Chris Brown Nominated for 2 Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards
Sad but true:
Favorite Male Singer
Favorite Song
Unbelievable. Chris Brown is being brought up on felony assault charges for one of the most publicized examples of intimate partner violence in years and he gets “honored” with 2 Kid’s Choice Award nominations? The message that this gives to Nickelodeon viewers is so full of FAIL that I don’t even know where to start.
Please let Viacom (Nickelodeon’s parent company) know that this is unacceptable.
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Wow. That's so infuriating. People can write, but Viacom doesn't care. You're looking at the owner of BET here. Viacom WANTS people to think blacks are all about the gangsta lifestyle. Viacom wants people to think blacks are all about objectifying women. Most of all, Viacom wants for the African American community to believe it themselves.
I'm pretty sure that Anonymous is responsible for this.
I think that the kids who voted probably have no idea what is going on with Chris Brown and Rihanna.
And while I think it's seriously a bad idea to have him getting a Kids Choice award, can they actually legally exclude him from getting one just because of an alleged crime? (Technically he hasn't been convicted of anything yet and apparently Rihanna has 'forgiven' him, sigh).
I would be shocked if they allowed him to present or perform at the show, but the kids are voting... wouldn't it be unethical to ignore their votes?
-Lilith
i just checked around a bit and it says that he's been charged with two felonies [that's ALL?!]
.... i've heard of Rihanna forgiving him and apparently they're totally back together.
actually, they are getting married.
it would probably be way worse if he was allowed to perform at the show... its bad enough that he's got a chance at winning
[the kids choice awards are squeaky clean and you are right, none of the kids would even know that there was an argument between brown and rihanna]
I disagree on the point that the kids wouldn't know. I work with kids, in fact with kids that have been abused or come from homes where domestic violence was present, and they know all about it. How could they not? it's everywhere? Kids that watch Nick do not exclusively watch Nick; they also see news shows and entertainment shows that their parents watch, they read teen and celebrity magazines (yes, even pre-pubescent kids) and they go to the grocery store and look at tabloids.
They do know about it. I can promise you that many, many of them know and that more than you'd like to think have witnessed the same kind of abuse in their homes. to see Chris Brown on the kids choice awards further normalizes something that we need to convince these kids is not acceptable behavior.
Well, I didn't say that no kids knew about it. Just that the kids voting for him didn't necessarily know. Nickelodeon has a pretty big age range and I don't think that every 7 year old reads tabloids or watches "grownup" television. My daughter knows what happened because I told her. I know a ton of parents who are not honest with their kids and make up stupid lies or distractions to hide them from reality because they're "too young". (One example being when Jaime Lynn Spears had a baby, a former friend told her daughter that she "borrowed it from her sister Britney Spears" rather than have the sex talk, wtf).
Also, they're voting for a song, not the actions of the person behind them. (I'm not saying the person behind them doesn't matter, but you can still enjoy the song while hating the person who sang it).
And when exactly did the kids select the nominees anyway? Probably before this whole story broke. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't win, because of what happened, but it's not impossible to believe that he was nominated.
-Lilith
I doubt that the kids select the nominees at all. They're probably selected by Viacom, not that I've much looked into that. But Viacom certainly has some editorial responsibilities. To be clear, I'm not saying that the children that voted are at fault or are guilty of condoning domestic violence. I'm not saying "they know and they nominated/voted for him and that is wrong". to make this a question of blaming the kids is absurd. I am blaming the corporation that probably nominated these celebrities based on business deals, to promote their brand and sell merchandise.
And I didn't say all kids either. Surely some kids know, some don't. But doesn't it matter that the ones that know are seeing this type of behavior validated? By an apparently trusted kid's network?
And the question of ethics doesn't really hold up; is it more important, ethically, to ensure the integrity of the voting process of a blatantly commercial children's awards show (which only features the most mainstream, unchallenging, low-quality, gender-role-enforcing music), or to take responsibility as adults for the content that is put out for consumption of a mass audience of kids and the underlying messages therein? I think the latter.
According to a network rep: "Like all our KCA nominees, Chris Brown was nominated by kids several months ago based on his work as a performer, and the kids who vote will ultimately decide who wins in the category.”
I didn't suggest that you were blaming the kids, but merely that it is The Kid's Choice Awards. The kids chose him as a nominee before this news broke out. Hopefully they will not choose him as the winner. If they do, then that will be the fault of their parents. Either for allowing their kids to vote for him, for allowing their kids to use the Internet unsupervised, and/or for shielding their kids from reality (i.e., leaving their kids ignorant to what Brown has down and/or why it's wrong).
But to answer your question, yes, I do think it's more important to ensure the integrity of the voting process. I know it's not the Oscars or anything, but I certainly don't want Viacom decided for my children who is and isn't appropriate to vote for. That is the job of the parents. (See my earlier post below regarding why I think it would be a bad precedent to set).
he shouldn't even be allowed to be nominated for anything after what happened...
except maybe for biggest asshole of the year.
damn right!... this just makes my head hurt....
Although on a personal level I'd love to see him excluded from the awards altogether, I would be more disturbed if Nickelodeon/Viacom took it upon themselves to deny the kids their choice.
That is, if they can refuse Brown's award or nomination because he was charged (not convicted) of a crime, who is to say that they won't decide next year that other nominees are "bad role models" because they're gay or have kids outside of marriage or don't wear purity rings, heh. It would be a dangerous precedent to set.
I think it's perfectly acceptable to ask him not to attend the event and definitely they shouldn't allow him to perform or present. But if it truly is a Kids Choice award, then it should be the kids choice. (And no matter what you think of him personally, it is a pretty catchy song).
I agree, good post.
The votes by the kids probably happened a long time before the domestic violence incident. The results would likely be different now.
If Chris Brown was arrested for rape and murder, do you think he should still get the award? Why is this any difference - it's not like he's pleading not guilty.
Give the kids their second choice and show them that horrible behavior leads to being stripped of prestige and admiration.
"Give the kids their second choice and show them that horrible behavior leads to being stripped of prestige and admiration."
YES!! Chris Brown's attack did not happen in a vacuum! I think it's within the responsibility of the awards show--the ADULTS--to make a point about what kinds of behavior are unacceptable, and this overrides "kid's choice," particularly if the voting happened long before the attack. Assault is certainly unacceptable. I wonder what amount of atrocities a person would have to commit before being barred from the awards? Cuz this is pretty bad.
Below is what I wrote to Viacom, feel free to steal it and mix it around. I took one of your lines, hope you don't mind. It sounded really good :)
Also, I went on their website, and found that people can still vote, so voting didn't happen long ago, it's still going on.
AND I found out after I sent my letter that Katy Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl" is up for best song. Seriously? 8 year olds are voting for a video with a bunch of girls in their underwear, singing about kissing each other, even though the song says she does it without permission from her BOYFRIEND? (Isn't that like.. cheating?)
Clearly the video is a show for guys and a "what to do in order to get attention from guys" for girls. SHOOT ME.
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Hello, my name is Allyssa Milan, and I am a student at the University of Connecticut. I grew up watching (and loving) Nickelodeon, and now I have 2 younger siblings who love the channel.
However, I just heard from a friend that the singer, Chris Brown, is up for 2 Nickelodeon Kid's Choice awards for best singer and favorite song. I am appalled, seeing as Mr. Brown was brought up on felony assault charges for one of the most publicized examples of intimate partner violence in years. Though he may be talented, the Kid's Choice Awards should also take into account the fact that the people awarded should serve as role models for children. His actions prove that he is absolutely not a role model, and therefore it is my belief, and the belief of many people I have spoken with, that he should not be honored.
I hope that your company considers matters such as this much more in the future. Children watch a lot of television these days, which increases our society's needs for responsible media.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Allyssa Milan