” He won 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 assault of his then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, hours before the couple performed at the Grammys.
He has been arrested in several US states for altercations, and in 2019 he was arrested in Paris and questioned on suspicion of rape. He was released without charge.
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