Recording artist Chris Brown is suing Warner Bros. for $500 million, accusing them of unfairly painting him as an “abuser” with the airing of the docuseries “Chris Brown: A History of Violence.”
The project in question aired on Investigation Discovery in October. Brown, 35, filed the lawsuit for the alleged offenses of defamation-libel and infliction of emotional distress through the content of the program, per People.
“A History of Violence” included interviews with multiple women who claimed to have been abused by Brown. One woman identified as Jane Doe claims to have been raped by the recording artist in 2000.
“This case is about the media putting their own profits over the truth,” the lawsuit says. The document also asserts that Warner Bros. allowed the project to go forward, “knowing that it was full of lies and deception and violating journalistic principles.”
The filing mentions Doe specifically, saying her claims were already “discredited.” The document says she is “perpetrator of intimate partner violence and aggressor herself.” Brown claims Doe originally accused him of assaulting her on Sean “Diddy” Combs’ yacht in 2022, but those charges were dismissed after a Miami Beach Police officer discovered text messages sent by Doe “that exposed her dishonesty,” the filing states.
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The lawsuit mentions that despite Brown never being convicted of sex crimes, he’s painted as a “serial rapist” and “sexual abuser.” The docuseries also reported that Brown smashed a window at Good Morning America in 2011, allegedly threw a brick through his mother’s windscreen in 2013, and punched a female fan in 2016. He was also accused of verbal and physical abuse and making death threats by his ex-girlfriend, Karrueche Tran, per The Guardian.
Brown was sued by his ex-manager for assault in 2016 and settled out of court. In July 2024, four concert attendees claimed Brown and his entourage “attacked and brutally beat” them after the show. That case is still pending.
The lawsuit also mentions the harm caused by the docuseries after Brown spent years trying to rehabilitate his image. In 2009, the rapper was charged with assault and making criminal threats by his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, following an altercation they had before the Grammy Awards. Brown pleaded guilty in June of that year and accepted a plea deal of community labor, five years probation, and domestic violence counseling, the outlet noted.
“Mr. Brown has grown from those experiences, and his evolution speaks for itself,” the lawsuit states. “This new production ignores that growth, choosing instead to repackage stale accusations while amplifying them with demonstrable falsehoods.”
