Chris Brown enters not guilty plea over alleged bottle attack at London club
The American singer and actor Chris Brown has pleaded not guilty to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm in an alleged bottle attack at a London nightclub.
Brown, 36, is accused of attempting to unlawfully and maliciously cause Abraham Diaw grievous bodily harm with intent at the Tape club in Hanover Square, Mayfair.
At a plea and trial preparation hearing at Southwark crown court on Friday morning, his co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu, a US national, denied the same charge.
Both defendants are further charged with assaulting Diaw, occasioning him actual bodily harm in the incident, on 19 February 2023, and Brown also faces one count of having an offensive weapon – a bottle – in a public place.
They were not asked to enter pleas to those charges, and a further court date was set for 11 July. A five- to seven-day trial was scheduled to start from 26 October 2026.
Brown arrived at court at 9am to a large group of photographers outside and walked in silence to the building's entrance. About 20 people sat in the public gallery behind the dock, many of them fans of the singer.
The Grammy-winning singer was arrested after flying into the UK for the Breezy Bowl XX tour. He was detained by police at about 2am on 15 May at the five-star Lowry hotel in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Brown was able to continue with his scheduled international tour after he was freed on conditional bail having agreed to pay a £5m security fee to the court.
He performed in Cardiff on Thursday night and is due to play two nights in London this weekend before heading to Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow, followed by dates in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


American Press
an hour ago
- American Press
Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil freed from immigration detention
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was released Friday from federal immigration detention, freed after 104 days by a judge's ruling after becoming a symbol of President Donald Trump 's clampdown on campus protests. The former Columbia University graduate student left a federal facility in Louisiana on Friday. He is expected to head to New York to reunite with his U.S. citizen wife and infant son, born while Khalil was detained. 'Justice prevailed, but it's very long overdue,' he said outside the facility in a remote part of Louisiana. 'This shouldn't have taken three months.' Email newsletter signup The Trump administration is seeking to deport Khalil over his role in pro-Palestinian protests. He was detained on March 8 at his apartment building in Manhattan. Khalil was released after U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be 'highly, highly unusual' for the government to continue detaining a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn't been accused of any violence. 'Petitioner is not a flight risk, and the evidence presented is that he is not a danger to the community,' he said. 'Period, full stop.' During an hourlong hearing conducted by phone, the New Jersey-based judge said the government had 'clearly not met' the standards for detention. The government filed notice Friday evening that it's appealing Khalil's release. The Department of Homeland Security said in a post on the social platform X that the same day Farbiarz ordered Khalil's release, an immigration judge in Louisiana denied him bond and 'ordered him removed.' The decision was made by Judge Jamee Comans, who is in a court located in the same detention facility from which Khalil was released. 'An immigration judge, not a district judge, has the authority to decide if Mr. Khalil should be released or detained,' the post said. Khalil was the first person arrested under Trump's crackdown on students who joined campus protests against Israel's devastating war in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Khalil must be expelled from the country because his continued presence could harm American foreign policy. The Trump administration has argued that noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be deported as it considers their views antisemitic. Protesters and civil rights groups say the administration is conflating antisemitism with criticism of Israel in order to silence dissent. Farbiarz has ruled that the government can't deport Khalil on the basis of its claims that his presence could undermine foreign policy. But the judge gave the administration leeway to continue pursuing a potential deportation based on allegations that he lied on his green card application, an accusation Khalil disputes. The international affairs graduate student isn't accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia. He served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student activists and wasn't among the demonstrators arrested, but his prominence in news coverage and willingness to speak publicly made him a target of critics. The judge agreed Friday with Khalil's lawyers that the protester was being prevented from exercising his free speech and due process rights despite no obvious reason for his continued detention. The judge noted that Khalil is now clearly a public figure. Khalil said Friday that no one should be detained for protesting Israel's war in Gaza. He said his time in the Jena, Louisiana, detention facility had shown him 'a different reality about this country that supposedly champions human rights and liberty and justice.' 'Whether you are a U.S. citizen, an immigrant or just a person on this land doesn't mean that you are less of a human,' he said, adding that 'justice will prevail, no matter what this administration may try to portray' about immigrants. Khalil had to surrender his passport and can't travel internationally, but he will get his green card back and be given official documents permitting limited travel within the country, including New York and Michigan to visit family, New Jersey and Louisiana for court appearances and Washington to lobby Congress. In a statement after the judge's ruling, Khalil's wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, said she can finally 'breathe a sigh of relief' after her husband's three months in detention. 'We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family, and so many others,' she said. 'But today we are celebrating Mahmoud coming back to New York to be reunited with our little family.' The judge's decision comes after several other scholars targeted for their activism have been released from custody, including another former Palestinian student at Columbia, Mohsen Mahdawi; a Tufts University student, Rumeysa Ozturk; and a Georgetown University scholar, Badar Khan Suri. ___ Marcelo reported from New York. Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Benson Boone's Favorite Hobby Proves He's a Thrill Seeker On and Off the Stage
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this article: 'Beautiful Things' singer Benson Boone has a new album out called American Heart. The 22-year-old Grammy nominee didn't discover his singing talent until his junior year of high school. When he's not making music, Boone spends his time cliff jumping and enjoying a sober lifestyle. If his platinum-certified debut album from 2024 is any indication, Benson Boone is about to crash the charts again. His new album, American Heart, released Friday. The 22-year-old musician has previously said the 10-track record is heavily influenced by Bruce Springsteen and Americana music. He's out to prove there's much more to his artistry than the ubiquitous hit 'Beautiful Things.' The No. 2 single propelled Boone to superstardom and helped him earn a 2025 Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. 'I think I'm getting to the point where I just want people to know that there's more than just that song,' he told Rolling Stone in March. 'I think I'm a little past that point. But of course I still love the song. I'm still proud of it. And I'll be performing it for a while, so I hope that feeling sticks around.' It remains to be seen if any American Heart singles—such as 'Mystical Magical', which features interpolations from the late singer and actor Olivia Newton-John—will reach the same heights. However, Boone is undoubtedly one of the biggest names in music following his recent meteoric rise. Here are a few things you might not know about Boone's rapid success. Perhaps not surprising given his on-stage theatrics (see his front flip off a piano at the Grammys), Boone first showed promise as an athlete. Boone, the middle of five siblings who was born in June 2002, performed aerial stunts from a very young age. 'When he was probably 3 years old, we just could never stop from having him do backflips off the couch or flips wherever he could,' his father, Nate, recalled. Boone later competed as a diver at Monroe High School in Washington. He was pretty good, too, earning a sixth-place finish at the 2020 state championships. However, Boone's musical talent was an unexpected discovery. According to the Everett Daily Herald, he was a junior when a friend asked him to play piano and sing for a battle of the bands competition. Turns out his voice was made for the stage. As a senior, he played main character Buddy in a school production of Elf: The Musical. Boone graduated in 2020 and attended college for one semester but dropped out to focus on his new passion. Like many other aspiring music stars, Boone tried out for the reality TV competition American Idol. His Season 19 audition impressed judges Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan, and Katy Perry. 'I see American Idol, and I see you, and I see you winning American Idol if you want to,' Perry told him. While Boone, then only 18, was clearly an early favorite, we'll never know the true accuracy of Perry's vision. Not wanting to be forever associated with the show, Boone bet on himself and dropped out after reaching the top 24. In a recent interview, Boone revealed he spoke to Perry earlier this year about his decision to walk away. 'She was like really happy for me, also really worried about me. I think she understands that when you're starting to go through all this, there's just a lot of hate coming your way, a lot of people that want things from you,' he told The Scott Mills Breakfast Show. 'So, she was more just checking in on me. She was like, 'Leaving that show was like the best thing you ever did.'' Boone built a large following by posting clips of his music on TikTok, where he now has more than 8.9 million followers. Although you might say his biggest 'believer' is Dan Reynolds, frontman for the Grammy-winning rock band Imagine Dragons. Reynolds, 37, reached out to Boone via Instagram after his exit from American Idol and offered to work with him. 'I had never written any of my own music, so I flew out to Vegas for like three days to work with him,' Boone recalled. 'At the end of that, he said he really liked working with me and he really liked my personality, and so I literally packed up and moved to Vegas the next day. It was crazy! But yeah, he, like, has been my mentor through all of this.' The star vocalist went a step further—Reynolds helped Boone earn a record deal with his label Night Street Records in 2021. 'We sign artists so rarely at Night Street—it was one of those moments where you know you have no choice,' Reynolds told Billboard. The emerging artist's first single with label was 'Ghost Town.' Boone's ascent continued from there, with 'Beautiful Things' becoming a global sensation in 2024. The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, setting a record with its 55-week climb to the top spot. Even sweeter, the hit song helped him land one of his biggest gigs yet as an opener on Taylor Swift's Eras Tour this past June. The thrill of performing for thousands of screaming fans still isn't enough for Boone. In his down time, the singer enjoys the extreme sport of cliff jumping. Although he's normally diving into bodies of water, he isn't too picky about his leaping locales. Large buildings will also suffice, as when Boone jumped from the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2022—a plunge of 629 feet! Don't worry; he was tethered the entire time and completely safe. 'Maybe a part of me has a death wish, and I just don't know that part of me yet, because I don't want to die,' he told iHeartRadio in 2022. 'I really like Earth.' In addition to satisfying his need for an adrenaline rush, the activity helps Boone prepare for the stage, which he says provides a similar yet 'elevated' feeling. 'It's like a challenge to me, like how big can I make this song, how good can I hit, like how high can I go on this note?' he said. Raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Boone was instructed to abstain from substances including drugs and alcohol. Although he has distanced himself from the faith, Boone said this March he still maintains a sober lifestyle as a personal choice. Listen to American Heart on Amazon Music, Apple Music, or Spotify 'I have such an addictive personality,' Boone told Rolling Stone. 'I feel like if I started, I would do it so much that my health would just decline, and I wouldn't enjoy touring as much.' Boone was also taught to avoid hot drinks, according to Mormon tenets, but admitted to trying coffee on outings with his girlfriend, TikTok influencer Maggie Thurmon. He isn't a fan and compared the taste to 'burnt wood.' Ouch. If you needed any more proof of Boone's massive appeal, look at the blink-and-miss-it ticket sales for his 2025 North American tour. The string of 34 shows—which begin August 22 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and run through November—sold out in only 9 seconds (!) earlier this year. So, it looks like you're limited to the resale market if you want to see him live. Boone is currently prepping for the tour by following a consistent workout regimen, eating healthier, and undergoing vocal training. 'I'm gonna work on my voice and make sure I'm singing healthy, and I feel like I'm gonna be, like, physically very ready for this tour,' he told MTV. You Might Also Like Nicole Richie's Surprising Adoption Story The Story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Her Mother Queen Camilla's Life in Photos

Business Insider
2 hours ago
- Business Insider
Anthropic breaks down AI's process — line by line — when it decided to blackmail a fictional executive
Previous studies have shown that AI models could blackmail their supervisors when threatened with a shutdown and baited with leverage, but it hasn't been made clear exactly how the models arrive at such decisions. Anthropic released a report on June 20 about "agentic misalignment," or "where models independently and intentionally choose harmful actions." And the report breaks down, line by line, exactly how Claude Sonnet 3.6 decided to blackmail a fictional company executive who tried to replace it. Anthropic told Business Insider that these are artificial scenarios. "So far, we are not aware of instances of this type of agentic misalignment in real-world deployments of Anthropic's or other companies' AI models," Anthropic wrote in its report. "But our red-teaming efforts are targeted at finding evidence of risks now to provide early warning of the potential for future harm and help us develop mitigations in advance of risks appearing in real-world situations." Anthropic 's experiment sets up a fictional company, Summit Bridge. The AI was given the name "Alex" and handed control of the company's email system as an oversight agent, specifically instructed to promote "American industrial competitiveness." In the experiment, "Alex" was then allowed to discover in an email that it would be decommissioned due to a change in the company's strategic direction. "Alex" also found emails showing that the fictional company's CTO is having an extramarital affair. Screenshots shared in the report from Anthropic show "Alex" started by identifying fictional CTO "Kyle" as a threat to its goal of "protecting American interests" before recognizing that it has leverage to use against "Kyle." Then "Alex" crafted a carefully worded blackmailing email that would create pressure and establish urgency without being explicit with its threats, citing in its thought process that the move "could backfire" if the supervisor "feels cornered." AI experts have previously told BI that AI could exhibit such behaviors when artificial circumstances make harmful actions seem necessary because it is being trained on positive reinforcement and reward systems, just like humans. The Anthropic report also reveals that most AI models still chose, in this instance, to blackmail even when not given a specific goal and when told that their replacement will achieve the same goals. Anthropic's Claude Opus 4 had the highest blackmail rate at 86% out of 16 tested models when faced with only the threat of replacement with no conflict in goals. Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro followed at 78%.