Culture Box
Hollywood, in fact all of LA, the music industry and fans worldwide have been knocked for six at the recent “news” that the fresh-faced, likeable American singing and dancing phenomenon Chris Brown might have physically abused his girlfriend, Barbados-born pop-star Rihanna.
Early media reports had, in the absence of any confirmation from her “people”, carefully speculated that the “female” about whom an eyewitness placed a 911 call, might have been Rihanna. However, the facts pointed straight at that being the likely scenario. First, she is/was dating Chris Brown. Second, she was photographed at a party with him hours before the incident. Third, she was forced to cancel her Grammy appearance. Fourth, she has since postponed an appearance in Malaysia.
Online news reports have said that Rihanna had also cancelled her 21st birthday bash.
It was reported that the “Disturbia” singer had two huge red and blue contusions, which swelled up on both sides of her forehead; a swollen, split lip and a bloody nose; her right eye was blackened and badly swollen and she had hand prints on her arms. Subsequent reports said that she had been choked and had lost consciousness.
Chris Brown, 19, was arrested and placed on $50,000 bail. He, then reportedly returned to his hometown, though he must appear again in court next month.
What we found amazing and laudable was how quickly the anti-violence machinery kicked into gear. Wrigleys, the company famous for chewing gum, was the first to act, suspending the ‘Double Mint’ advertisements the artiste had done.
Then, 96.5 KISS FM radio station in Cleveland was forced to stop playing songs by Chris Brown after it received a deluge of telephone calls from outraged listeners.
Got Milk? An advertising campaign by the California Milk Processor Board, also dropped Chris Brown from its list of endorsees this week.
We applaud all of these actions.
Brown himself pulled out of the NBA All Star game where he was scheduled to appear this weekend. We’re not sure if this was an act of contriteness or if he is just avoiding publicity. However, we feel that if he committed the act, and from all indications he has, sponsors are justified in shunning Chris Brown.
We also believe that every person deserves a second chance and therefore we definitely feel that he should undergo a period of counselling, even though he might be fortunate enough to serve a “celebrity sentence”, shades of Paris Hilton and other celebrities who have misbehaved. We feel he should pay compensation to the injured party or make a sizeable donation to a battered women’s shelter.
As for Rihanna, we hope that she follows through and testifies against her assailant if she has to. We would like to see her become an anti-violence spokesperson. We know she has a massive audience already and tons of support and feel she can really turn things around and help young people who are faced with similar situations daily.
We know this is not the first instance of “celebrity abuse” nor will it be the last. Celebrities are human like the rest of us, with emotions, hang-ups and vices perhaps even more rampant that the average world citizen since they usually have help to cover their dark sides. However, we believe that good can come from evil and if handled correctly, this incident can be used to further the cause to end violence against women. (thescene@stabroeknews.com)
