Chris Brown Assault Charge Reduced in Hearing

Chris Brown caught a break today when charges in his latest fist-to-face incident were reduced from felony to misdemeanor assault, the Washington Post reports. A crowd gathered outside his arraignment hearing in Washington, DC, where he pleaded not guilty, was released without bail, and told to stay 100 yards away from the victim, reports TMZ. The judge also cancelled a drug test that TMZ describes as "standard in such cases."

Reason for the reduced charge: The victim apparently suffered minor injuries, even though he had said his nose was broken. The incident occurred yesterday outside a posh Washington hotel where, authorities say, the victim photobombed Brown as he posed for a picture with two women. But Brown's sources say the singer was stopping the man from jumping on his tour bus. Classy aside: Brown allegedly said "I'm not down with that gay s--t" before the assault, which would add to his list of homophobic slurs—even though the Grammy winner says he is not homophobic, Radar reports. (More Chris Brown stories.)