There is a preponderance of evidence that Chris Brown, the Sisqó-coiffed R&B performer, is one of the most infuriatingly awful people in show business.
Brown, 23, is alleged to have been involved in an “all-out brawl” with crooner Frank Ocean and his crew Sunday night, according to TMZ. The two reportedly were at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles when the melee occurred. Reports are still hazy, but witnesses told police that the fight was over a parking space, according to the Associated Press. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says the “altercation allegedly led to Chris Brown punching the victim,” who remains to be identified. Sheriff’s officials are still investigating the case and said they will contact Brown later.
Brown was exposed to the horrors of domestic violence at a very young age. Following his parents’ divorce, his mother’s new boyfriend is said to have scarred a puerile Brown for life by subjecting his mother to repeated acts of domestic violence.
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“[I told my mother,] ‘I just want you to know that I love you, but I’m gonna take a baseball bat one day while you are at work, and I’m gonna kill him,’” Brown told Giant magazine in 2007. “He used to hit my mom ... He made me terrified all the time, terrified like I had to pee on myself. I remember one night he made her nose bleed. I was crying and thinking, I’m just gonna go crazy on him one day.”
Brown was discovered at 13 by local scouts at his father’s gas station and eventually signed to Jive Records, which released his 2005 self-titled album, which went double platinum. Then, in 2007, he made a cameo on the popular TV series The O.C. and appeared on an episode of MTV’s My Super Sweet 16 in which he celebrated his 18th birthday. He appeared, like his labelmate Justin Timberlake, to be a wholesome Tiger Beat–ready pop star. Hell, he even performed at the 2006 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards with Bow Wow.
Everything changed during the early-morning hours of Feb. 8, 2009.
According to the police report, Brown, 19, and his girlfriend, Rihanna (born Robyn Fenty), 20, got into an argument inside his vehicle triggered by Rihanna seeing a lengthy text message from one of Brown’s exes on his mobile. When he couldn’t force her out of the car, Brown is alleged to have smashed her head into the passenger window, punched her in the eye, continued to rain punches down on her until her mouth filled with blood, threatened to kill her, put her in a headlock, bit her ear, and choked her until she almost lost consciousness. The photo of Rihanna’s battered face was splashed all over the news, and Brown later pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to five years’ probation and six months of community service.
In September of that same year, a prerecorded interview with Brown aired on Larry King Live. He said of the incident, “I'm in shock, because, first of all, that's not who I am as a person, and that’s not who I promise I want to be.” Later in the interview, he claimed he “has no recollection of what happened on February 8th in a rented Lamborghini,” while still acknowledging that the assault had indeed occurred.
In a vulgar display of immaturity, following reports of Rihanna’s flirtations with rapper Drake, Brown released the single “Deuces” on June 25, 2010, which many viewed as a Rihanna dis track since it included the line: “Like Tina did Ike in the limo, it finally hit me/I got a new chick, and she ain’t you.” The single would go on to sell more than a million copies.
On March 22, 2011, Brown appeared in a sit-down interview with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America. After being asked about the Rihanna incident, Brown stormed off the set and reportedly broke a window in his dressing room, removed his shirt, cursed out the show’s producers and staffers, and then left the show’s Times Square studio shirtless.
Brown has quit and rejoined Twitter numerous times over his bizarre rants and feuds with everyone from artists to comediennes. In June 2011 the singer trash-talked Odd Future members Frank Ocean and Tyler, the Creator, tweeting sarcastically, “i fuck wit Frank Ocean! Reminds me of a young James Fauntleroy or Kevin Cossum.” Ocean responded, “i fucks wit Chris Brown, reminds me of a young sisqo or ike turner.” It only got worse from there.
And a few months later, Brown reportedly was kicked out of his Miami condo for hosting a string of rowdy late-night parties. That same month, DJ Whoo Kid claimed in an interview that he personally witnessed an altercation in which Brown elbowed Drake in the face over Rihanna, but when the story exploded, he said it was a joke.
The 2012 Grammy Awards, held Feb. 12, 2012, were transformed into the Chris Brown spectacular, as the singer performed twice and took home his first Grammy for Best R&B Album for F.A.M.E. While many of his fellow artists voiced their support of Brown, many other stars were irked by the evening’s events. Lena Dunham tweeted, “If I had a really cohesive moral position I wouldn’t eat veal and I’d walk out of spin class when Chris Brown came on,” while Jack Osbourne tweeted, “if Chris Brown had worn a wife beater, the irony would eclipse the whole show. #chrisbrownbeatswomen.” And Buzzfeed, as is its wont, collected a list of the most disturbing reactions to Brown’s performance by his misguided fan base, who were tweeting things like, “Call me crazy buttttttttt I would let Chris Brown beat me up anyyyy day.”
During the spring and summer of 2012, amid rampant speculation that Brown and Rihanna had rekindled their romance, Brown was caught in the middle of a bottle-throwing brawl at the nightclub WIP in downtown Manhattan with Drake and members of his entourage. Eight people were injured in the ruckus, including a young Australian woman who required 16 stitches to her head and NBA star Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs, who got a tiny piece of glass caught in his eye and had surgery to remove it. Brown’s camp claimed Drake instigated it, but this remains unproven.
The two embattled lovers, Brown and Rihanna, have reconciled, according to numerous accounts, and in September 2012, Brown got a disturbing tattoo on his neck of a battered woman who resembles the infamous Rihanna picture. Brown claimed it’s to commemorate the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos, which seems like a bit of a stretch. And Brown decided to dress as a terrorist this past Halloween. The picture pretty much says it all.
And now, reports of a “brawl” with Ocean. When will it stop?
