Chris Brown’s Legal Problems: A Timeline of Trouble

Chris Brown was arrested at his hotel in the U.K. on May 15, 2025, marking the latest entry in a long list of legal problems that have plagued the 35-year-old singer since his 2009 arrest for assaulting former girlfriend Rihanna.

The singer was detained by the Metropolitan Police at the five-star Lowry Hotel in Salford and has been charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm, according to Reuters. The arrest is tied to an alleged 2023 London nightclub assault in which Brown is accused of smashing producer-promoter Abraham Diaw with a bottle over the head, then proceeding to kick him at the Tape nightclub in Central London.

Brown has dealt with myriad legal issues throughout his career. For example, in 2024, a lawsuit was filed in Texas claiming that Brown and several accomplices “brutally and severely beat” four men backstage at Dickies Arena in an unprovoked attack following the show. “The violence included Brown and his entourage surrounding the Plaintiffs, throwing chairs at them, and repeatedly kicking, stomping, and beating them,” the complaint read. “The unprovoked violence included multiple strikes to the Plaintiffs’ heads and chests, and ultimately involved stomping them while they were down. The brutal, violent assault participated in and directed by Brown, severely injured all Plaintiffs.”

Brown’s series of legal entanglements include the singer’s guilty plea for beating his then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, for which he was sentenced to five years’ probation and community service and forced to undergo domestic violence counseling. The “Forever” singer has also been arrested and/or sued multiple times for various instances of alleged physical and sexual assault.

We’ve compiled a full timeline of Brown’s legal troubles, from 2009 to present.