Chris Brown“The history of violence” has never been more thoroughly illuminated than in a new documentary premiering this weekend on Investigation Discovery. Brown is a self-proclaimed ex-girlfriend abuser Rihannawhom he horribly abused on the eve of the 2009 Grammy Awards, and in the years since, the R&B singer has been the subject of lawsuits and allegations from multiple women who claim he physically, verbally, emotionally or sexually abused them.

When it comes to sordid rumors, only a few celebrities have taken his beating — like Diddy, who was a longtime friend of Brown’s, and even hosted a gathering where Brown allegedly raped an aspiring dancer. At the time, Brown indirectly denied the reports with a Instagram message which reads: “When I release music or projects, ‘THEY’ try to pull some real bulls–t.”

Timed to Domestic Violence Awareness Month and produced with No More (a global domestic violence initiative) as part of its “No Excuse for Abuse” campaign along with Ample Entertainment, ID’s Chris Brown: A History of Violence (Oct. 27) is a harrowing documentary summary of Brown’s inappropriate track record with women. Of its many sordid details, perhaps none is as jarring as Brown’s alleged assault on a young woman at a yacht party thrown by the since-disgraced Diddy.

Hiding her face on camera and identifying herself as Jane Doe to protect herself from online harassment and hate, the victim takes viewers step by step through the story of her scarring ordeal, from being invited to the shindig by a Los Angeles promoter, to meeting and taking accepting a drink from Brown, to be led to the ship’s bedroom, where, she claims, she soon lost orientation and control of her body as he violated her, repeatedly kissing her mouth to stifle her cries.

“Chris Brown raped me,” she proclaims. “And I can say it, and I know it for a fact. Instead of telling myself it wasn’t. It was. It was rape.”

Jane Doe’s accusation led to a $20 million lawsuit, but that was it dismissed of conflicting text messages and the fact that her attorney Ariel Mitchell finally left the case suggests that questions remain about this event. Nonetheless, Mitchell also clears Chris Brown: A History of Violence that she is convinced that Brown was guilty of the allegations, and also that the music industry is protecting him and other predators. That Brown continued to make music and maintained a huge fan base — he’s reportedly the second-most-followed male artist on Instagram — supports that notion, as does his repeated success in avoiding serious legal penalties for his wrongdoing. Even with his assault on Rihanna, for which there was indisputable photographic evidence, Brown received only one slap on the wrist: Five years of probation and about six months of community service.

There is no doubt that Brown maliciously strike Rihanna, repeatedly punching her in the face while driving her Lamborghini after trying to throw her out of the moving vehicle, threatened to “beat the crap out of you when we get home” and warned her that “You just did the dumbest thing ever. . Now I’m really going to kill you!” The scandal may have hurt his next album’s sales, but Brown’s career continued unabated, complete with hordes of female fans willing to dismiss or ignore the allegations against him, and to vilify anyone who dared to tarnish his name—be it his name . subsequent girlfriend Karrueche Tran 2015, or his manager and tour manager in 2016, not to mention infamous outbursts at Good morning America and one involving his own mother.

“The hardest aspect is controlling myself around the ladies. I’m just ridiculous, because I love them so much,” a young Brown admits in one of them Chris Brown: A History of Violences archival interviews. The film combines that material with new conversations with culture writer Scaachi Koul, broadcast journalist Sharon Carpenter, LAPD Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey and domestic violence expert Dr. Carolyn West, who explains that Brown’s violent tendencies may be related to—if not excused by—his childhood. ID’s documentary intersperses its commentary with snapshots of women holding placards with depressing domestic violence statistics, underscoring that Brown’s saga is just a more publicized version of a horrific story told ad nauseam in this and every other country.

Brown’s representatives deny these claims as “malicious and false”, but Chris Brown: A History of Violence points out that Brown is the only constant in a long-standing pattern of hostile encounters. Koul claims that the artist has not faced serious consequences for his actions because he is famous and his victims, apart from Rihanna, are not; their facelessness allows them to appear somehow less legitimate than Brown, whom people already know and adore. The larger notion conveyed by the documentary, however, is that sexual assault is difficult to prove, and that in the absence of basic evidence, the benefit of the doubt often goes to the accused rather than the accused.

Aside from Jane Doe’s first-person testimony, there is nothing in it Chris Brown: A History of Violence which is not already in the public register. Yet the film proves a damning compendium of alleged misdeeds and unconvincing denials. When, after Liziane Gutierrez filed a police report against Brown for punching her in the face at a party in Las Vegas (for daring to use her banned phone), Brown responded by posting a video defaming her appearance, revealing not just his callousness but his great lack of remorse. It is therefore little surprise that he was in 2024 sued for $50 million by four male concertgoers who claim they were brutally beaten by the singer and members of his entourage.

After his hour-long critique, Chris Brown: A History of Violence ends with a half-hour sit-down between The view host Sunny Hostin and a host of individuals — including Koul, National Domestic Violence Hotline CEO Katie Ray-Jones, No More’s Jane Randel and 2024 Miss Kansas Alexis Smith, who called out a man she described as her “abuser” on the pageant stage — which further immerses itself in this ongoing societal scourge.

Of particular note during these chats is Ray-Jones’ advice that victims of abuse take note of household items that could be used against them (such as kitchen knives), as well as develop strategies for making a quick and safe escape. In these helpful tips, the documentary highlights the kinds of nightmarish, misogynistic realities created by men like Chris Brown.