PARIS (AP) — U.S. singer Chris Brown and two other people are in custody in Paris after a woman filed a rape complaint, French officials said Tuesday.
The Grammy Award-winning singer was detained Monday on potential charges of aggravated rape and drug infractions and remained in custody Tuesday, a judicial official said. Investigators have another two days to decide whether to let him go or file preliminary charges.
Brown’s publicists at Sony Music would not immediately comment on the complaint or say what Brown, 29, was doing in Paris.
Brown has been in repeated legal trouble since pleading guilty to the felony assault in 2009 of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna. He completed his probation in that case in 2015, but has continued to have run-ins with police.
The woman who filed the complaint said she met Brown and his friends overnight Jan. 15-16 at the club Le Crystal in the 8th arrondissement near the Champs-Elysees, and then they all went to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel near the Concorde Plaza in central Paris, according to the official.
One of Brown’s bodyguards is among the others detained in the Paris investigation, according to the official. Neither official was authorized to be publicly named discussing the investigation.
The detention was originally reported by French gossip magazine Closer.
Brown is best-known for hits in the 2000s such as “Run It” and “Kiss Kiss.” He retains a hard core of fans, including nearly 50 million followers on Instagram. He posted an Instagram photo Monday from Paris appearing to show him at a night club.
He released a new single earlier this month and has a new album coming this year. Six of his albums have gone platinum.
