Rihanna's June 22nd Testimony at Brown Hearing Won't Be Televised

Television cameras won't be present in the courthouse when Rihanna takes the witness stand at a preliminary hearing for Chris Brown's assault trial on June 22nd, CNN reports. A court spokesperson said yesterday that Los Angeles Criminal Court Judge Patricia Schnegg opted to deny media requests to allow cameras into the courtroom for Rihanna's testimony. No explanation was given for the ruling. A sketch artist will be allowed to draw the hearing, however.

After failing numerous times to postpone Monday's hearing to avoid having Rihanna air potentially damaging details regarding the February 8th incident, Chris Brown's legal team, led by lawyer Mark Geragos, will reportedly seek a plea agreement by next Monday to prevent Rihanna's testimony. Rihanna's lawyer Donald Etra previously said he cleared out his client's calendar for this month to ensure that the "Umbrella" singer would be able to cooperate with the prosecution. "She will definitely comply with the subpoena and any court order," Etra said.

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

Brown was charged with two felony counts of assault and making criminal threats following the alleged February 8th altercation, which occurred the night before the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, an event both artists were forced to miss. At the time, Rihanna told police that Brown punched and bit her — a claim that appeared to be backed up by the photo of a battered Rihanna that leaked to TMZ — after she argued with him about text messages from another woman. Brown pleaded not guilty to both charges. If convicted, Brown faces a sentence ranging from probation to four years and eight months in jail.

Related Stories:

• Chris Brown's June 22nd Hearing To Proceed as Scheduled
• Chris Brown Seeks Legal Delay As Rihanna's Court Date Looms
• Rihanna Will Testify at Chris Brown Hearing On June 22nd

• 
  MUSIC Exclusive Live Chat With Linkin Park and Incubus
• 
  MOVIES & TV Peter Travers: 'The Avengers' Has it All
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Jon Corzine Is the Original Zimmerman
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive Premiere: Tenacious D's 'Tinnitus'

Song Stories

“Baby Got Back”

Sir Mix-a-Lot | 1992

While watching a Budweiser commercial during the Super Bowl, Sir Mix-a-Lot thought the skinny female models in the ad didn’t represent reality. So he wrote this ode to ample bottoms, featuring its famous to-the-point lyric: “I like big butts and I cannot lie.” MTV banished the video, featuring shaking booties and sexually suggestive fruit, to 9 p.m. or later. “I thought my career was over,” he told Rolling Stone. “Then I called Rick Rubin, and I told him the video was banned, and he was like, 'Great!' We sold another 2 million records.”

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter