Chris Brown sues Warner Bros for $500 million over documentary sexual assault allegations | Chris Brown

R&B star Chris Brown is suing media conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery for $500 million (£406 million) for making defamatory allegations against him in the 2024 documentary Chris Brown: A History of Violence, reports Rolling Stone .

Released in October, the documentary addressed allegations of misconduct and sexual assault against Brown. It features a Jane Doe who sued him for allegedly drugging and assaulting her during a 2020 party on Sean “Diddy” Combs’ yacht (the case was dismissed without prejudice). In 2009, Brown attacked his then-girlfriend Rihanna before the Grammy Awards.

The film also details Brown breaking a window on Good Morning America in 2011, allegedly throwing a brick through his mother’s windshield in 2013, hitting a fan in 2016 and allegations of verbal and physical abuse and death threats from from another ex-girlfriend, Karrueche Tran. .

Brown was also sued by his ex-manager in 2016, who said Brown repeatedly punched him in the head and neck; they settled out of court in 2019. In July, four concertgoers claimed that Brown and his entourage “attacked and brutally beat” them after a concert and were awaiting trial.

Brown’s complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, accuses Discovery and production company Ample Entertainment of “promoting and publishing false information in their quest for likes, clicks, downloads and dollars and to the detriment” of Brown, even though they “knew it was false information.” full of lies and deception and violating the fundamental principles of journalism.

The Guardian has contacted Warner Bros Discovery and Ample Entertainment for comment.

Jane Doe is also named as a defendant and her prior suit is called “frivolous.” “Simply put, in this matter, the media is putting its own profits ahead of the truth,” the suit claims. “They did this after receiving proof that their information was false, and their narrative ‘Jane Doe’ had not only been repeatedly discredited, but was in fact a perpetrator of domestic violence and an abuser herself.

“Mr. Brown has never been convicted of any sex crime…but this documentary states in every available way that he is a serial rapist and sexual assaulter.”

“This case is about protecting the truth,” said Brown’s attorney, Levi McCathern. “Despite receiving evidence refuting their claims, the producers of this documentary intentionally promoted false and defamatory information, knowingly ignoring their ethical obligations as journalists. »

Despite the numerous allegations made against him, Brown remains the second most followed male music artist on Instagram, with 144 million followers, and continues to sell out audiences. He released his 11th studio album, 11:11, in November 2023.