A high profile legal challenge from Chris Brown targeting a televised documentary about his past allegations has been thrown out by a California judge, ending a $500 million defamation fight before it reached trial.
The ruling, issued Monday, January 12, dismisses Brown’s lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery and Ample Entertainment, which produced the 2024 Investigation Discovery special “Chris Brown: A History of Violence.” Brown had accused the companies of knowingly broadcasting false and damaging claims about him.
At the center of the dispute was the documentary’s coverage of a woman who alleges Brown sexually assaulted her in 2020 while aboard a yacht owned by Diddy. Brown has consistently denied the allegation, arguing the woman’s story shifted over time, that she failed to provide key text messages to police, and that her personal history raised credibility concerns.
Judge Colin Leis rejected those arguments, writing that the documentary did not ignore or conceal the inconsistencies raised by Brown’s legal team.
“The court has personally viewed the entire documentary. The documentary recites most of the inconsistencies plaintiff notes, including the existence of the text messages,” Leis wrote. “Media defendants thus presented a ‘fair and true’ report of [the woman’s] statements and the judicial record and proceedings.”
The judge also addressed Brown’s objection to commentary included in the film from culture writer Scaachi Koul, who described the singer as having a “predisposition for punching women in the face.” Leis noted that Brown has acknowledged physically assaulting Rihanna in the past.
“Plaintiff presents no evidence that Scaachi Koul’s opinions about plaintiff’s predilections are false,” the order states.
Ultimately, the court dismissed the case under California’s anti SLAPP statute, a law designed to block lawsuits that target constitutionally protected speech. Under that law, plaintiffs must show a baseline level of legal merit to proceed, a standard the judge found Brown did not meet.
Representatives for Brown and Warner Bros. Discovery did not respond to requests for comment following the decision. Brown may still appeal the dismissal if he chooses, but for now, the documentary remains legally protected.
YOU ATTEMPTED TO ADVERTISE CHRIS BROWN AS A VIOLENT MONSTEROUS PERSON WHOM HATES WOMEN IN SOME CAPACITY.
SO YOU RAP BEEFED HIM AND YOU DIDN’T WANT HIM TO GET PAID FROM YOU SAYIN’ HIS NAME AND SMEARING HIS LEGACY IN MUSIC AND STAGE PERFORMING.
YOU ALL OWE HIM $500 MILLION.
THOSE PEOPLE IN FILM DO NOT SING, RAP, DANCE ON STAGE AT ALL, NOR DID THEY GET CHEMICALLY ATTACKED BY SOME EURO-NAPPY HEADED NIGGA GIRL WITH A BUNKIN’ ACCENT.
THAT STD INCIDENT WAS A CHEMICAL ATTACK AGAINST OUR FELLOW U.S. CITIZEN.
AND YOU ALL ALLOWED HIM TO SUFFER FROM A BUNCH OF WHOREMONGER FAKE ASS PROSTITUTES. HAZING HIM AND COMPLAINING AND SHIT.