Foxy Brown in performance at Beenie Man's Summer Sizzle. - Nathaniel Stewart/Freelance Photographer

NEW YORK (AP):

Rapper Foxy Brown pleaded guilty to misdemeanour assault charges stemming from a fight with salon workers over a manicure.

Monday's plea deal, which spares her jail time, requires her to serve three years' probation and take anger management classes, said Edison Alban, a spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney's office.

Minutes after the plea, Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, tried to return to the courtroom and withdraw it, claiming she had been rushed into the decision, Alban said. But the judge told her "the plea stands," the spokesman said.

Telephone call

A telephone call to Brown's attorney was not immediately returned Monday.

Prosecutors said the 26-year-old rapper, who once appeared in court wearing 4-inch (10-centimetre) hoop earrings and 3-inch (7.6-centimetre) stiletto heels, kicked one employee and smacked a second in the face on August 29, 2004, in an argument over payment for a manicure at Bloomie Nails.

Her sentencing was scheduled for October 23.

The case almost was settled in December, when Brown, whose albums include Ill Na Na and Chyna Doll, had been expected to enter a plea. But the agreement fell apart, apparently because Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson was unsatisfied with Brown's plea statement.

Prosecutors had said they believed the statement was legally and factually flawed, indicating they believed Brown, known for her raunchy lyrics and revealing clothes, had not accepted enough blame for the nail salon quarrel.