Chris Brown sues Warner Bros. for $500M over ‘A History of Violence’ documentary
Chris Brown is taking legal action months after a documentary exploring his alleged history of violence was released.
The singer-songwriter sued Warner Bros. Discovery and several others for their role in the production of “Chris Brown: A History of Violence,” a documentary film chronicling Brown’s alleged pattern of abuse. He is seeking $500 million in damages, alleging libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The Investigation Discovery documentary (streaming on Max) is a compilation of many claims made against Brown over the years, strung together to create a picture of a violent man whom the entertainment industry has granted a pass. Brown has denied many of the allegations against him and has never been found guilty for any sex-related crime. The recent suit cites that fact and contends he has taken responsibility for past wrongdoings.
USA TODAY has reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery and Ample Entertainment, the production company behind the docuseries for comment.
Brown sued not only the producers, but also one of the subjects of the documentary, in a complaint filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Lawyers for Brown accused the architects of the documentary of knowing the narrative they laid out was false but proceeding anyway as a money grab, according to the court documents obtained by USA TODAY.
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The defendants “completely disregarded the facts in an attempt for fame and fortune −all at the cost of Chris Brown and the reputation he has worked diligently in redeeming over the last decade,” the filing says.
The documentary, which aired on Investigation Discovery Oct. 27, includes an account of violence from a Jane Doe who sued Brown in 2022 for sexual assault. The woman, whom Brown’s legal team names in the filing, alleges Brown drugged and raped her on music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Miami Beach-based yacht. Combs now faces his own legal minefield after a suit from his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura unleashed a torrent of other claims from alleged victims who are accusing the rapper of rape.
Brown’s star was heavily tarnished in 2009 when fans learned that he had assaulted then-girlfriend Rihanna on the night of the Grammys. Photos showing Rihanna bloody and bruised after the attack were leaked to the public at the time, forever altering Brown’s reputation and kicking off more than a decade of legal troubles.
Brown’s lawyers argue in Tuesday’s filings that restitution for those years has been paid and the most recent account of violence is fraudulent. “Mr. Brown has grown from those experiences and his evolution speaks for itself,” the complaint reads.
“The storytelling ‘Jane Doe’ had not only been discredited over and over but was in fact a perpetrator of intimate partner violence and aggressor herself,” the filing argues, citing the dismissal of the case as well as a restraining order from Jane Doe’s ex-boyfriend, who alleged she harassed him online and threatened him with a knife.
Brown’s team attached the restraining order request, along with an alleged record of Jane Doe’s 2021 arrest related to the domestic violence charges.
