U.S. singer Chris Brown released after arrest in Paris over rape complaint

American singer Chris Brown and two other people were released from police custody on Tuesday after a woman filed a rape complaint against them, the Paris prosecutor's office said.

The Grammy Award-winning singer was detained Monday with the two other suspects on potential charges of aggravated rape and drug infractions.

The Paris prosecutor's office told The Associated Press that Brown has been authorized to leave France while the investigation is ongoing.

A post late Tuesday on Brown's Instagram page strongly denied the accusations.

"I WANNA MAKE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR...... THIS IS FALSE," the post said. "FOR MY DAUGHTER AND MY FAMILY THIS IS SO DISPRESPECTFUL AND IS AGAINST MY CHARACTER AND MORALS!!!!!"

Brown's publicists at Sony Music would not comment Tuesday on the complaint or say what Brown was doing in Paris. His U.S. lawyer, Mark Geragos, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Brown, 29, has been in repeated legal trouble since pleading guilty to a felony assault in 2009 of his then girlfriend, singer Rihanna. He completed his probation in 2015, but has continued to have run-ins with police.

The woman who filed the most recent complaint said she met Brown and his friends at the club Le Crystal in the 17th arrondissement of northwestern Paris on Wednesday, and they all went to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel near the Concorde Plaza in central Paris, according to the official.

The Mandarin Oriental would not comment on the investigation, and Le Crystal could not immediately be reached.

One of Brown's bodyguards is among the others who was detained in Paris, according to a police official. 

Neither official was authorized to be publicly named in discussing the investigation.

The detention was originally reported by French gossip magazine Closer.

Recurring legal troubles

Brown won a Grammy Award in 2011 for best R&B album for F.A.M.E. and has been nominated for other works. He is best known for hits in the 2000s such as Run It and Kiss Kiss.

He released a new single earlier this month and has a new album coming out this year. Six of his albums have gone platinum.

Brown retains a loyal fan base, including nearly 50 million followers on Instagram. He posted a photo Monday on that social media platform that appeared to show him at a Paris nightclub, among several recent posts. Followers responded with mixed messages to the rape accusation.

Last year, Brown was arrested in Florida at the end of a concert to face a felony battery charge involving a nightclub photographer. He pleaded not guilty, and is awaiting trial in that case.

In 2013, Brown was charged with misdemeanour assault after he was accused of striking a man outside a Washington, D.C., hotel. He was ordered into rehab but was dismissed for violating facility rules. Brown spent two and a half months in custody.

After he completed court-ordered anger-management classes, Brown was accused of throwing a brick at his mother's car following a counselling session.

After the singer posted a picture to his Instagram followers in January 2018 showing his three-year-old daughter, Royalty, cuddling with a pet monkey, California fish and wildlife agents seized the capuchin named Fiji from Brown's home in Los Angeles.

Brown was later handed a misdemeanour charge for lacking a permit for the primate. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 6 in Los Angeles.