It's been just four years since singer Chris Brown released his debut record, and already he's found a way to majorly sabotage his own career. This weekend, the 19-year-old pop star physically assaulted his celebrity girlfriend Rihanna in the middle of the street, a scumbag activity generally undertaken by assholes much older than himself. After fleeing the scene of the crime and later turning himself in, Brown paid $50,000 bail and now awaits his court hearing.
Wrigley's gum, with whom Brown has a lucrative endorsement deal, has suspended all ads featuring the singer until "due process" can prove him guilty. Which may be soon: Rihanna is now said to be working with LA police to build a case against her (we'll assume former) boyfriend.
Short of "I am young, entitled as shit and MAD," we'll not try and guess what Brown was thinking. The question now is whether the kid can survive this error? And what's up with everyone fucking up so royally these days?
Mike Paul, president of MGP & Associates PR, suggests that this isn't necessarily the end for Chris Brown. "He needs to get on the truth train for this one," says Paul, "and he needs to go to anger management and honestly admit to himself and everyone else that what he did was wrong." Paul adds, "And if he doesn't know what he did was wrong, he needs to go to therapy and make sure he gets it; you don't want to spin something like this, because it can only get worse." As is the case with many domestic abusers, Brown grew up in a violent household in which his stepfather would sometimes beat his mother's face bloody, so there is a root to his problem.
Paul also notes that this incident now leaves Brown forever susceptible to allegations of abuse, be they real or not. It no longer matters if Brown is convicted in a court of law, the damage to his reputation is done.
It's unfortunate Brown didn't learn from the mistakes of his elders, a few of whom have already suffered some weighty self-inflicted damage to their careers this year.
Christian Bale
What he did wrong: Raged after a director of photography on the set of Terminator Salvation walked into his line of sight during filming. The Welsh actor exploded in a four-minute, expletive-laden tirade that humiliates both himself and the DP.
The fallout: No doubt at the behest of his "people," Bale released a weak apology explaining that, as a true "actor," he still doesn't understand how to work in the confusing world of "movie stars."
What Brown could learn from him: Get some help. This isn't the first time Bale's been accused of having a problem temper, and unless he gets some therapy, it won't be the last. Nip anger issues in the screaming, red-faced bud before they ruin your life.
Michael Phelps
What he did wrong: It's not that he puffed on a bong at a South Carolina college – even CIA agents can have smoked some weed these days – it's that he was stupid enough to do it out in the open, where people could snap photos at will.
The fallout: Kellogg's canned the swimmer, USA Swimming suspended him for three months and Subway says his 2009 ad campaign is being "delayed." Midwestern parents are "disappointed."
What Brown could learn from him: Keep your life yours. Now that you're a celebrity, you've got to constantly be aware of the consequences of public lapses in judgment. This means no toking weed while in the presence of jackasses with digital cameras who would like to make a profit off your downfall.
Prince Harry
What he did wrong: Used the terms "Paki" and "raghead" in a home video he later left to be found by jackasses who wanted to profit off his downfall.
The fallout: He's the prince of England, what's anyone gonna do but admonish him a lot in the papers?
What Brown could learn from him: Don't be stupid. Slurring your friends on video – joking or not – and then letting it disappear is stupid. Beating your girlfriend up is even worse. These are things accountants from Minnesota could be taken through the ringer for, let alone celebrities. Nobody's saying you shouldn't ever be crass or get angry, but don't let it go overboard. Falling from such great heights hurts.
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They should lock Chrissie up with a couple of affection-starved inmates and see how he likes it rough. I doubt he would want any chewing gum afterwards. No doubt he will be placed on probation with anger management classes which are about as useful as an order of protection. Shall we take bets that Rihanna will defintely take him back?
chris that is bitch assness hit a girl yo dad should have tought you wayy damn better
fuck chris brown
re re should have kicked yo azz bitch
wringer
Chris should watch his own back. I bet there are a slew of angry male relatives, ex boyfriends, and rabid fans who would happily avenge her honor by burning him down. Sorry sometimes isn't enough, boyfriend.
yes, fiona…the guy who "discovered" Rhianna (JayZ) comes to mind.
I don't think Jay would have a problem issuing a beat down to Mr. Brown.
I hope that you guys actually emailed/wrote to the LA Times to express your disappointment. It's feedback@latimes.com.
Write them!
He if girl hitter "Miss Brown" wants a real fight with a man, I'm in Midtown Houston. Come on down punk.
Oh wait, he's only got balls enough to hit a girl.
Unless there were eyewitnesses, maybe it was self-defense. We don't know anything about what happened, yet.
to HMS…
while you may be right, I seriously doubt that. she wound up with (according to eyewitnesses from the hospital) bruises and swelling on both sides of her face, a bloody nose and a split lip. her injuries were described as "horrific".
and, witnesses from the actual incident said she tried to get away from him. plus, he (nor the cops) didn't press charges against her, so the likelihood of her hitting him is slim. cops WILL press charges for domestic violence even if the "victim" does not.
Why is the media rooting for Chris Brown to be saved or save himself? Hitting a bong is lesser offensive to me than hitting your girlfriend, so I don't understand why Michael Phelps has put up with so much shit and everyone's just waiting for Chris Brown to bounce back…
@JJS III: I know it's obnoxious to reply to my own comment, but "less offensive" is what I intended to write.
More importantly, herpes or not… Domestic abuse is no joke.
chris and rihanna were arguing…she grabbed him while he was driving and he ran into a parked car….causing the bruises she has..he then proceeded to tell her he was done with her…she got even more angry they got outta car…and continued arguing….the car was impounded and chris left the scene of the accident
@weavebasket32:
Did the car bite her on her fingers and arm too?
Were you there?
@hms: even if she hit him first, the law is such that self defense does not give one the right to inflict a disproportional of harm on the party who initiated the the conflict. the fact that SHE's pressing charges against him and that he is not bringing any case against her suggests that he harmed her, at least more than self defense would warrant. but, based on the description of her injuries, i really doubt she hit him first.
@weavebasket32: right, b/c she'd have gone through the embarrassment of pressing such charges if it were just a traffic accident. and he would have been arrested and placed on bail just for a traffic accident. use ur fucking brains homie!
Listen, in this day and age where we as women are claiming or demanding to be treated as equals we cannot hit a man and run behind the veil of being a woman. We can't have it both ways. Hopefully she learns her lesson but I honestly think if another woman was not involved she would not be pressing charges. Women can be very vindictive. Domestic violence is wrong on both parts not just on the part of a Man. She grew up fighting with her brothers and even admitted to breaking a glass over one's head. Now I used to fight and even kick my brother's ass but do you think I would honestly win that fight now with him being a beast at 6'3. My partner and I have had heated arguments and as pissed as I've been I have never laid a hand on him and vice versa but know if I punched him in his face he would punch me back and would it be right for him to go to jail over my nonsense? And if I am behind the wheel and some nut starts to spaz out on me putting my life in danger they gonna get it!
@whatzreallyreal: ummm, how the fuck do u know she hit him first? that his life was in danger because of it? u don't!
i call bullshit on ur generalizations about women. not every woman has hit a man, and not every woman who has been hit has hit that man first. it's wrong to put your hands on ANYONE, and even in self defense all one should do is attempt to subdue the attacker if that attacker is smaller (see my post above). If and only if the attacker is larger than you, then it's ok to hit back as it may be the only way to ensure survival.(I must also note that the article says he assaulted her in the middle of the street, not while he was behind the wheel, so chances are he could have walked away from her if she hit him first).
but really, don't come in here and make rihanna's story about urself and whatever falsehoods and preconceived notions you have about women who suffer abuse. U didn't have this happen to you, she did. until you know that she attacked chris brown, don't try to justify his alleged actions because that sort of thing, coupled with the incoherence with which you've written your ridiculous comment, will make u look stupid.
Well said Raysanni!!!
@whatzreallyreal:
Wow! I've read some moronic comments but yours is truly astounding in its ignorance. According to police reports, Rihanna was beaten viciously. There is no excuse for this. In no way was Rihanna responsible for Brown's alleged actions.
You should be ashamed of your SEXISM!
If the allegations about Brown are true, he deserves jail time just any other person who commits felony assault. It's sickening that a PR person would suggest that Brown just needs an anger management class.
BTW whatzreallyreal, Ri isn't the one to press charges - no one has yet, other than the police for uttering a threat. So far, Ri has taken no action that could be labelled as 'vindictive', so let's lay off going there. It's spiteful and mean.
Why does your intro say Chris Brown "physically assaulted…."
There's been no proof yet.
This is all alleged.
What ever happened to innocent or until proven guilty? Or ethical journalism, for that matter.
cue phony apology and stint in rehab. This will not hurt his career. IT will give him more street cred for the hip hop/ r&b crowd. I'd be surprised if they don't start labeling Rhianna as a snitch. His behaviour will be excused away.
Females hit men all the time and this shit is ridiculous. A man can't defend himself, he has to just sit there and get beat up? That doesn't make any kind of sense. Woman are shaped like some skinny men out there and some woman are big or toned enough to whoop a man's ass these days. I for one am getting sick and tired of people always looking the other way for women. Chris got abused to and Rihanna is probably not as bad as anyone thinks. Now everybody that's jumping on Chris, he did his crime but Rhianna also did her's. Also it doesn't matter if a man is raised a certain way, when a person is beating the shit out of you especially when you're "driving", you may want to get a little violent after. Sorry there are reasons to this events. Girls can't just get off so easily.
@G: hey genius! what evidence is there that she hit him? none. your point is moot.
Damn, I'm amazed that so many apologists for woman-beating have crawled out of the woodwork publicly since this has happened, even on this website. But, I suppose I shouldn't be.
While we know that the press like to make the black male look bad why don't we just wait and find out the facts. I prefer reading press releases from all over the world and each one has a different story. No one has the right to put their hands on another person being it man or woman. There's a lot of missing parts to this story and when the truth does come out a lot of people will probably have do do on their faces for what? Jumpin the gun.
Have you ever stopped to wonder why a driver would stop and pull over on the side of the road. Could it be that he was being attacked? Folk start thinking and put yourself in that situation. What would make you driver, stop the car in the middle of a neighborhood.
Look I think everyone just needs to STFU! bc you WEREN'T there! you DO NOT know what happened!Hell maybe Rihanna started it…(no offense to Rihanna i love her to deathh!)but there are so many damn explainations to this and ways that ppl might have misunderstood the facts or what SEEMS to be the truth and/or facts.I know what it is like to be a girl wrapped up in that shit.It went on for almost a year in my life.Im glad rihanna was able to get it stopped extremely quick, because the longer it is drug out the worse it gets.
but honestly, yall need to quit jumpin the gun and WAIT and see what the truth is b4 yall start running ur mouths non freakkin stop! yall have no right to say anything! you have no leg to stand on with any of this! no one does except for Chris & Rihanna.so all yall just STFU and stop puttin words into their mouths and let them speak and work this out for everyone.
yall need to stop thinking yall have all the answers because guess what you dont! the only people with the answers are the people that were there.you dont know how much this goes on in the real world.the only reason you say shit now is because its famous ppl that you can run your mouths to and get away with it.
well heres alittle tip for EVERYONE, grow up and help prevent shit like this.i bet if any of you BIG talkers saw something like this in the real world youd blow it off and act like you didnt see it or anyything! which is total freakin BS! i have been in fights with "men" b4 and lemme tell you something! none of these men are man enough to deal with all this.if a 16 year old can stick up to those men you should get the balls to as well…
thats really all i have to say to you…
@Bodatious Baby: so, because i've never seen someone being abused and thus never broken up an altercation, i cannot be angry at chris for hitting his girlfriend.
got it. your genius is awe inspiring.
@whatzreallyreal: i agree with you! now people need to look at both side of the story and stop talking about the young man when they don't even know what the hell went on because honestly she propably push that man to hit her because not one man will continue to let a woman to continue to hit him and not flip out on them. i do hate that happen to her but sometime you can bring things on yourself. i like both of them but any of there problems or what went on is none of nobodies business and i don't care who stop listening to his music i will continue and not judge him. ya'll up here talking about the boy like everything is all good in yall life.
You guys. Seriously. You don't know one man that would let a girl push/hit him without hitting her back? Meet some new (and hopefully classier) men! I would never hit or push my boyfriend or any of my guy friends, but were I to do so, there is no way in HELL they would hit or push me back. My boyfriend might grab my wrist or try to carefully restrain me, but he would not sink to that level with me just because I did it. Geez.
We dunno what happened but if wat allegedly happened is what really happened then chris brown has sum serious problems.. i used to hav a celeb crush on him but believing that this really happened makes me think so differently about him and who knows rihanna could have started it(although i DEFINATLEY think thats not the case) but either way obviously by the description of her attack he had no write to attack someone like that and especially his girlfriend who he was supposidly in a serious relationship with, and as far as her giving him herpes i dont believe that bullshit just like the thing about paris hilton c'mon chris brown cheating on rihanna with paris hilton okaiie that sounds realllyyyy believable righhhtt… i think we all need to wait til the truth really comes out but as much as i wish chris brown wasnt like that i do believe he id those awful things…
***did