Chris Brown has made headlines a few times recently, but not for any good reasons. Just before Christmas, he was accused of verbally abusing a woman outside a nightclub, and, shortly prior to that incident, he was witnessed punching a photographer after a performance in a different club. Because of his aggressive attack on then-girlfriend Rihanna back in 2009, people were well aware of his violent tendencies. However, in the documentary he made with Netflix, the singer claimed that he was trying to move on from the incident and would never hit a woman again. Even when he's not committing any violent crimes, though, it seems that Brown still has trouble staying within the law. At the beginning of December last year, the singer posted a video on Instagram which showed his three-year-old daughter cradling a baby capuchin monkey. While it may have appeared sweet - and Brown almost certainly only had good intentions when he handed the animal over to the child - it transpires that the animal could have been dangerous, and the singer may actually be on track to face criminal charges for owning the monkey. [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BcYnvicF7CT/]] When the video first went up, people were outraged that Brown would put his daughter in harm's way like this. "Capuchin Monkeys are the most dangerous of the monkeys..ranked number 3 on Latin America’s 72 most dangerous animals," wrote one Instagrammer. "Be careful you and your baby girl". Meanwhile, others voiced their opinion on the treatment of wild animals and the unethical practice of taking them from their natural habitats. "Why? Why taking a little baby monkey away from it’s mother? This is a wild animal!"   "Leave wild animals where they belong and especially leave babies with their mother, oh my gosh and you are supposed to be a role model??" said another. As it turns out, Brown's ownership of the monkey might have actually been illegal as well as irresponsible, as people have to apply for a specific permit before keeping one in their home. While the singer might not have known this at the time, he certainly did after he was reported to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife opened an investigation into the matter (no doubt after being informed about the monkey by disgruntled 'grammers). As part of the investigation, authorities acquired a warrant to search Brown's property. However, he surrendered the monkey before the case went any further. Even so, the 28-year-old could still face criminal charges for being in possession of a restricted species without a permit: an offense which carries a maximum sentence of six months' jail time. [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BdzbOpkFjcE/?hl=en&taken-by=chrisbrownofficial]] According to the RSPCA, owning an exotic pet such as a capuchin - which technically not illegal if you have the right paperwork - is still a pretty cruel thing to do. "They are wild animals that have very specific welfare needs," they said. "It is impossible to provide an environment as complex and rich as the wild." The case has since been turned over to the LA District Attorney, but no verdict has been reached yet.        

Just over a year ago, in December 2017, musician Chris Brown attracted some unwanted attention when he posted a video to Instagram showing his three-year-old daughter, Royalty, and a baby capuchin monkey. In the clip, the toddler can be seen holding the animal close like a baby - all the while Brown is cooing about how cute they look.

As sweet as it may have seemed, however, the video was actually a big mistake. Many followers criticised Brown for purchasing the monkey, meanwhile others warned him that he could face dangerous consequences for his actions.

"Capuchin Monkeys are the most dangerous of the monkeys..ranked number 3 on Latin America’s 72 most dangerous animals [sic]," wrote one Instagrammer. "Be careful you and your baby girl".

"Leave wild animals where they belong and especially leave babies with their mother, oh my gosh and you are supposed to be a role model??" said another.

What Brown probably didn't realise, however, is that owning the monkey was illegal.

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After the video had been viewed several thousand times, the 29-year-old received a notice from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to say that he was under investigation - presumably after one unhappy follower reported him for having the capuchin monkey.

Initially, Brown was threatened with having his home searched, but he voluntarily surrendered the animal before that could happen. Still, it wasn't enough to prevent facing legal consequences.

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office confirmed last week, on December 28th, that Brown will be arraigned in court on February 6, after being charged with two counts of being in possession of a restricted species without a permit. If found guilty, he could face up to six months behind bars.

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Of course, this is not the first time that Brown has been in trouble with the law.

In 2009, he was charged with felony assault and making criminal threats after brutally beating up his then girlfriend, Rihanna. Initially, he pleaded not guilty to these charges, but later pleaded guilty to a felony charge instead as part of a deal that saw him get six months of community labor, five years of probation, and domestic violence counselling.

He has also been arrested several other times for violent altercations, and has spent time in jail before for battery.

Even since he first got into trouble with the law for owning the monkey, he was charged with felony battery in July 2018. On this occasion, he paid bail and was therefore not held in jail.

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Though his animal-related crime may not be seen by some to be as deserving of punishment, it is still a serious offence in the eyes of the law.

According to the RSPCA, owning an exotic pet such as a capuchin - which is technically not illegal if you have the right paperwork - is a pretty cruel thing to do. "They are wild animals that have very specific welfare needs," they said. "It is impossible to provide an environment as complex and rich as the wild."

Brown has not offered a public statement on the matter.

A lot of people hate Chris Brown for abusing women. In 2008, he brutally assaulted Rihanna, punching her multiple times and slamming her head into his car window. Who can forget those horrific photos of her bruised face? After the incident, Chris didn't seem very remorseful. He pled "not guilty," and complained whenever the media brought up domestic violence. During an interview with Good Morning America, he was so upset he threw a chair at a window. But he's a talented singer, and his career survived. In 2012, he won the Grammy for Best R&B Album. He's featured on almost every major hip-hop album. And this year he released a compelling documentary: Chris Brown: Welcome To My Life. In the film, he finally opens up about the barbaric fight with Rihanna, admitting, "I felt like a fucking monster...I hate it to this day, that’s going to haunt me forever." Is Chris turning over a new leaf? Apparently not. Once again, he's in trouble over allegations of abuse, but this time it's not about abusing women. It's about abusing animals. Most parents would get their kid a puppy or a kitten for a pet. Chris gave his three-year-old daughter, Royalty, a baby marmoset monkey. The 28-year-old shared a video of the two with his 41 million Instagram followers. In the video, Royalty cradles the monkey, which is bundled in blankets like a baby, and even wearing its own diaper. "Is that your baby?" asks Chris from behind the camera. "She's going to be bigger than you!" [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BcYnvicF7CT/]] This video might seem cute, but it sparked massive outrage on social media. Marmoset monkeys are awesome, but they're also exotic animals. They require specific care and are not meant to live in captivity, because it endangers their mental health. It also puts the owner's safety in danger, in the event of a Planet Of The Apes-type situation. As many people noted in the comments, monkeys are not household pets. "You ripped that baby from his mother for your own pleasure and entertainment." "When humans take an animal away from its natural habitat it is selfish and wrong." "This is animal abuse. Wild animals belong in the WILD." "You ripped that baby from his mother for your own pleasure and entertainment." "Primates need conspecifics (other primates) for their well-being. No human is a substitute for that...this baby was probably taken away from its caged mom, who is probably being used as a breeding machine for the pet trade." I don't usually say this, but I agree with the pitchfork -wielding mob. It's not illegal to own a marmoset monkey as a pet, but animal experts advise against it. "If you try to keep [monkeys] as pets you're creating a mentally disturbed animal in 99.9 percent of the cases," said veterinarian Kevin Wright to National Geographic. "The animal will never be able to fit in any other home. Never learn how to get along with other monkeys. And, more often than not, will end up with a lot of behavioral traits that are self-destructive." Oh, come on. What kind of destructive behavioral traits could a marmoset monkey possibly learn from Chris Brown?

Chris Brown has gone on a bizarre rant where he has hit out at the critics who mention his assault on Rihanna in 2009, while also listing other celebrities who are accused of the same.

The 33-year-old singer pleaded guilty to one count of assault in 2009 after he beat up his then-girlfriend Rihanna before the Grammys, which saw her have to go to the hospital.

Brown was recently criticized for appearing to congratulate Rihanna on her pregnancy which was announced during the Super Bowl, with some fans branding him as "foul."

The singer has found himself under a new wave of criticism following his collaboration with Chloe Bailey on her single 'How Does It Feel', per the Daily Mail.

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Being under the microscope yet again doesn't appear to have sat very well with Brown, and he has unleashed a tirade on those who speak out against him.

"If yall still hate me for a mistake I made as a 17year old please kiss my whole entire a**!" he began via Instagram stories. "I'm f***ing 33! Im so tired of yall running wit this narrative .. You weird a** n****s are the same ones that tune in every week to see Blueface and Chrisean beat the f*** out each other in front the world [sic]."

"But thats OK? It's entertainment? All yall can suck my d*** disrespectfully," the 33-year-old concluded his first post, but he wasn't finished yet.

In an attempt to divert the negative attention away from him, Brown began sharing images of white celebrities who have been accused of the same thing that he pleaded guilty to in 2009.

"Where are the cancel culture with these white artist that date underage women, beat the f*** out their wives, giving b****** AIDS," he added.

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"Oh. That's right.. they are your buddies. No more fake love from me.. Stay out my way or get ran over simple as that! None of you and I mean none of you n****s can f*** wit me [sic]," Brown concluded.

The singer then listed the celebrities he was referencing, which included Sean Penn, Mel Gibson, Nicolas Cage, Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy Lee, Slash, Charlie Sheen, Steven Seagal, Christian Slater, and Josh Brolin.

He then added images from a video that allegedly showed UFC president Dana White hitting his wife.

Kiely Williams, the Cheetah Girls and 3LW singer, recently hit out at Brown on Twitter where she called him someone who "beats women."

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Brown's response was to mock the singer for appearing to lisp during a line in the 3LW song 'No More (Baby I’Ma Do Right)'. "I'm getting kinda tired of Ya broken PROMITHIS PROMITHIS," Brown wrote.

It would appear that Brown is unhappy with the treatment he is receiving online.

Featured image credit: The Photo Access / Alamy

Despite his horrific attack on then-girlfriend Rihanna back in 2009, Chris Brown has somehow managed to retain enough support from fans to stay relevant in 2017. Not only has he released new music since then, he's also got his own documentary with Netflix - something that very few stars can lay claim to. In the documentary, which is called Chris Brown: Welcome to my Life, the singer seemed to be sorry for his actions. "S**t, I'm not ever trying to put my hands on any female," he says at one point, explaining that he "felt like a f*****g monster." However, just months after saying he'd never want to hurt a woman, he did exactly that. [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc0Zds9l7CK/?taken-by=chrisbrownofficial]] Chris Lopez, a Hollywood socialite, says she was shouted at and pushed by Brown as she stood outside The Abbey, a famous gay club in the area.

"Chris Brown starts yelling at my friend. I told him leave my friend alone, this is LA not like New York...  you not gonna start s**t here," she said. "He starts calling me a fake blonde b***h, a fat b***h ... He must of had said it like 10 times."

Lopez also reported that Brown had knocked down another man before he made his way over to her group of friends.

"He got really close to my face and used his chest to push me a few times," she recalled. "He was very drunk. Very wasted. But my security team came two minutes after, I had like three security guards, Chris had one security guard and one friend."

Fortunately, Lopez's team was able to intervene before Brown could cause any serious damage. "They all helped me get away, then his security guard and friend - plus the club security - was able to hold him down tried calming him down but he was yelling." By the time Lopez and her friends had got in a car to leave the scene, the West Hollywood security ambassadors had turned up to deal with the situation. The ambassadors have significantly more power than the regular club security, and are employed to assist the local police. Lopez refused to disclose whether or not she was planning on taking any legal action against the singer, but local authorities said they had not yet received any official reports of a fight taking place outside the club that evening. "I just want him to seek better help," said Lopez. "He needs to feel like he is like everyone else and can be accountable for his own actions." [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BctiIydFCz0/?taken-by=chrisbrownofficial]] Chris Brown's representatives have not yet commented on the matter, and the singer himself has not spoken at all on the incident. This comes just a few months after he "sucker punched" a photographer during a promotional appearance at a Florida nightclub. The nightclub confirmed the incident, saying:

"Incidents like the ones caused by Chris Brown and his team are very sad to see. As everyone witnessed he showed up to the club at around 1:30am. After only a few minutes of being there, Chris Brown himself and his team assaulted our club photographer and proceeded to walk out of the venue."

However, no legal action was taken after the attack.

It's fair to say that, even nine years on, singer Chris Brown remains one of the most controversial figures in the contemporary music scene. We all remember how, back in 2009, an argument between him and his then-girlfriend Rihanna escalated into physical violence.

As a result of the scandal, Brown was shunned by the media at large. A number of commercials featuring him were suspended, his music was withdrawn from radio stations, and he retreated from the public for a time.  Brown later released a statement in which he claimed that: "Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired." He was charged with assault and making criminal threats, and took a plea deal. He was ordered to serve of  five years of probation, and attend domestic violence counselling.

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Rihanna's fans rallied round her in the aftermath of the assault, and needless to say, they want her to have nothing to do with Brown. Unfortunately, it appears that Chris Brown is still attempting to slide into her DMs. This week, the songstress posted a racy picture of herself to Instagram, which featured her lounging on her bed while wearing some sexy Savage x Fenty underwear.

The picture was captioned: "We getting NAUGHTY-not-NICE this season! ‘@savagexfenty just dropped The Ultimate Gift Guide to help you shop gifts for everybody in ya life !! Hit up SavageX.com to get 50% off everything for a limited time! [sic]" However, Rihanna's eagle-eyed followers noticed that Chris Brown had commented on the pic, with an 'embarrassed emoji.' Predictably, people weren't exactly enthused that he was attempting to communicate with his ex at all.

One Instagram user wrote: "@chrisbrownofficial what are you doing here still?" while another added: "@chrisbrownofficialwhen you’re ex is 1000000000000 times better than you." However, some Instagram-users were more supportive of the comment, with one person writing: "Hey all he did was comment, let [Rihanna] be the one to decide if he has a chance or not, she probably already forgave him. [sic]"

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Apparently, a source close to Brown recently told Hollywood Life that: "Chris is ecstatic that Rihanna and Hassan have officially split up ... He knows getting Rihanna back is a long shot but he likes a challenge, he’s so up for it. Chris has plenty of women in his life but no one really has his heart and it’s starting to seem like he’s not going to give it to anyone while Rihanna’s still on the market. She’s the one he wants to marry and now that Hassan is cancelled, Chris wants to finally get his Hail Mary shot with her."

Rihanna did get back together with Brown for a while after the incident, and in a 2013 interview, she stated: "He's not the monster everybody thinks. He's a good person. He has a fantastic heart. He's giving and loving. And he's fun to be around. That's what I love about him – he always makes me laugh. All I want to do is laugh, really – and I do that with him."