Chris Brown charged with possession of exotic monkey, faces six months in jail

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Apparently, Chris Brown has been up to some monkey business — and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office isn’t having any of it.

According to The Associated Press, the 29-year-old singer was charged on Thursday with two misdemeanor counts relating to the possession of a capuchin monkey without a permit. The charges stem from a January Instagram post from Brown to his 44 million followers, where you can see his three-year-old daughter, Royalty, snuggling with their pet monkey Fiji.

 

Shortly afterward, California Fish and Wildlife agents took the monkey away, as Brown did not have a permit for the animal. Now he has been formally charged for said possession, and he is set for a February 6th arraignment. If found guilty, Brown could face up to six months in jail.

For his part, Brown contends the monkey was not his. According to TMZ, he told authorities that one of his relatives owned the monkey and that the video was shot in Las Vegas. However, as the monkey was taken into custody in Los Angeles, authorities believe Brown was, in fact, the owner.

Of course, this is not Chris Brown’s first run-in with the law — in addition to his infamous domestic abuse incident with then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, Brown was detained back in July for felony battery after a concert in West Palm Beach. In May, a women’s advocacy group called for Spotify to remove Chris Brown and other artists accused of sexual misconduct and domestic abuse from their platform; currently, his music is still available there.

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