Embattled Chris Brown
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – R&B star Chris Brown was attacked in a fight at a New York club early on Thursday morning, his spokesman said, as rapper Drake was on his way out of the nightspot.
“Chris, Karrueche (Brown’s girlfriend) and his friends were victims of a brutal attack last night at WIP. They sustained several injuries. Chris and his party are cooperating with NY authorities who are pursuing this incident further,” Brown’s spokesman, Jeff Raymond, said in a statement
Drake’s spokeswoman Allison Elbl Striegel issued a statement saying the 25-year-old singer “did not participate in any wrongdoing of any kind last night at W.i.P. He was on his way out of the club when the altercation began. He did not engage in any activity which resulted in injury to person or damage to property.”
Details were not released by New York City police, who said they were investigating the incident at Manhattan club WIP in which eight men and women had cuts, bruises and other injuries.
An NYPD spokeswoman would not say if Brown, who won a Grammy for his album “F.A.M.E.,” or Drake, whose hits include “Take Care,” were involved. Brown tweeted a picture of his face with a cut on his chin, then deleted it.
Pictures of the nightclub with shattered glass and furniture strewn around a cavernous room were posted on the Internet, and celebrity websites carried reports from unnamed sources about a fight between friends and associates of the two singers.
Police said the injured were treated at a hospital and released.
Several celebrity media outlets reported that the fight broke out between Brown and Drake over singer Rihanna, who they both dated.
Brown, 23, was previously arrested and pleaded guilty to beating Rihanna in February 2009. He was sentenced to five years probation.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte
