Singer Chris Brown pleads not guilty in London nightclub assault case

LONDON (AP) — Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown pleaded not guilty Friday to a charge related to the serious beating of a music producer with a bottle in a London nightclub in 2023.

Brown, 36, wearing a blue suit, white shirt and black-rimmed glasses, was arraigned in London's Southwark Crown Court on one count of attempting to unlawfully and maliciously cause grievous bodily harm with intent.

Brown’s friend and fellow musician Omololu Akinlolu, 39, who performs under the name “Hoody Baby,” pleaded not guilty to the same charge.

Prosecutors previously said Brown and Akinlolu assaulted producer Abe Diaw at a bar in the Tape nightclub in the swanky Mayfair neighborhood in February 2023. Brown allegedly launched an unprovoked attack on Diaw and hit him several times with a bottle and then punched and kicked him.

The attack was caught on surveillance camera in front of a club full of people, prosecutors said.

Brown was originally charged with a single count of grievous bodily harm after his arrest in May, but prosecutors subsequently brought an indictment adding two counts: assault causing actual bodily harm and having an offensive weapon, a bottle.

When a court clerk asked Brown how he pleaded to the grievous bodily harm count, he replied: “Not guilty ma’am."

Brown did not enter pleas on the additional counts and was ordered to return to court July 11 to face those charges after wrapping up the European leg of his world tour. His trial was scheduled for Oct. 26 2026.

The singer of “Go Crazy,” “Run It,” and “Kiss Kiss” was released last month on a 5 million-pound ($6.75 million) bail, which allowed him to start his “Breezy Bowl XX” tour earlier this month.

Following his release after almost a week in jail, Brown posted on Instagram: “FROM THE CAGE TO THE STAGE!!! BREEZYBOWL."

Brown, who quickly rose to stardom as a teen in 2005, won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for “F.A.M.E.” and then earned his second in the same category for “11:11 (Deluxe)” earlier this year.

He is currently touring the U.K., playing this weekend in London with subsequent shows in Ireland, Scotland, France and Portugal. He returns to North America at the end of July to play Miami, before moving across the U.S. with a two-night stop in Toronto along the way.

US R&B singer Chris Brown leaves Southwark Crown Court after attending a plea hearing in London, Friday, June 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

US R&B singer Chris Brown leaves Southwark Crown Court after attending a plea hearing in London, Friday, June 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

R&B singer Chris Brown arrives at Southwark Crown Court to attend a plea hearing in London, Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

R&B singer Chris Brown arrives at Southwark Crown Court to attend a plea hearing in London, Friday, June 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

R&B singer Chris Brown arrives at Southwark Crown Court to attend a plea hearing in London, Friday, June 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)