American R&B singer Chris Brown, former boyfriend of superstar Rihanna, was on Friday remanded in custody until June 13 by a UK court, charged with assault over a 2023 incident, reported AFP.
The judge’s decision to reject his bail request throws into doubt the start of Brown’s next tour, with shows already sold-out in the Netherlands on June 8 and Germany on June 11.
Brown, a two-time Grammy winner who has sold tens of millions of records worldwide, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday at a Manchester hotel and charged over the alleged assault at a London nightclub in 2023, police said.
The 36-year-old appeared at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Friday, where District Judge Joanne Hirst remanded him in custody until a plea and trial preparation hearing at London’s Southwark Crown Court on June 13.
Brown is due to play in Germany that day, and has a series of shows planned in the UK and Europe during June and July, before heading to the United States.
Wearing a black T-shirt, Brown spoke to confirm his name, age and the address of the hotel where he was staying.
Brown was charged with “grievous bodily harm with intent” in relation to “an assault” that allegedly took place at a venue in Hanover Square in London on February 19, 2023, police said.
Prosecutor Hannah Nicholls told the court the alleged victim was at the bar in the Tape nightclub in central London when he was struck several times with a bottle in an “unprovoked” attack.
“The defendant then pursued him to a separate area of the nightclub where the victim was punched and kicked repeatedly by him and another,” she added.
Brown was touring the UK at the time of the alleged assault.
He reportedly flew into Manchester airport by private jet on Wednesday afternoon. Police detained him at the five-star Lowry Hotel in Manchester, according to media reports.
