Chris Brown skips Paris court hearing over rape accusations

A lawyer accused the rapper of showing 'disrespect for the French legal system'

Singer Chris Brown (Getty Images)

The lawyer for a woman who filed a rape complaint against Chris Brown in Paris says the rapper “has thumbed his nose at and shown disrespect for the French legal system” after he failed to attend a formal confrontation with the alleged victim.

Brown was arrested in France’s capital city in January after a woman accused him of raping her at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. He was later released from custody without charges pending further investigation.

The Grammy winner called the accusations false and later filed a legal complaint claiming ”slanderous denunciation” (the French equivalent of “false accusation”) had occurred.

After Brown failed to attend the hearing in Paris on Tuesday (28 May), the woman’s American lawyer Gloria Allred said, according to the Associated Press, that his “failure to appear today is very unfair to my client, but I assure him that my client will not be deterred from seeking justice”.

The woman’s French lawyer said Brown was not legally obliged to attend Tuesday’s confrontation. There is no extradition treaty between the United States and France meaning Brown’s presence was always in question.

The woman, who can not be named for legal reasons, alleges she was forced to take cocaine and raped by three men at a Paris hotel on 16 January 2019.

The Independent has contacted Chris Brown’s representatives for comment.