Travis Farrell/Getty ImagesUPDATE: This lawsuit was ultimately settled, according to court documents filed Nov. 5, 2010.
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Chris Brown maintains he isn't "a monster." He may be hanging around with a few scary types, however.
A photographer has sued the R&B singer for assault and battery, claiming Brown's entourage chased him after he took a picture of the star during a pickup basketball game March 13. Then one of Brown's bodyguards "picked him up by his shorts and physically assaulted him."
Shutterbug Robert Rosen, who two years ago accused Pierce Brosnan of sucker-punching him outside a restaurant, is also suing L.A. Fitness, the gym where Brown was shooting hoops, according to the complaint filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
"This is a specious and frivolous lawsuit by one of the paparazzi seeking publicity and a payday," Brown attorney Mark Geragos tells E! News. "He's done this before and lost. We will vigorously defend against this."
According to the plaintiff, he had snapped a pic of the recently maligned artist when Brown's "associates/and or bodyguards/and or others" spotted him, yelled something and started walking toward him.
Rosen started running toward the exit to avoid a confrontation, the suit states, but Brown's people blocked the exit and grabbed him. When Rosen wrested free, he tripped going down a flight of stairs.
He sat down in a chair at the bottom of the stairs, Rosen said, after which one of the bodyguards (or miscellaneous guys) further roughed him up, leaving the paparazzo—who was yelling for L.A. Fitness employees to call the police and an ambulance—in "great fear for his life, health and safety."
Rosen was "severely injured and disabled, both internally and externally," the suit claims. He is asking for unspecified damages.
In addition to assault and battery, the allegations include intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, negligent hiring, premises liability and false imprisonment.
However, a paparazzi video taken of Rosen immediately after the incident tells a slightly different story.
While Rosen was seen limping and being helped to his car, he told his fellow photogs, "Chris is a good guy, I have nothing against Chris."
When asked if his injuries were necessary, he added, "The broken leg was my fault. It wasn't due to his bodyguard, it was due to my fear of his bodyguard."
He even went so far as to give Brown a no doubt regrettable shout-out: "Hey Chris, sorry man."
The plaintiff's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mark Geragos, who has been representing Brown in the pending Rihanna-related assault case against him, was also unavailable.
Sitrick and Company, the PR firm currently repping Brown, had no comment.
—Additional reporting by Ashley Fultz and Claudia Rosenbaum
(Originally published May 27, 2009, at 4:42 p.m. PT)