Money from Chris Brown’s royalties and his tour with Usher will go toward his former housekeeper’s $13 million judgment, a Los Angeles judge ruled.
The Los Angeles judge presiding over the lawsuit against Chris Brown filed by his former housekeeper, Maria Avila, has granted her request to assign money from the artist’s royalties and tour income to pay the nearly $13 million judgment she won for his guard dog attacking her. Brown objected to the request, but to no avail—though he could still appeal the ruling.
Maria Avila was awarded shy of $12.9 million after suing Brown for the vicious attack she suffered in 2020 by the musician’s guard dog. Avila was taking out the trash when Hades, a 200-pound Caucasian Shepherd kept for home security, attacked her, leaving Avila with facial disfigurement, vision loss, and nerve damage that required skin grafts from her abdomen.
Avila and her sister said they were aware that Brown had dogs on the property but that they had always been kept in a separate area whenever the women came over to clean. However, the dog was in the yard when Avila went outside to empty a vacuum into the trash, and it suddenly began mauling her before she fully realized what was happening.
Brown denied any allegations of wrongdoing during the trial. He stated during his testimony that he bought the dog to guard his home against stalkers. But he admitted he did not call 911 when his housekeeper was attacked; instead, Brown left the scene before paramedics arrived to avoid “a media circus.”
After a two-week trial, a jury found Brown and his company, Black Pyramid LLC, liable for negligence. The court awarded Avila $12.9 million, while her sister, who also worked at the residence, received $885,000 for emotional distress. Her husband, Oscar Olivo, was granted $50,000.
To ensure that Avila’s judgment does not go unpaid, California law allows the court to reroute concert profits and royalties—non-wage income streams—to creditors before the money even hits the performer’s bank account.
