Trigger warning for domestic violence
Sasha Pasulka of HelloGiggles said it best: “I’m not okay with Chris Brown performing at the Grammys and I’m not sure why you are.” She points out that the popular response to Chris Brown’s beating of Rihanna was beyond disappointing, with fans and celebrities alike falling back on “No one knows exactly what happened” and “It takes two to tango” and “He’s such a great guy; he never would have done something like that unprovoked.” Ultimately, he plead guilty to felony assault (to break that down: he was guilty of assault, and he said so himself), and then his next album sold more than 100,000 copies in its first week.
Jump forward three years, he was invited to perform at the Grammys (because the music industry appears to be okay with it). Because, says Grammys producer Ken Erlich, people deserve a second chance. And he hasn’t performed at the Grammys for two whole years now. And “we were the victim of what happened.”
We were the victim. Of “what happened.” The fella slipped up, and can’t hold it against him, and if you haven’t forgiven a man for severely beating you after three whole years, you’re kind of unreasonable.
But that was last night. That was Hollywood’s reaction. This morning, it’s the fans’ reaction, which appears to be: Chris Brown is so hot, it would be okay if he beat me.
It would be awesome if he beat me.
All quotes are both [sic] and sickening.
Call me crazy buttttttttt I would let Chris Brown beat me up anyyyy day
Everyone shut up about Chris brown being a woman beater… Shiiiittt he can beat me up all night if he wants.
Chris brown… Please beat me 😉
I don’t know why Rihanna complained. Chris Brown could beat me anytime he wanted to.
I’d let chris brown punch me in the face
ok not gonna lie i’d let chris brown beat the eff out of me
Chris Brown could serenade me and then punch me in the eye. I’m down for it.
Dude, Chris brown can punch me in the face as much as he wants to, just as long as he kisses it (:
This is why we should still be upset. This is why we can’t just let it go. Because girls and women don’t just see his violent assault as a non-issue–they see it as a joke. Regardless of whether he ever beats a woman again or whether he feels really, really bad about what he did (of which we have yet to see evidence), if the response from anyone is “It’s okay if he’s hot,” it means we as a society have a lot more work to do. If the response is, “LOL domestic violence is so funny,” I have no idea where to even start.
(Incidentally, Brown ended up taking home a Grammy for his most recent album, “F.A.M.E.” “Forgiving All My Enemies.” How generous of him. His own response, via Twitter: “People who make mistakes and learn from them are ROLE MODELS too. Im just happy to inspire growth and positivity, #TEAMBREEZYdidit” It would appear that he’s since removed the tweet.)