MANHATTAN — A French model's catwalk career has been sidelined because of injuries he suffered during a bottle-hurling brawl between musicians Chris Brown and Drake at a SoHo nightclub, a new lawsuit charges.
Romain Julien, 30, claims he was sitting at a table near Brown and Drake when the musicians' crews started to rumble inside the club W.i.P./Greenhouse on June 14. During the melee, the Gallic pretty boy was struck by shards of broken glass, severing a tendon in his right hand, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan Civil Supreme Court.
"He was an innocent bystander, and when the war started, he was a victim," Julien's lawyer, David J. Jaroslawicz, said.
Julien, who has modeled for Levi's jeans and has a pad in the East Village, needed surgery to repair his damaged tendon and has been left with limited use of his right arm, the lawsuit says.
"He has a cast on. It's a little hard to model," Jaroslawicz said.
Julien is suing Brown and Drake for his injuries and blames Brown's hot temper for sparking the fracas.
The owners of W.i.P./Greenhouse are also named in the lawsuit. The model accuses the club owners of knowing about the bad blood between the musicians and trying to profit from the beef by seating their entourages near one another. The club is also accused of lax security and of fueling the feud by providing the alcohol to the drunken posses.
The lawsuit does not specify how much money Julien seeks in damages.
Representatives for Brown and Drake did not return calls for comment.
"We will fully evaluate the claim once we receive formal notice and the particulars of the claim and will respond appropriately," a spokeswoman for the club said in an email.
Brown and Drake's romantic rivalry over Rihanna allegedly led to the early morning rampage. The dust-up left Brown with a gash in his chin.
Police are still investigating the incident.
