Chris Brown preforms during the World Music Festival in Rabat on May 20, 2016. (Photo by FADEL SENNA/Getty)
Chris Brown is no stranger to controversy, and now, it seems as though the singer has another physical altercation to add to his list.
According to TMZ, Brown attacked photographer Bennie Vines in the Tampa nightclub Aja Channelside on Monday morning. Club management says that their in-house photographer was snapping pictures of Brown and his entourage when they arrived at 1:30 a.m. as the singer was scheduled to make a paid appearance. Witnesses tell TMZ that Brown was quick to shut Vines down, however, saying that he didn’t want any photos of him taken.
Later into the morning, Vines was said to be taking crowd shots from behind Brown (who was in the club DJ booth), and once he noticed, violence erupted. Vines claims that Brown jumped over a couch in the booth and cornered him before delivering several punches to his face. Police were called, but the singer departed the club before their arrival.
The video clip of the ordeal shows Brown, his bodyguard (dressed in yellow) and Vines in the back corner of the booth, where one can clearly see Brown throwing at least one punch before being restrained.
As for Vines, ABC Action News reports that he was taken to the hospital with a split lip and injuries to his jaw. Aja Channelside issued a statement Facebook soon after, saying “Incidents like the one caused Chris Brown and his team are very sad to see,” and that “Assault charges were pressed and we are dealing with the proper authorities accordingly.” Read the full post below.
On Monday afternoon, Vines uploaded a video of himself giving his account of what happened, confirming that Brown hit him in the lip, and that his head and neck are still in pain as a result. “I have a pretty good case,” he explains, “‘Cuse I didn’t do anything wrong. I was doing my job.”
This incident comes less than a month after Brown was slapped with a restraining order case by his former girlfriend Karreuche Tran. She claims that he assaulted her on several occasions during their years together and threatened to take her life. Read more below.
