Jaylen Brown Speaks For First Time After Beverly Hills Event Shut Down By Police

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Jaylen Brown over the years, it’s that he’s never been afraid to speak his mind - especially when something doesn’t sit right with him.

And during All-Star Weekend, something clearly didn’t.

What was supposed to be a night centered around conversation, community, and creativity instead turned into one of the more bizarre off-court storylines of the weekend, after a panel hosted by Brown was abruptly shut down by police in Beverly Hills.

We’re supposed to be sitting here on a Monday morning talking about the triumph of Brown getting his first career All-Star Game start. Instead, this is the headline for the 2024 NBA Finals MVP.

According to multiple media reports, Brown had planned a full slate of events at a mansion in the Trousdale section of Los Angeles, including a watch party, networking opportunities, and a panel discussion featuring Andre Iguodala. But just as the panel was set to begin, police entered and told attendees the event needed to be shut down, with multiple cruisers reportedly parked outside as roughly 200 guests were told to leave.

The city later released a statement saying the event had been denied a permit:

“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. 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.”

After Sunday’s All-Star Game, Brown pushed back strongly on that characterization when talking with the media, saying the city’s version of events simply wasn’t accurate.

“That was not true. That was not true,” said Brown. “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. We never applied for [a permit] and I think they told the media what we applied and it was denied. There was no permit ever applied for.

“Jim Jannard, he’s the creator of Oakley. I am a brand partner of Oakley. They opened up their house to me.”

The property, owned by Jannard, is reportedly worth around $68 million, and Brown told the media the cancellation came at a significant cost, saying “hundreds of thousands of dollars were wasted” with the cancellation of the panel.

“He allowed us to do an activity in his space, we had a pop-up talking about culture, talking about the future of independency, creative control,”said Brown. “A bunch of different people that was there to talk about positivity and community and it seemed like somebody didn’t want that to happen.”

Brown didn’t hide his frustration with the implication that he knowingly ignored city rules.

“Like we applied for something and didn’t get it and we did it anyway,” said Brown. “Like we were insubordinate. I know how to follow the rules. I’m smart enough to follow the guidelines. It just seems like somebody didn’t want whatever we had going on to go on because out of everybody that was doing something [in Beverly Hills], it seemed like I was the only one to get shut down.”

With countless parties, brand activations, and events happening across Los Angeles throughout the weekend, Brown questioned why his gathering was the one that drew enforcement.

“So you tell me how I should feel about it,” Brown said, with his frustration both visible and audible.

When asked whether he believed there were racial undertones, Brown was measured but candid.

“All I am going to say is everybody else that did something, an activation, there seemed to be no issues. It was 7 p.m. It wasn’t 10 p.m. It wasn’t 11 p.m. It wasn’t 12 p.m. 7 p.m. in the day and we’re doing a panel that’s positive. There was nobody that was inconvenienced. It wasn’t blocking traffic.

“It’s All-Star Weekend. It’s Saturday night and it’s 7 p.m. and what are we talking about? And the city had an ordinance to shut us down. No matter what the owner of the house said. No matter what we tried to reason with them. There was no working with them. They didn’t try to work with us. They didn’t try to have a conversation and they shut everything down. So the statement they put out there was completely false. I stand by that.”

Brown added that while he’s never had issues in the area before, the situation left a lasting impression - not just for him, but for the team behind the event.

“From what I’ve heard from other people, they’ve had similar experiences in Beverly Hills,” said Brown. “I have no problem with Beverly Hills. I never had an issue with Beverly Hills. This is my first time. It’s a $70 million house that we’re staying at by the way. Who are we bothering? You guys should tell me how I should feel about that. I’m more offended for my [marketing] team because they did a lot of work to do an activation for my brand.

“It leaves a bad taste in my mouth here for All-Star Weekend. It’s super distracting for you guys to even have to ask me questions about this. We should be here talking about basketball. Yesterday wasn’t great.”

For a player who has spent the last few seasons expanding his voice beyond the court while still anchoring the identity of the Boston Celtics, the whole situation felt like an unfortunate detour during a weekend that’s supposed to celebrate both the game and the people around it.

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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.