Frederick M. Brown/Getty ImagesChris Brown maintains that he's the victim in this case.
The R&B star, who checked into treatment last week, has filed a countersuit for assault and battery against a member of Frank Ocean's entourage who previously sued Brown over a fight they were involved in last January.
The new lawsuit, filed TK in L.A. Superior Court and obtained by E! News, alleges that Sha'Keir M. Duarte approached Brown in the parking lot outside a recording studio in West Hollywood and threatened to kill the "Run It" singer, making "gestures with his hands and fists to signal that he was ready to strike Mr. Brown in the face and on the body."
Duarte was "surrounded by an entourage" and acted "without provocation," Brown's suit alleges.
The complaint then contends that Duarte pushed, kicked and punched Brown. The defendant's "outrageous and despicable" conduct calculatedly intended to provoke Brown so that Duarte could play the victim and "demand a cash payout," the suit continues.
Brown's countersuit states that Duarte had demanded $2 million to cover "his so-called 'emotional injuries.'"
In a lawsuit filed Aug. 13, Duarte alleged that an associate of Brown's punched him in a dispute between Brown and Ocean's entourages over a parking space—and that Brown encouraged his pal to "get that n---er" during the brawl.
Duarte's attorney has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Brown was photographed sporting a cast on one hand after the Jan. 27 incident and Ocean claimed to have a cut finger.
The fight was investigated by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and ultimately no charges were filed.
But Brown's legal camp has been busy nonetheless, with the artist being required to make a series of appearances in court pertaining to a possible probation violation (his probation from his 2009 assault conviction was temporarily revoked and then reinstated after a hit-and-run charge against him was dismissed) and L.A. prosecutors' concerns that he didn't legitimately complete the 180 days of community labor required of him.
He is currently facing a misdemeanor assault charge in Washington, D.C., after being accused of breaking a man's nose during a photobomb-attempt-gone-wrong last month.
A day after a judge reduced the charge from a possible felony to a misdemeanor, Brown checked into rehab in the L.A. area to, according to his rep, "gain focus and insight into his past and recent behavior, enabling him to continue the pursuit of his life and his career from a healthier vantage point."