What was supposed to be an evening centered on culture, creativity, and positivity for Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown went completely sideways. Yesterday, Brown, who was in Los Angeles for the All-Star festivities, saw his brand panel event abruptly shut down by Beverly Hills police. Both sides have released statements about what happened; however, Brown minced no words, saying he was “offended.”

During All-Star media availability, the Celtics forward rejected the city’s version of events.

“That was not true,” Brown said of the permit getting denied. “We didn’t need a permit because the owner of the house, that was his space, we were family friends. He opened up his festivities to us… I didn’t have to pay for the house or anything.”

Brown explained that the event was taking place at a residence belonging to the family of Oakley founder Jim Jannard, whom Brown personally knew. He added that the pop-up was meant as a space for discussion, not a party, and that he spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” on the event’s build-out.

Earlier this morning, Brown even posted about it on his social media. Amid other posts about the incident, he tagged the Beverly Hills Police Department on X, saying, “300k down the drain.”

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The February 14 gathering, a collaboration between Oakley and Brown’s 741 brand, was taking place on private property in the Trousdale neighborhood. Videos from the site circulated online, showing Brown speaking with law enforcement while his guests were asked to leave.

The City of Beverly Hills released a formal statement soon after.

“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.”

“Only one conclusion”: Jaylen Brown signals something deeper behind event cancellation

Jaylen Brown revealed that the homeowner was just as annoyed by the cancellation as he was and that legal action was being considered.

“He wants to file a lawsuit because it’s his house,” Brown told reporters. “They’ve done multiple events there, and it’s never been an issue. He’s done four or five events even that week, he said… From the information that I’ve gathered from my team, it just seemed like it’s only one conclusion you can make.”

Though Brown didn’t explicitly state what he thought, it’s clear he believes the incident wasn’t purely procedural. However, the Celtics star made it clear that this event won’t affect his approach going forward. He plans to continue speaking out, not being discouraged or afraid to keep doing what he feels is right.

A reporter also directly asked Brown if 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?”

Brown also added that “there’s a lot of stuff going on in our world beyond basketball, beyond sports,” and as usual, we can expect to hear more from him soon.