Chris Brown Sued By Photographer Claiming Bodyguard Assault

Chris Brown's busy legal team has a new case on its hands: Yesterday a photographer filed a lawsuit claiming the singer's bodyguards roughed him up outside a Los Angeles gym on March 13th, CNN reports.

In his lawsuit, Robert Rosen says that after taking a picture of Brown playing basketball at the gym they both frequent, Brown's bodyguards chased after and assaulted him, and he fell down a flight of stairs trying to escape. Rosen claims assault and battery, emotional distress and negligence, and is seeking compensation for his injuries.

"This is a specious and frivolous lawsuit by one of the paparazzi seeking publicity and a payday," Brown's lawyer Mark Geragos, who is also defending Brown in the Rihanna case, said in a statement. "He's done this before and lost. We will vigorously defend against this." According to CNN, Rosen previously attempted to sue Pierce Brosnan in 2007 under similar circumstances, and that lawsuit was dismissed.

The lawsuit comes just a day after a video of Brown and Bow Wow hit the Web in which Brown called blogs "liars" and proclaimed "I ain't a monster." He also announced his new album would be called Graffiti and that a summer single is on the way.

Brown's legal team will be in Los Angeles County Superior Court for a hearing today concerning the two felony counts Brown is facing following the February 8th incident with his then-girlfriend Rihanna. Brown pleaded not guilty to both charges, and is not expected to attend today's hearing.

(The calm before the storm: Track Rihanna and Brown's Grammy weekend in photos.)

In other Brown and Rihanna news, a New York gossip column is reporting that both singers have added acting roles to their schedules. A source tells the Daily News, "Rihanna will start filming Personal Protection later this year. She's not ready, acting-wise, yet, so she's meeting with a coach." Meanwhile, Brown who already has a role in the upcoming T.I. and Matt Dillon crime film Takers, will reportedly star in a "tearjerker" as a homeless person. "It's a real rags-to-riches story and should be good for his image," a "friend" of Brown said.

Related Stories:

• Chris Brown Insists "I Ain't A Monster," Names New LP In Video
• Chris Brown's Lawyer Wants Police Records Regarding Photo Leak
• Chris Brown Erased From "Bone Deep" Promotion, Voluntarily Goes To Anger Management

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

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