Rapper Chris Brown has filed a $500m (£450m) lawsuit against Warner Bros after he was called a “serial rapist and a sexual abuser” in a new documentary.
The lawsuit, which also requests a jury trial, alleges that the Investigation Discovery docuseries, Chris Brown: A History of Violence has been “detrimental” to the singer and is “full of lies”.
“To put it simply, this case is about the media putting their own profits over the truth,” says the lawsuit.
Brown, 35, has a series of allegations against his name, including assaulting his ex-girlfriend Rihanna in a car in 2009, attacking a nightclub photographer in 2017 and “brutally and severely beating” four men after a concert in Texas in 2024.
The complaint continues: “Since the beginning of October of 2024, Ample LLC and Warner Brothers were put on notice that they were promoting and publishing false information in their pursuit of likes, clicks, downloads and dollars and to the detriment of Chris Brown.
“Ultimately, on October 27, 2024, they aired Chris Brown: A History of Violence (the ‘Documentary’), knowing that it was full of lies and deception and violating basic journalist principles.”
The lawsuit also said that the documentary was based on an incident on a yacht in 2020 that has been “discredited over and over”.
The document from the Santa Monica law firm adds: “They did so after being provided proof that their information was false, and their storytelling ‘Jane Doe’ had not only been discredited over and over but was in fact a perpetrator of intimate partner violence and aggressor herself”.
The lawsuit highlights statements from the accuser claiming that Brown “raped” her. It also alleges that the star takes issue with the perception that he has a “predisposition for punching women in the face.”
It also claims that “Mr Brown has never been found guilty of any sex-related crime (rape, sexual battery, sexual assault, etc.) but this documentary states in every available fashion that he is a serial rapist and sexual abuser.”
The lawsuit states that a portion of the $500m damages would be donated to “survivors of sexual abuse”.
In 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex-girlfriend Rihanna and was sentenced to probation and community work. He has also had several sexual assault accusations by ex-girlfriends and acquaintances and legal trouble since then.
In June 2017, Brown’s ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran was issued a restraining order against the singer for five years. The model alleged in court that Brown texted her violent threats, such as, “I can get my money back, and I’m tired of playing games,” along with, “B---- I will beat the s--- out of you” and “I promise you I will make your life hell.”
In January 2022, Brown was sued for $20m by a woman who alleged the singer drugged and raped her on a yacht that was parked at rapper Diddy’s Star Island estate in Florida.
Citing a “lack of prosecution,” a judge dismissed the case in August of the same year, NBC Palm Springs reported.
In a statement, an Investigation Discovery spokesperson said: “We stand behind the production and will vigorously defend ourselves against this lawsuit.”
The National Domestic Violence helpline can be reached free in the UK on 0808 2000 247.
