Grammy-winning R&B singer Chris Brown also made appearance before Southwark crown court in London, on Friday, 20 June 2025, where he denied a charge of serious assault on accusation of a violent night-club altercation which transpired earlier in 2023.
The sharp dressed 36 year old singer pleaded before the court calmly dressed in a navy blue suit, white shirt and black-rimmed glasses stating firmly no guilty to a grievous bodily harm charge.
Omolonu Akinlolu, 39 aka Hoody Baby who was a close associate of Brown and also a fellow musician was also charged. Akinlolu, also pleaded not guilty to similar offence. The two are alleged to have teamed up in assaulting music producer Abe Diaw on a night out at the up-scale Tape night club in the posh London Mayfair neighborhood in February 2023.
Assault in posh London Club
According to the prosecutors, Brown and Akinlolu emerged in an unprovoked attack on Diaw in a VIP area which is full of people, smashed him using a bottle then punched and kicked him severally. It was said that the incident took place in broad daylight and in the presence of a number of patrons with CCTV recording the whole incident.
When Brown was first charged by the prosecutor office, he was accused of one count of grievous bodily harm but the charge was subsequently altered to charge him alongside two other offenses, assault to cause actual bodily harm and that he was in possession of an offensive weapon, which in this case was referred to as a bottle that was reported to have been used in the fight.
Up to now, Brown has pleaded only to the main charge or grievous bodily harm with intent. He is scheduled to appear in the court on July 11 to face the rest of the charges after completing tour in Europe, the so-called Breezy Bowl XX tour.
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The date of trial is October 2026.
Trial has been set to start in full on October 26, 2026 and court officials said it could be a celebrity, long, and high- profile case, given Brown is a celeb and the allegations are violent. Friday hearing was packed with media and onlooker, which is another indicator that the notorious artist still has her eyes glued to the press.
The Legal Team of Brown Continues to Declare him Not Guilty
The defense team of Brown was silent when they came out of the courthouse but once again they acknowledged the presumption of innocence with their client. According to a spokesperson, Mr. Brown is denying the allegations and he is looking forward to getting a chance to prove his innocence in court.
After the hearing neither Brown nor Akinlolu addressed the media and both of them left the court with high level of security. Brown was recently on bail and was released last month with a huge bond amount of 5 million pounds (almost 6.75 million in the US currency).
After his release, Brown gave the following post on Instagram:
Within the cage to stage!!! BREEZYBOWL.”
The post, which even turned viral, was met with the support as well as criticisms, with fans being ecstatic of his music comeback and then others wondering about how serious the allegation could be.
A Highs and Controversies Career
Chris Brown has always been a name that is associated with success in music, as well as, legal issues. Since his debut in 2005 with his closely followed song, Run It!, Brown has sold millions of recordings in the ‘international marketplace’ and acquired a number of top-charting singles including Go Crazy, With You, and Kiss Kiss.
He first got a Grammy award in 2011 under Best R&B Album (F.A.M.E.) and later this year he got another Grammy award on 11:11 (Deluxe). Nevertheless a series of scandals and legal dilemmas have consistently cast a shadow on his professional achievements, the most well known being his high profile assault of his then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009.
Brown has since been the subject of a number of lawsuits, arrests and assault or misconduct accusations both internationally and in the U.S., but there is also a very substantial fan base, and touring record.
Touring in the Hurricane
It is noteworthy that despite all of the legal issues, Brown is still able to play to a packed house. His recent tour dubbed as the Breezy Bowl XX has been receiving massive applause around Europe since it started early this month.
He is currently touring in London and is due to play in Ireland, Scotland, France and Portugal in the next few weeks. Brown will crisscross big cities in the U.S during the fall after a stop in Miami and Toronto, back in North America, sometime in late July.
We still don?t yet know if the pending court appearances will tamper with his upcoming tour schedules but in the meantime, it seems Brown is as usual doing what he is used to doing.
Libby Has Not Publicly Spoken Yet
On the part of the supposed victim, Abe Diaw, there is not much that can be viewed publicly. He has not publicly commented to the media yet but he is supposedly fully cooperating with investigators. His health after the attack was not reported in court, though authorities had earlier reported that his injuries were critical, although not life-threatening.
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According to the officials, the suspected involvement of more witnesses and security cameras will come in handy in the trial ahead.
