R&B star Chris Brown ordered to pay $13 million to housekeeper attacked by his dog | Chris Brown

R&B star Chris Brown has been ordered to pay $12.9 million in damages to a housekeeper who was attacked by a dog at one of his properties.

Maria Avila was working at Brown’s home in Tarzana, California, in 2020 when she was attacked by Hades, a Caucasian shepherd used as a guard dog. At the trial in Van Nuys, California, Avila said she suffered serious injuries to her arm and face, requiring dozens of stitches and skin grafts from her stomach to her arm. She said she also developed post-traumatic stress disorder and nerve damage that made it difficult for her to work.

Brown was home during the attack, and testified that he secured the dog in a kennel after he injured Avila. His security guard called an ambulance, but Brown left before it arrived, telling the court he did so to avoid “the media circus, because of my status as an artist… so I was advised to kind of stay away.”

A guard dog is necessary because “I get into a lot of stalker-like situations,” he said. Brown admitted negligence, but said he warned Avila and her sister Patricia not to go out without asking him because of the danger Hades posed, although the Avilas denied the conversation took place. Brown also questioned the extent of Avila’s injuries.

Avila sued Brown in 2021, but the trial has only now been completed, with a jury siding with Avila’s family. According to Billboard, Patricia Avila also received $885,000 for emotional distress, and Maria’s husband Oscar Olivo received $50,000.

“After more than five years of litigation against Chris Brown, we are thrilled to have been able to get justice for our client Patricia,” Michael C. Murphy Jr., Patricia’s attorney, told Rolling Stone. “We are so happy for her and her family after everything they went through on that terrible day.”

Brown has long been one of the most successful R&B artists in the United States, with eight of his 12 albums certified platinum there. He is currently on a joint tour with Usher, with stadium dates across the United States and Canada.

The dog attack is the latest in a long line of lawsuits and criminal trials that Brown has faced.

In 2009, Brown was arrested for physically assaulting his then-girlfriend, pop singer Rihanna, and after pleading guilty was sentenced to community service, a restraining order and placed on probation for five years. He violated the terms of his probation in 2014 and was jailed for 131 days. In 2016, he settled the matter out of court after an assault allegation by a former manager, and his other girlfriend, Karrueche Tran, obtained a restraining order against Brown in 2017.

In 2023, Brown allegedly assaulted music producer, Abraham Diaw, at a members’ club in Mayfair, London. Brown was arrested in 2025 and charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent, and pleaded not guilty at Southwark Crown Court. His trial will begin in the same court on October 26, alongside his co-accused, Omololo Akinlolo, also known as musician Hoodie Baby.

Brown himself has sued a woman for defaming him by accusing him of rape on a yacht in Miami in 2020. Brown has also attempted to file a $500 million lawsuit against the makers of the documentary, Chris Brown: A History of Violence, which included details of the alleged assault. That suit was dismissed by a judge in January, who said the film provided balance, but the judge allowed Brown’s lawsuit against his accuser to move to the next stage.