Chris Brown’s arrest over alleged threats to beauty queen fits pattern of abuse
Singer, who has earned a reputation for violence following incidents including beating of fellow singer Rihanna, will find out in three weeks whether he will face charges over standoff in California
Chris Brown’s arrest this week after a bizarre standoff with police has reinforced a reputation the singer is unlikely to want – as one of the world’s most high-profile perpetrators of domestic violence.
The artist who rose from a local church choir to sudden pop fame was released on US$250,000 bail on Tuesday after a woman alleged that he pointed a gun at her. The 27-year-old R&B singer and rapper was arrested after keeping officers outside his palatial Los Angeles home for hours as he took to Instagram to upbraid the police to his legion of fans.
Baylee Curran, the winner of the Miss California Regional beauty pageant, says Brown threatened her after a night of partying when she admired the jewellery of one of the singer’s associates. Brown will appear in court on September 20 to hear whether he will face charges, the district attorney’s office says. Brown said he was innocent.
However, Brown pleaded guilty in the best known of his many legal run-ins – beating his then girlfriend Rihanna ahead of the 2009 Grammy Awards. Rihanna was forced to miss the music industry’s gala as an aghast public saw pictures of one of the world’s most famous singers with severe bruises on her face and her blood in Brown’s car.