Music

French Police Detain Chris Brown After Rape Accusation, According to Report

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[UPDATE January 22, 2019, 6:11 EST]: AP reports that Brown and two other men have been released from custody on Tuesday. A source at the Paris prosecutor’s office told AP that Brown would be authorized to leave the country while the investigation continues. Brown denied the allegations in an Instagram post.

French police detained singer Chris Brown and two other people on Monday on suspicion of aggravated rape and drug violations, according to multiple reports. The French gossip magazine Closer claimed Brown, 29, his bodyguard and Brown’s friend were arrested after a 24-year-old woman said she was raped at the singer’s suite at the Mandarin Oriental hotel on January 15. She told investigators that she had met the men at club Le Crystal in the 8th arrondissement near the Champs-Elysees.

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According to the Associated Press, officials have two more days to decide whether to let him go or file preliminary charges. If convicted of rape, Brown could face a sentence of up to 15 years in France. A representative for Brown’s label RCA Records—which just last week cut their long standing ties with R. Kelly, who has himself been accused of sexual abuse—did not respond to Noisey’s requests for comment as of press time.

These allegations are the latest in an extensive string of Chris Brown’s legal troubles over the past decade. In 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault and making criminal threats on his then-girlfriend Rihanna, serving five years probation. He was arrested in 2016 for pointing a gun at a woman’s face outside a club, among several other incidents that include violating his parole and getting kicked out of a drug rehab facility in 2013. Just this past year, he was arrested on outstanding felony battery charges and charged with a misdemeanor for lacking a permit for a pet monkey.

Since 2017, Chris Brown has worked with artists like Drake, Meek Mill, Future, Pitbull, T-Pain, Lil Dicky, Yo Gotti, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Joyner Lucas, Jacquees, Tory Lanez, H.E.R., Jhené Aiko, and many more.