Where is Divine Brown now? Decades after infamous Hugh Grant scandal ex-prostitute charged with battery
Warning: The article contains description of child abuse that could be triggering to some readers. Discretion is advised.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Ex-prostitute Divine Brown's latest run-in with the law could land her behind bars for 30 years. She was charged with battery, cruelty to children, possession of drugs and smuggling suspected cocaine into jail in early 2022. A close neighbor of the crime-ridden south Atlanta estate where Brown lives said, "Divine is all about appearances. Never did the saying ‘red shoes and no knickers’ sum anyone up better."
“She likes to have people believe she drives a Porsche, wears Prada clothes and Gucci shoes. The reality is far from that," the neighbor said, according to Mirror. "She has no car, and the shoes she steps out in are nasty old flip-flops. Divine has been in and out of trouble all her adult life. There is constant shouting coming from her home, mostly when she is drunk. It seems her choices may finally be catching up to her.”
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On Valentine's Day this year, police were called to Brown's ground-floor, two-bedroom apartment at 12.30 am, where she was arrested under her real name of Estella Thompson. She reportedly appeared drunk with “very slurred speech”. Police also found a 13-year-old alleged victim, who claimed to have been hit.
According to a police report, Divine had been “grabbing her by her arm, throwing her around the apartment, slamming her on the couch”. “Once she was able to break away, she attempted to run out of the door, and (Divine) grabbed her by the face and scratched her on the left side of her face," Attending Officer Chance Gilbert reportedly said.
The girl was rushed to a hospital, while Brown was taken to Fulton County Jail. At the prison, officers suspected she had cocaine hidden inside her body. The case is still open. Unlawful possession of drugs is punishable by up to 30 years behind bars. In Georgia, first-degree cruelty to children carries a maximum stretch of 20 years in prison.
Who is Divine Brown?
Once a sex worker, Divine Brown gained attention from the media in 1995 when actor Hugh Grant was caught receiving oral sex from her in his car on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard. Brown has remained in the public eye through work in pornography, television appearances, and newspaper interviews.
Brown is known to have grown up in poverty in the eastern part of Oakland, California, being one of six children of a single mother. She later became a mother of two daughters and turned to sex work, unable to pay a $133 electricity bill.
Brown was caught with British actor Hugh Grant on June 27, 1995, and was arrested in Los Angeles. Brown said a policeman was alerted after Grant repeatedly pressed the brake pedal of his BMW with his foot, causing the brake lights to flash multiple times. She pleaded no contest on September 6, 1995, after being charged with lewd conduct. She was ordered to attend an AIDS class and perform five days of community service and was also fined $1,150 for parole violations and sentenced to 180 days in jail. Grant, who pleaded no contest, was fined $1,180. He was also placed on two years' summary probation and was ordered to complete an AIDS education program.
In September of the following year, Brown was arrested again at the MGM Grand Las Vegas in Paradise after flirting and making suggestive comments to undercover police officers. A police officer who was involved in the operation had said, "She didn't actually solicit, but the police officers knew what she was up to." After the arrest, she had to pay a $950 fine for loitering for the purpose of prostitution and resisting arrest. Brown, however, denied she was still involved in sex work.
If you or anyone you know suspects child abuse, you are urged to immediately call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential and the hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.