American R&B star Chris Brown was released without charge on Tuesday after being held overnight for questioning over a rape allegation in Paris, the prosecutor’s office said. A 25-year-old woman has accused Brown, along with his bodyguard and a friend, of assaulting her in the luxury Mandarin Oriental hotel last Tuesday night, a source close to the case said on condition of anonymity. The Grammy Award-winning singer, 29, was detained on Monday on suspicion of aggravated rape and a drug offence. The prosecutor’s office said an investigation was continuing, while Brown’s lawyer Raphael Chiche said his client “energetically” proclaimed his innocence and wanted to bring a defamation lawsuit. The alleged victim told police she met Brown in a nightclub near the Champs-Elysees avenue with a group of other women. She then agreed to go back to the hotel, which is on the glitzy boutique-lined Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore. Brown was pictured in the French capital last week attending shows during men’s fashion week. The singer posted a picture on his Instagram account on Tuesday night that claimed the woman was lying. “I want to make perfectly clear… This is false and a whole lot of cap! Never! For my daughter and my family, this is so disrespectful and is against my characters and morals,” he posted next to the picture. Published in Daily Times, January 24th 2019.