Following Chris Brown‘s $500 million lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery over a docuseries he says defamed him while knowingly distorting facts, the multimedia company says it stands behind its work and will battle the issue in court.
‘We stand behind the production and will vigorously defend ourselves against this lawsuit,’ an Investigation Discovery spokesperson told DailyMail.com in a statement on Wednesday after Brown sued the company over the docuseries Chris Brown: A History of Violence, which initially aired last fall.
The Grammy-winner, 35, named in the legal filing Warner Bros. Discovery, Ample, and producers involved with putting together and airing the docuseries, which he said painted him to look like ‘a serial rapist and a sexual abuser.’
Brown said that the docuseries washed away progress he’s made rebuilding his image with the public in the near 16 years since he assaulted then-girlfriend Rihanna, 36, TMZ reported after reviewing legal docs.
Warner Bros. Discovery spoke out after Brown’s attorney Levi McCathern told TMZ in an interview Wednesday that says Warner Bros. Discovery and its associated threw Brown ‘under the bus’ for a small profit.
The Forever singer said in his lawsuit that the woman accusing him in the docuseries, who remained anonymous, had to withdraw a lawsuit she’d filed against him due to numerous factual inconsistencies; and that producers and companies named in the suit knowingly aired accusations against him that they had ‘proof’ was incorrect.
Chris Brown, 35, has filed a $500 million lawsuit against the companies behind a docuseries he claims defamed him. Pictured in 2024 in Atlanta
Brown’s attorney Levi McCathern said Wednesday that says Warner Bros. Discovery and its associated threw Brown ‘under the bus’ for a small profit
‘Where really the responsibility has to lie is with people like Warner Bros.,’ McCathern said, ‘when you have giant companies with all of these smart people that are in there making these decisions.
‘And the decision is, we’re gonna take this one girl who’s been completely discredited story and protect her identity and treat her like a victim and put this out there for the public eye.’
The Dallas-based lawyer said Warner Bros. – in a missive to make ‘a little bit more money’ – have taken the tack to smash celebrities, throw them under the bus and ruin their lives.
‘That’s not right and that’s not good and I’ll just say it right here shame on you, Warner Bros.,’ McCathern said. ‘Shame on you big companies for doing this to people‘s lives because at the end of the day people are more important than companies.’
McCathern said it’s ‘ridiculous’ Warner Bros. was concurrently profiting off Brown while doing damage to his reputation, and that he was holding all of the collaborators responsible in an effort to protect the musical artist.
‘The producer, the director, the people involved, the distribution company, the folks that show it – all of them need to be held responsible so they’ll quit doing this to Chris,’ McCathern said.
McCathern said Brown ‘strongly’ want to send a ‘message’ to those who continually rehash the infamous incident in which he assaulted Rihanna, his then-girlfriend, in a vehicle in Los Angeles after a pre-Grammys party on February 8, 2009.
‘After 15 years of just kind of laying down and trying to take it and apologizing,’ McCathern said of Brown, ‘he’s tired people keep coming after him and exploiting him, exploiting his name, exploiting his talent, exploiting his brand for these cheesy documentaries. And he’s done with it – he’s gonna do something about it.’
‘We stand behind the production and will vigorously defend ourselves against this lawsuit,’
The Grammy-winner named Warner Bros. Discovery, Ample, and producers involved with putting together and airing the docuseries Chris Brown: A History of Violence on Investigation Discovery last fall
The attorney added, ‘Chris has apologized and sought treatment and paid thoroughly for the terrible things that happened with Rihanna – he’s a new guy. It’s a new time and he’s trying to move forward to basically be the Chris Brown that the world deserves – the talented next Michael Jackson.’
Brown said that producers chose to rehash his ‘past mistakes’ – which he said he’s taken responsibility for – and combine it with bad information to capitalize on his fame.
Brown said he can show damages to his career and finances in the wake of the docuseries airing.
The Tappahannock, Virginia native said that he will donate a portion of his winnings to organizations that support sex abuse victims, the outlet reported.
Brown posted to his 144 million Instagram followers a statement from the law firm he’s employing for the suit, McCatherm, Shokouhi, Evans with the caption, ‘Read….’
The statement said that ‘the defendants released the documentary … despite being notified of the false and misleading narrative accusing Mr. Brown of heinous acts, including sexual assault and evidence tampering allegations that had been discredited in court and dismissed as baseless.’
Brown’s legal team said that the media companies prioritized ‘profits over journalistic integrity’ in releasing the docuseries.
Brown’s lawyers said that producers ‘sensationalized debunked claims to drive viewership and revenue’ for the docuseries.
An anonymous accuser of Brown’s was seen in the doc, which aired last autumn
Brown was pictured in LA Superior Court in 2013 for a hearing linked to his assault of Rihanna four years prior
The woman accusing Brown, identified as Jane Doe in the docuseries, has had past legal issues unrelated to Brown, Brown’s lawyers said in the statement.
They added that ‘numerous text and voice messages’ supported that any interactions between her and Brown ‘were consensual.’
McCathem previously said in a statement Tuesday that the ‘case is about protecting the truth,’ and that ‘the producers of this documentary intentionally promoted false and defamatory information.’
McCathem said that in addition to harming Brown, the companies and producers involved undermined ‘the credibility of true survivors of violence.’
Brown’s legal team said that the 2017 documentary Chris Brown: Welcome to My Life ‘remains the definitive account of his experiences and growth.’
