Already facing potential prison time over his alleged assault on then-girlfriend Rihanna, Chris Brown was sued in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday by a photographer who claims that the singer's bodyguard assaulted him in March.
According to the Los Angeles Times, photographer Robert Rosen says he took a photo of Brown playing basketball at an LA Fitness gym in Universal City on March 13. When some members of Brown's entourage began yelling at him and approaching, he ran away to avoid a confrontation, Rosen states in the suit. The incident took place just weeks after Brown was arrested for allegedly assaulting girlfriend Rihanna on the eve of the Grammy Awards.
In the suit, Rosen claims that an employee of the gym then grabbed him and tried to detain him. He said he was able to break free, but tripped as he was going down the stairs, where one of Brown's bodyguards caught up to him and allegedly picked him up by his shorts and began physically assaulting him. While the alleged attack was going on, Rosen claims he was crying out for employees of the gym to call the police or 911 because he was injured. As a result of the incident, Rosen claims he was "severely injured and disabled, both internally and externally, and suffered extreme emotional distress."
TMZ reports that Rosen claims he is a paying member of the gym and had the right to be on the property. In addition to the bodyguard, the lawsuit — which seeks medical expenses and other unspecified damages — also names LA Fitness as a defendant, alleging negligence, premises liability and false imprisonment, among other things.
Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, released a statement on Wednesday refuting the claims. "This is a specious and frivolous lawsuit by one of the paparazzi seeking publicity and a payday," the statement said. "He's done this before and lost. We will vigorously defend against this."
In 2007, TMZ reports, the photographer by the same name sued actor Pierce Brosnan for allegedly striking him in the chest and inflicting what he claimed were "severe physical and emotional pain and injuries." The photographer lost that case.
Brown, 20, is not accused of participating in the alleged assault on Rosen, but his lawyers will be in court Thursday for a hearing in the Rihanna assault case. He faces nearly five years in prison if convicted. Brown is not expected to attend Thursday's procedural hearing.
Brown has pleaded not guilty to the charges in the Rihanna case, and in a short video released online this week, the singer told fans, "I ain't no monster."
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