What was supposed to be a weekend of celebration for Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown turned sour when Beverly Hills police shut down a brand activation, costing Brown “hundreds of thousands of dollars” and distracting from an otherwise moment in his career. Brown, who was in Los Angeles as a first-time NBA All-Star Game starter, publicly disagreed with the police department’s assessment of the situation, which unfolded Saturday night ahead of the All-Star showcase.
Brown, who has a sponsorship with Oakley, partnered with Jim Jannard Jr. (the son of company founder Jim Jannard) to host a panel on culture and leadership at his Beverly Hills house. The five-time All-Star said that police shut down the event despite there being no blocking of traffic, no violence and no inconvenience to others at the residence.
“On Saturday, February 14, the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) responded to an event taking place at a private residence in the Trousdale neighborhood of the City,” police said in a statement to The Boston Globe. “An event permit had been applied for and denied by the City due to previous violations associated with events at the address. 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.”
Brown said the police department’s account was “not true” and that the event organizers never applied for a permit in the first place, therefore there was no permit to be denied. He said he and Jannard did not need a permit because the event was hosted at the latter’s private residence.
“The city had an ordinance to shut us down,” Brown said after the All-Star Game. “No matter what the owner of the house said, no matter what. We tried to reason with it. There was no working with it. They didn’t try to work with us. They didn’t try to have a conversation. They came right in and shut everything down. So the statement they put out is completely false. I stand by that. My team operated with the utmost respect to the neighbors and everybody, and they kind of were harassed to some degree.”
In addition to his postgame comments, Brown took to social media to express his frustration with Beverly Hills police and posted a video of his interaction with an officer. He also said he felt it was a targeted move by the city and that Jannard is considering filing a lawsuit.
“It was hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted for an event that was supposed to be positive,” Brown said. “I’m offended by Beverly Hills, by the statement they put out — like we applied for something that we didn’t get and we did it anyway, like we were insubordinate. I know how to follow the rules. I’m smart enough to follow the guidelines. It just seemed like somebody didn’t want whatever we had going on to go on. Out of everybody that was doing something, it seemed like I was the only one to get shut down.”
After Saturday’s situation, Brown scored 15 points for the USA Stripes team, which reached the championship game against USA Stars.