Unfortunately, Chris Brown Might Have A Good Point — Just Not In The Way He Thinks
Brown isn't absolved of his own violent past either.
Kathy Hutchins | Shutterstock | Wikimedia Commons Chris Brown is attempting to save face after admitting he's "tired" of people criticizing him for assaulting Rihanna in 2009.
Brown wrote a lengthy rant on his Instagram stories on February 17 after he received heavy backlash following singer Chloe Bailey's announcement that he would be featured on a new song from her debut album "In Pieces."
Many fans were furious about Bailey's decision to work with Brown, and in response, the "Loyal" singer decided to take aim at all those criticisms.
"If yall still hate me for a mistake I made as a 17-year-old please kiss my whole entire a-," Brown wrote, though, at the time of his assault against Rihanna, he was 19, not 17.
He continued, pointing out that there is no "cancel culture" for white celebrities who have abused their partners, bringing up names such as Sean Penn, Ozzy Osbourne, and Tommy Lee, who have all been accused of domestic violence acts.
Unfortunately, Brown isn't entirely misguided in pointing out that other alleged abusers have escaped accountability for their actions.
The men he named, many of whom are white and undoubtedly have a racial privilege Brown lacks, have managed to continue existing in the public eye without repercussions.
Chris Brown was right to call out other alleged abusers who have avoided accountability, but he's wrong if he thinks he's not among them
While Brown is correct that many men in Hollywood accused of violent acts have not faced proper repercussions, he's failed to see that he is a part of that problem.
Chris Brown's list of violence toward women is extensive, and he has not only continued to evade the legal system but his career in the music industry hasn't been impacted.
When those TMZ posts surfaced in 2009 showing the aftermath of a violent altercation between Brown and his then-girlfriend Rihanna, many assumed that was the end of his career.
Brown was charged with felony domestic assault, pleading guilty to one count of felony assault in a plea deal that avoided jail time in exchange for community service, counseling, a restraining order, and probation.
Many Brown fans will argue that the singer "learned from his mistakes" and that the assault against Rihanna happened "a long time ago," except that isn't the case.
In the years following Brown's extremely lenient sentencing, he has been tied to a long list of alleged assaults and violent altercations with other women and men.
In 2017, Brown's ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran obtained a restraining order against him after she said he threatened to kill her, citing even more physical violence that happened during their relationship.
In 2016, a woman accused Brown of threatening her with a gun inside his house, though he was not convicted. Brown has also been accused of assaulting a woman at a club and at a party. In 2019, Brown was accused of raping a woman in Paris. He was released without charges.
Brown managed to escape the #MeToo movement completely unscathed.
In an era of cancel culture and the rise of the #MeToo movement, we've seen many powerful Hollywood men including Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby, face the appropriate repercussions of their unfathomable acts against women.
However, Brown has continued to remain the exception, much like the names he attempted to highlight in his unnecessary social media rant.
His career hasn't floundered, if anything, his whole "bad boy" persona has granted him a boost in the entertainment industry.
Brown wasn't dropped from his label, his 2019 album "Indigo" became his third number-one album on the Billboard 200 chart, he's been nominated for multiple Grammys, even winning one in 2012, and he's even had a brief stint in acting.
The singer's predominately female-based fandom has been called into question for their undying support for him, and the reason why he has managed to escape unscathed in this #MeToo movement.
In 2012, author Roxanne Gay wrote that young women who still love Brown are products of a society that normalizes violence against women; they think experiencing violence by Brown is a fair possibility in exchange for time with someone they find conventionally attractive and talented.
"Patriarchy has no gender, and I think we have to remember people’s allegiance to patriarchy isn’t static,” bell hooks once stated.
Brown's fans are blinded by their warped parasocial relationship with him, where their support undermines and excuses his abusive behavior, as is the case of many male celebrity fans, including fans of Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp.
Chris Brown has not faced any real accountability and the fact that he thinks people need to "move on" shows that he has no remorse or empathy for the pain he has caused.
But, we need to acknowledge that there is a real gendered discrepancy when it comes to men and women in Hollywood facing punishments for their actions, and how we consider unacceptable behavior to be dealt with.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.