BEVERLY HILLS, California — Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown is speaking out after a private event he was hosting in Beverly Hills during NBA All-Star weekend was shut down by the city.
Brown says he was hosting a networking event featuring talks about “leadership” and the “future” at a home in the Trousdale Estates neighborhood of Beverly Hills on Saturday when he was “targeted” by police.
Brown shared a video on Instagram of an interaction he had with a Beverly Hills police officer.
“We’re just trying to have an event, a panel, talking about culture, talking about the future, talking about leadership, and for whatever reason, I feel like we’re being targeted,” Brown said in the video.
In another social media post, Brown called the city “trash” and said he was “offended.”
In a statement in response to Brown, the City of Beverly Hills said on Sunday that officers responded to the home because the event was unpermitted.
“An event permit had been applied for and denied by the City due to previous violations associated with events at the address,” the statement read. “Despite the fact that the permit was denied, organizers still chose to proceed with inviting hundreds of guests, knowing that it was not allowed to occur. BHPD responded and shut down the unpermitted event.”
After Sunday’s All-Star game at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Brown called the city’s explanation “completely false,” claiming he didn’t need a permit because he was friends with the homeowner.
“We didn’t need a permit because the owner of the house, that was his space. We were family friends. He opened up the festivities to us, so we didn’t have to. We never applied for one,” Brown said via ESPN. “I didn’t have to pay for the house or anything. They just opened it up. I had to pay for the build-out, but it was hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted for an event that was supposed to be positive.”
Brown later tagged the Beverly Hills Police Department on X, specifying that he had spent $300,000 on planning the event.
Brown played 12 minutes in Sunday’s All-Star game, scoring four points and snagging two rebounds.
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