Jaylen Brown: Beverly Hills’ explanation for event shutdown ‘false’

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Beverly Hills police broke up an event hosted by Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown Saturday night, with the city saying she did not have a permit. However, on Sunday, Brown disputed that characterization, calling a statement released by the city “completely false” while pointing out that hundreds of thousands of dollars of investment in the event had been wasted.

“I’m offended by Beverly Hills for the statement they made, like we asked for something and didn’t get it, and we did it anyway. [and] we were insubordinate,” Brown said after the NBA All-Star Game at Intuit Dome, where he made his first appearance as an All-Star starter. “I know how to follow the rules. I’m smart enough to follow directions. It felt like someone didn’t want what was happening to continue, because out of everyone who was doing something, I felt like I was the only one being stopped. »

Earlier Sunday, the city of Beverly Hills released a statement to the Boston Globe, saying the city had rejected a permit for the event.

“On Saturday, February 14, the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) responded to an event that took place at a private residence in the Trousdale neighborhood of the city. An event permit was requested and denied by the city due to prior violations associated with events at this address,” the release said.

“Despite the fact that permission was denied, the organizers still chose to invite hundreds of guests, knowing it was not permitted. BHPD responded and shut down the unauthorized event.”

Brown posted a video of his conversation with a Beverly Hills police officer on his social media in which he sought answers and later said, “I feel like we’re being targeted.” »

After Sunday’s game, Brown, who has a sponsorship with Oakley and said the event was held at the home of Oakley founder Jim Jannard, disputed the city’s version.

“That wasn’t true,” Brown said. “We didn’t need a permit because the owner of the house, it was his space. We were family friends. He opened up the festivities for us so we didn’t have to. We never asked for a permit. … I didn’t have to pay for the house or anything. They just opened it up. I had to pay for the construction, but it was hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted on an event that was supposed to be positive.”

Brown was asked if he thought the closure was motivated by racism.

“All I’m going to say is that everyone who did anything during activation, [there] There didn’t seem to be any problems,” 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 do positive things. Nobody was embarrassed. [We weren’t] block traffic. It’s All-Star weekend, it’s Saturday night and it’s 7 p.m., what are we talking about?”

The event promoted Brown’s performance brand, 741.

“That’s hundreds of thousands of dollars lost down the toilet,” he said. “A lot of work went into this. A lot of effort went into this, so I’m more offended for my team. They did a lot of work to do an activation for my brand, 741. We partnered with Oakley.

“So it leaves a bad taste in my mouth here in Los Angeles for All-Star weekend. It’s super distracting for you to have to ask me about this in particular, we should be here talking basketball, but yesterday wasn’t great.”

Brown said Jannard plans to take legal action against Beverly Hills.

“The owner seemed pretty upset,” Brown said. “He wants to take legal action because it’s his house. They’ve had several events there and there’s never been a problem. He’s had four or five events even that week, he said, “and it’s never been a problem.”