American singer and songwriter Chris Brown has been involved in multiple legal issues throughout his career. Notably, his first legal issue was when he pleaded guilty to assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, resulting in a sentence of five years' probation, community service, and mandatory domestic violence counseling. In addition to this incident, Brown has been accused of other acts of physical assault and has also faced dismissed rape allegations, for which he countersued for defamation.
2009 Rihanna domestic violence case
At around 12:30 a.m. (PST) on February 8, 2009, Brown and his then-girlfriend, singer Rihanna, had an argument that escalated into physical violence, leaving Rihanna with visible facial injuries that required hospitalization. Brown turned himself in to the LAPD's Wilshire station at 6:30 p.m. and was booked under suspicion of making criminal threats. The police report did not name the female in the incident as is policy, but media sources soon revealed that the victim was Rihanna. Following Brown's arrest, several commercial ads and some TV shows featuring him were suspended, his music was withdrawn from multiple radio stations, and he withdrew from public appearances, including one at the 2009 Grammy Awards, where he was replaced by Justin Timberlake and Al Green. Brown hired a crisis management team and released a statement saying, "Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired." On February 19, 2009, a graphic photo of Rihanna's battered face was leaked online,https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2009/02/20/Police-probe-leak-of-alleged-Rihanna-pic/70211235136982/https://www.nme.com/news/music/rihanna-307-1307372? reportedly taken after her assault by Chris Brown on February 8. The image, showing bruises, swelling, and a split lip, was first published by TMZ and quickly circulated across media outlets and social platforms,https://www.deseret.com/2009/2/20/20303066/tmz-posts-photo-it-claims-is-a-beaten-rihanna/https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/english/2009/Feb/22/police-probe-leak-of-battered-rihanna-photo-on-internet-27681.html sparking widespread public outrage.https://www.police1.com/officer-misconduct-internal-affairs/articles/firing-of-lapd-cop-who-leaked-rihanna-assault-photo-upheld-N4Xd8szh4yiwVEDN/ The Los Angeles Police Department initiated an internal investigation into the unauthorized release of the photo, considering it a serious misconduct with potential penalties up to termination. Despite this, no criminal charges were filed against the officers involved due to insufficient evidence.https://www.eonline.com/news/326923/rihanna-photo-leak-no-charges-against-lapd-cops-for-releasing-brutal-image
On March 5, 2009, Brown was charged with felony assault and making criminal threats. He was arraigned on April 6, 2009, and pleaded not guilty to one count of assault and one count of making criminal threats. On June 22, 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to a felony and accepted a plea deal of community labor, five years of probation, and domestic violence counseling.Settlement reached in Chris Brown's alleged beating of Rihanna Several organizations against domestic violence criticized the plea deal, advocating the punishment was not severe enough for the crime; the level of Brown's influence over youth also came under scrutiny. On July 20, 2009, Brown released a two-minute video on his official YouTube page apologizing to fans and Rihanna for the assault, expressing the incident as his "deepest regret" and saying that he has repeatedly apologized to Rihanna and "accepts full responsibility". In the video, Brown said he wanted to speak out earlier about the case but was advised by his attorney not to until the legal ramifications were settled. On August 25, Brown received five years of probation. He was ordered to attend one year of domestic violence counseling and undergo six months of community service; the judge retained a five-year restraining order on Brown, which required him to remain 50 yards (45.72 meters) away from Rihanna, reduced to 10 yards at public events. Andy Kellman of AllMusic stated, "A fairly substantial backlash resulted in Brown's songs being pulled from rotation on several radio stations. Ultimately, however, it had little bearing on the progress of his music and acting careers." In a retrospective assessment, Glamour wrote in a 2025 editorial that "for a man less amiable than the then 19-year-old Brown, the infamous assault, which he pleaded guilty to, could easily have been career-ending. But Brown had boundless talent, good looks, and charisma on his side. The carefully engineered qualities that had established his squeaky-clean persona had created a solid foundation on which he could rebuild his image" in the following years.https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/chris-brown-arrested-fans-support
On September 2, 2009, Brown spoke about the domestic violence case in a pre-recorded Larry King Live interview, his first public interview about the matter. He was accompanied to the interview by his mother, Joyce Hawkins, and attorney Mark Geragos, as he discussed growing up in a household with his mother being repeatedly assaulted by his stepfather. Brown said of hearing details of his assault of Rihanna, "I'm in shock, because, first of all, that's not who I am as a person, and that's not who I promise I want to be." Brown's mother said Brown "has never, ever been a violent person, ever" and that she does not believe in the cycle of violence. Brown said that it is "tough" for him to look at the famous photograph released of Rihanna's battered face, which may be the one image to haunt and define him forever, and that he still loved her. "I'm pretty sure we can always be friends," said Brown, "and I don't know about our relationship, but I just know definitely that we ended as friends." He stated he did not feel that his career was over, and likened his relationship with Rihanna to Romeo and Juliet, blaming the media attention in the aftermath of the assault for driving them apart.
In June 2010, Brown's application for a visa to enter the UK was rejected on the grounds of him "being guilty of a serious criminal offence" due to his assault on Rihanna. Brown had been planning to do a tour of British cities as part of a European tour but Sony stated that due to "issues surrounding his work visa" the tour was to be postponed. In February 2011, at the request of Brown's lawyer, Judge Patricia Schnegg modified with Rihanna's agreement the restraining order to a "level one order," allowing both singers to appear at awards shows together in the future. The following month, on March 22, 2011, during an interview with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America at the Times Square Studios, where he was repeatedly asked about the Rihanna situation and restraining order, Brown started crying and became violent in his dressing room during a commercial break before his second performance ending that day's program, and punched a window overlooking Times Square, causing damage to it. He then took off his shirt, and after angry confrontations with the show staff and building security, left the building shirtless. The following day, he apologized during live appearance on BET's "106 & Park": "First of all, I want to apologize to anybody who was startled in the office, or anybody who was offended or really looked, and [was] disappointed at my actions, because I'm disappointed in the way I acted".
On July 11, 2012, Brown's community service was evaluated and he was ordered to meet a judge. The evaluation was ordered by Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg on July 10, 2012. He was scheduled to appear in court with regard to the evaluation on August 21, 2012. While conducting his community service in Virginia, however, Brown was tested positive for cannabis and appeared in court on September 25, 2012, at which time his hearing date was changed to November, to determine whether or not he had violated the terms of his court order. He reappeared in court on November 1, 2012, and attempted to speak to the judge, but his lawyer, Mark Geragos, told him, "I don't dance; you don't talk." In January 2013, Rihanna confirmed that she and Brown had resumed their romantic relationship, stating, "It's different now. We don't have those types of arguments anymore. We talk about shit. We value each other. We know exactly what we have now, and we don't want to lose that." Speaking of Brown, Rihanna also said, "He's not the monster everybody thinks. He's a good person. He has a fantastic heart. He's giving and loving. And he's fun to be around. That's what I love about him – he always makes me laugh. All I want to do is laugh, really – and I do that with him". Rihanna and Brown collaborated again on "Nobody's Business", a duet song off Rihanna's Unapologetic album. The song was noted by critics as a public response by the couple towards the public perception of their intimacy. On March 20, 2015, Brown's probation ended, formally closing the felony case emanating from the Rihanna assault which happened over six years prior.
In his 2017 self-documentary Welcome to My Life, Brown opened up about his relationship with Rihanna and the events surrounding their 2009 altercation. Brown described their relationship as initially a "fairytale" and stated that he intended to marry Rihanna, but explained that it deteriorated after he admitted to being unfaithful with a woman who worked for him, leading to a loss of trust. He stated, "My trust totally was lost with her. She hated me after that … From there, it just went downhill".https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/chris-brown-rihanna-assault-documentary-welcome-to-my-life-watch-police-picture-a7896596.html Brown recounted the night of the violent altercation. He described how an argument escalated after Rihanna found a text message on his phone from the former employee, leading to a physical altercation in a car. Brown then provided a detailed description of the fight, saying that Rihanna tried to kick him, then he responded punching her, injuring her lip, and described the altercation as a heated, escalating fight that took place while they were driving. He recalled feeling shocked afterward.https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/chris-brown-recalls-moment-he-punched-rihanna-in-welcome-to-my-world-documentary-she-was-spitting-blood-a3613371.html Reflecting on the incident and its aftermath, Brown addressed the widely circulated photograph of Rihanna’s injuries, saying, "I look back at that picture and I’m like: ‘That’s not me, bro, that’s not me. I hate it to this day. That’s going to haunt me forever.’" He said that following the assault he felt “like a f–king monster,” revealed that he had contemplated suicide, and acknowledged the incident dramatically changed his public image.https://www.musictimes.com/articles/69906/20160419/new-chris-brown-documentary-reveals-suicidal-thoughts-rihanna-beating-watch.htm Brown also addressed how witnessing domestic violence during his childhood affected his own behavior. He acknowledged that exposure to his mother’s partner’s abusive actions played a role in the 2009 incident, describing it as “learned behavior.”https://www.salon.com/2017/10/20/chris-brown-welcome-to-my-life-male-violence/
2012 Drake scuffle On June 14, 2012, Drake and his entourage were involved in a scuffle with Brown at a nightclub called W.i.P. in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. Five to eight people were reportedly injured during the 4 AM brawl, including San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker, who had surgery to remove a piece of glass from his eye. Parker stated that doctors told him he nearly lost his eye.