Chris Brown was sentenced Monday to eight months in prison, suspended for 12 months, for attacking music producer Abraham “Abe” Diaw with a bottle at a London nightclub in 2023. The sentence means Brown will not serve any time behind bars as long as he stays out of trouble for the next year.
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Brown appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London after pleading guilty to affray, a UK charge for fighting in public in a way that would make the people around you fear for their safety. The charge carries a maximum of three years in prison. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped the more serious charges of assault, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm, and having an offensive weapon.
Judge Tony Baumgartner made clear that Brown’s status played no part in his decision.
“I take account of your employment and long-established career in music,” Baumgartner said. “Your fame, commercial success and professional standing do not entitle you to special treatment. The law applies equally to everyone.”
The judge described the attack as short but intense and said, “Violence of this kind in a crowded nightclub is serious.”
The incident happened on February 19, 2023, at the Tape nightclub in Mayfair, one of London’s wealthiest neighborhoods. Prosecutors say Brown struck Diaw on the head twice with a glass bottle in front of a packed club, and the fight was caught on surveillance cameras.
“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,” Claire Campbell, a senior prosecutor at CPS London South, said after securing the conviction.
Brown’s friend and vocal coach, Omololu Akinlolu, a Florida rapper who performs as HoodyBaby, also pleaded guilty to affray. He was sentenced at the same hearing to four months in prison, also suspended for 12 months.
Brown left the UK after the attack, but police arrested him in May 2025 at a Manchester hotel after he flew in for a concert. A judge initially ordered him held in custody, which put his world tour in doubt. Days later, Baumgartner released him on £5 million bail, about $6.7 million, and allowed him to keep touring through Europe and North America while the case played out.
Chris Brown being sentenced in London adds to a legal history that stretches back to his 2009 felony conviction for assaulting Rihanna, his girlfriend at the time, the night before the Grammys.
