The city of Beverly Hills apologized to Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown on Thursday, saying a previous statement about what led police to shut down a brand event hosted by the NBA All-Star on Saturday night was inaccurate. However, Brown continued to take issue with the city’s action, which he said was “targeted” and “based on biased information.”
The city had said in a statement to The Boston Globe on Sunday that it rejected a permit for the event because of previous violations at the home where the gathering was held and that organizers went ahead with the event anyway. Brown disputed that characterization later Sunday, calling the statement “completely false.”
“Upon further internal review, the City has determined that its prior public communication contained inaccurate information,” Beverly Hills said in a statement Thursday on Instagram. “Specifically, no permit application was submitted nor denied for the event and the residence does not have any prior related violations on record. The City takes full accountability for the internal error that resulted in the inaccurate statement being distributed and is working to ensure it does not happen again.”
The event promoted Brown’s performance brand, 741, and was hosted at Oakley founder Jim Jannard’s house. Brown has a sponsorship with Oakley.
“On behalf of the City, I would like to apologize to Jaylen Brown and the Jannard family,” City Manager Nancy Hunt-Coffey said in Thursday’s statement. “The City has a responsibility to its residents and neighborhoods to ensure adherence to established regulations for events held at private residences. These are designed to support the safety and welfare of neighbors and attendees. City staff observed circumstances that are believed to be City code violations and for that reason alone, the event was ended.”
In response, Brown said shutting the event down based on the belief of officials who did not enter the home “raises serious due-process concerns,” and that the incident led to “significant financial and reputational harm.”
“This was a private, invitation-only gathering at a private home among friends and partners, not a public or commercial event requiring a permit,” Jaylen Brown Enterprises Inc. said in a statement posted to Brown’s X account. “Music was voluntarily turned off at 6:00 PM; well before the 10:00 PM noise ordinance. In advance of the event, our team proactively contacted the Beverly Hills Police Department requesting to hire an off-duty officer for support, and that request was declined.
“No proof of any alleged violation was ever produced to the homeowner, our team, or legal counsel.”
In a follow-up post, Brown said, “You targeted me and my @741Performance event based on biased information then you give a half ass apology after the damage is already done.”
Brown had been asked after Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game whether he felt the shutdown was racially motivated.
“All I’m going to say is that everybody else that did something in activation, [there] seemed to be no issues,” Brown said. “It was 7 p.m. It wasn’t 10 p.m., it wasn’t 11 p.m., it wasn’t [midnight]. [It was] 7 p.m. … We’re doing a panel. We’re doing stuff that’s positive. There was nobody that was inconvenienced. [We weren’t] blocking traffic. It’s All-Star Weekend, it’s Saturday night and it’s 7 p.m. — what are we talking about?”
The statement from Brown’s organization said it is open to a “constructive resolution” with the city, which said it would look for opportunities to work with Brown and the Jannard family on community events.
ESPN’s Baxter Holmes contributed to this report.
