Grammy Award-winner Chris Brown released after rape claim
The charges are the latest legal trouble for the singer. Photo: AAP
US singer Chris Brown, who was arrested in Paris with two other people on suspicion of rape, has been released from police custody, the French prosecutor’s office says.
The police are still investigating the case, the French prosecutor’s office added on Tuesday.
The arrests were first reported by Closer magazine, which said Brown, his bodyguard and a friend were detained after a 24-year-old woman alleged she was raped at the singer’s suite at the Mandarin Oriental hotel on the night of January 15.
The woman said she had met the men at a Paris nightclub earlier in the evening, according to the magazine.
Neither Brown nor his agents responded to requests for comment.
He posted an Instagram photo on Monday from Paris appearing to show him at a nightclub, among several recent posts.
Followers responded with mixed messages to the rape accusation.
Brown, 29, whose previous legal troubles include assaulting singer Rihanna in 2009, had remained in custody on Tuesday, a judicial source said.
Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna in an incident that made headlines around the world when a photo of her bruised face was released.
In 2016, Brown was arrested in Los Angeles after a woman said he had pointed a gun at her. Brown denied any wrongdoing.
A rape conviction in France can carry a sentence of 15 years.
Brown won a Grammy Award in 2011 for best R&B album for F.A.M.E. and was repeatedly nominated for other works. He is best-known for the 2000s hits such as Run It and Kiss Kiss.
He released a new single earlier this month and has a new album coming this year. Six of his albums have gone platinum.
In 2013, Brown was charged with misdemeanour assault after he was accused of striking a man outside a Washington DC hotel.He was ordered into rehab but was dismissed for violating facility rules. Brown spent 10 weeks in custody.
After he completed court-ordered anger-management classes, Brown was accused of throwing a brick at his mother’s car following a counselling session.
After Brown posted a picture to his Instagram followers in January 2018 showing his three-year-old daughter Royalty cuddling with a pet monkey, California fish and wildlife agents seized the capuchin monkey named Fiji from his home in Los Angeles.
Brown was later handed a misdemeanour charge for lacking a permit for the primate. He is scheduled to be arraigned on February 6 in Los Angeles.
