So this morning I was catching up on my celebrity gossip when I came across this little gem. For those of you that can't click the link, I'll sum it up. Basically it's an interview where Chris Brown speaks about life post-Rihanna, and about his next comeback album. Okay, so everything is middling along okay until Chris drops this line: "I wasn't surprised that people turned their back on me", and then he goes on and talks about how dissappointed he was with Oprah and how the media treated him after the incident at the Grammy's. He also then praises men like P Diddy and Will Smith for standing up for him. He gives shout outs to all his "true fans" that "stood by me" as well.
I just..........can't. Like seriously? What did you expect people to do? You brutally beat your girlfriend!!! Did you think that people would be all "Oh, everyone makes mistakes...it's okay"? You know I try my hardest to see the good in people, and I was starting to look at Chris Brown differently once he admitted that he had a problem, and had started counseling....but after hearing this, and seeing that clusterfuck that was the Letterman interview...I honestly don't think he understands the magnitude of what he did to Rihanna.
Also, if you don't want to burst a blood vessel, don't read the comments. They are horrible. The comments are actually worse than anything Chris Brown. The statement "Well, she had it coming", is said more than five times. As an abuse survivor, this is the comment that burns me up the most. I don't think it's any coincidence either that most of the pro Chris Brown commentary are on black blogs. We as a black community have a serious problem with condoning domestic violence, and being so forgiving of abusers.
I know that the Grammy incident is an old subject, but after reading this story again, I just felt compelled to talk about this. I cannot stress how important it is that we hold abusers accountable, specifically celebrities. I just get so frustrated with my people, black people, when I see things like this. It lets me that we have such a long way to go with how we view our relationships with one another. Because of the racism that we encounter on daily basis, and how we are portrayed in the media, we are so quick to defend our own, when it comes to situations similiar to these. We find all kinds of excuses "well, you know how them island girls are", or the very common, "Well what did she do to him?". When the R. Kelly incident happened, black people welcomed him back into the community with open arms.
Let me clarify something really quickly; I'm not saying that people don't deserve a second chance or that they can't be rehabilitated. However, I do believe that we have become a culture of abuse apologists. I know that I'm all over the place subject wise. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this..it's just, I had to vent about it. Thank you for listening.
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There are some people who were told that she hit him with the heel of her shoe and initiated a fight while he was driving over a text message. Some of these people took his side because some of them think "ANYONE regardless of gender who hits or threatens another person deserves a beatdown."
A lot of people will always take his side because he's a celebrity and thus can do no wrong.
He deserved jail time for what he did and I'm disappointed he didn' get it. I truly believe that's a HUGE part of why he doesn't grasp the full gravity of what he did. He wasn't punished for it. Rihanna forgave him, her parents forgave him, his mom forgave him, the justice system was incredibly lenient with him (which could be seen as forgiving him) and his music is still being played on radio and tv.
Wow. I no longer like Will Smith as much.
I definitely made me look at him differently as well. Here are Smith's actual comments in response to the incident:
"Jada and I reached out to both of them," Will said. "If it’s help they need, then let’s get it right."
Speaking out about the alleged attack involving Brown and Rihanna, Smith commented, "This is a time where they need to be left alone and if they have things they need to work out, work it out."
Smith urged the public to stop speculating about the incident saying, "People should take a minute before they jump on it and judge. We don’t know nothing. If there are mistakes people make, then they should be willing to live up to the mistakes and do whatever penance they need to do. I don’t think it’s up to us, specifically the media, with such a fast hand to try to chop someone’s head off."
While I see what he's trying to do, I don't think there's a lot to speculate especially since there was an actual image that showed Rihanna face's being beaten in. It's almost like people are saying "well, I mean she didn't die, so you know, it's not that bad." I don't know, I'm a bit conflicted about statements such as Will Smith's.
I agree completely with you. I do think punishment helps to understand the severity of the crime committed. I too was dissappointed with the ruling not because I'm a glutton for punishment, but b/c I think the sentence sends out a very horrible message to other would-be abusers out there. That all you get for hitting your significant other,(especially if you have money and/or fame),is a slap on the wrist.
In regards to the rumors about Rihanna being physical with Chris, I did hear the same thing, and I do think people are rightfully upset at a person physically abusive, no matter what the gender could be, I'm in agreement with this as well. However, I have not seen actual facts stating that she started the initial physical fight, but I did see the affidavit, and I did hear the confirmation from Brown that he did indeed become violent. So I wanted to go off of what I did know rather than what was rumored.