Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown has pleaded guilty to affray over a 2023 nightclub brawl in London in which music producer Abraham Diaw was struck over the head with a bottle.
The 36-year-old alongside co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu, a 39-year-old American who performs under the name HoodyBaby, had been accused of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) to Diaw during what prosecutors described as an “unprovoked” attack at the Tape nightclub in London’s upscale Mayfair district in February 2023.
Both also faced charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon, namely a tequila bottle.
Prosecutors alleged that Brown attacked Diaw with a bottle inside the nightclub in front of a crowd of patrons and that the incident was captured on the venue’s surveillance cameras.
The affray charge states that Brown and Akinlolu “used or threatened unlawful violence towards another” and that their conduct “would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety.”
Describing the incident, Claire Campbell, a senior prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, said it was “a vicious and unprovoked attack.”
“This was a vicious and unprovoked attack by Brown and Akinlolu in a crowded nightclub where Brown used a glass bottle as a weapon to strike the victim’s head twice,” Campbell said.
“This kind of violence is entirely unacceptable, and the Crown Prosecution Service will work tirelessly, with the police and partners across the criminal justice system—to pursue cases like this and prove that no one is above the law.”
Appearing before Southwark Crown Court on Friday, Brown and Akinlolu, entered his guilty plea during a hearing that lasted less than five minutes.
Following their guilty pleas, Judge Tony Baumgartner adjourned the case until October 26, 2026, for sentencing.
Brown left the United Kingdom after the incident but was arrested in May 2025 at a Manchester hotel after returning to prepare for a concert tour.
He was granted bail of £5 million ($6.7 million), which allowed him to continue touring Europe and North America.
Following Friday’s hearing, Brown was released on bail pending sentencing on October 26. The affray conviction carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.