LONDON — Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown pleaded not guilty Friday to a charge related to the serious beating of a music producer with a bottle in a London nightclub in 2023. Brown, 36, wearing a blue suit, white shirt and black-rimmed glasses, was arraigned in London’s Southwark Crown Court on one count of attempting to unlawfully and maliciously cause grievous bodily harm with intent. Brown’s friend and fellow musician Omololu Akinlolu, 39, who performs under the name “Hoody Baby,” pleaded not guilty to the same charge. Prosecutors previously said Brown and Akinlolu assaulted producer Abe Diaw at a bar in the Tape nightclub in the swanky Mayfair neighborhood in February 2023. Brown allegedly launched an unprovoked attack on Diaw and hit him several times with a bottle and then punched and kicked him. The attack was caught on surveillance camera in front of a club full of people, prosecutors said. Brown was originally charged with a single count of grievous bodily harm after his arrest in May, but prosecutors subsequently brought an indictment adding two counts: assault causing actual bodily harm and having an offensive weapon, a bottle. When a court clerk asked Brown how he pleaded to the grievous bodily harm count, he replied: “Not guilty ma’am.” Brown did not enter pleas on the additional counts and was ordered to return to court July 11 to face those charges after wrapping up the European leg of his world tour. His trial was scheduled for Oct. 26 2026. The singer of “Go Crazy,” “Run It,” and “Kiss Kiss” was released last month on a 5 million-pound ($6.75 million) bail, which allowed him to start his “Breezy Bowl XX” tour earlier this month. Following his release after almost a week in jail, Brown posted on Instagram: “FROM THE CAGE TO THE STAGE!!! BREEZYBOWL.” Brown, who quickly rose to stardom as a teen in 2005, won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for “F.A.M.E.” and then earned his second in the same category for “11:11 (Deluxe)” earlier this year. He is currently touring the U.K., playing this weekend in London with subsequent shows in Ireland, Scotland, France and Portugal. He returns to North America at the end of July to play Miami, before moving across the U.S. with a two-night stop in Toronto along the way. Brian Melley, The Associated Press
