Bringing you up-to-date news on Chris Brown!
Since 2008, Brown started to work on a upcoming studio album. According with him, he will experiment a different musical direction for his new album—currently titled Graffiti—while hoping to emulate fellow American singers Prince and Michael Jackson. He says, “I wanted to change it up and really be different. Like my style nowadays, I don’t try to be typical urban. I want to be like how Prince and Michael [Jackson] and Stevie Wonder were. They can cross over to any genre of music.” Brown debuted his lead Graffiti single “I Can Transform Ya” on 29th of September as a digital download and the music video debuted on MTV on 27th October 2009. Brown also confirmed that his next single was called “Crawl” which is to be released a few weeks after his lead single. They have made music videos for both singles. Graffiti would follow with a December 15, 2009 release.
Brown turned himself in to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire station on February 8, 2009, and was booked on suspicion of making criminal threats, while under investigation for domestic violence charges, following an argument with an unidentified woman. The police report did not name the female in the incident as is policy, but stated that the she had “suffered visible injuries”. However, various news media such as the Los Angeles Times, CNN, and MSNBC said that sources had identified the alleged victim as his girlfriend and fellow R&B singer Rihanna. Following his arrest, several of his commercial ads were suspended, his music was withdrawn from multiple radio stations, and he withdrew from public appearances, including one at the 2009 Grammy Awards, where he was replaced by Justin Timberlake and Al Green. Brown later released a statement saying, “Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired.”
On March 5, 2009, Brown was charged with felony assault and making criminal threats. He was arraigned on April 6, 2009, and pleaded not guilty to one count of assault and one count of making criminal threats. On June 22, 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to a felony and accepted a plea deal of community labor and five years’ formal probation. Domestic violence counseling is also part of the deal by Judge Patricia Schnegg in court. Several organizations against domestic violence expressed criticism over the plea deal, advocating the punishment was not severe enough for the crime; the level of Brown’s influence over youth also came under scrutiny, as domestic violence is believed to be a learned behavior. On July 20, 2009, Brown released a two-minute video on his official YouTube page apologizing to fans and Rihanna for the domestic altercation, expressing the incident as his “deepest regret” and saying that he has repeatedly apologized to Rihanna and “accepts full responsibility”. Brown said he wanted to speak out earlier about the case but was advised by his attorney not to until the legal ramifications were settled. On August 25, Brown was sentenced to five years of probation, one year of domestic violence counseling, and six months of community service; the judge retained a five-year restraining order on Brown, which requires him to remain 100 yards away from Rihanna, 10 yards at public events.
On September 2, 2009, Brown spoke about the domestic violence case in a pre-recorded Larry King Live interview, his first public interview about the matter. He was accompanied in the interview by his mother and attorney Mark Geragos, as he discussed growing up in a household rampant with domestic violence; his mother had been repeatedly assaulted by his stepfather. Brown said of hearing details of what transpired the night of his own assault, his physical altercation with Rihanna, “I’m in shock, because, first of all, that’s not who I am as a person, and that’s not who I promise I want to be.” Brown’s mother, Joyce Hawkins, said Brown “has never, ever been a violent person, ever” and that she does not believe in the cycle of violence. Brown described his relationship with Rihanna as having been like Romeo and Juliet during widespread media reports of the domestic violence case, and that it was the media that drove them apart following news of the assault. He said he did not remember assaulting Rihanna but realized it occurred and is sorry for his actions that night. Following criticism of saying he did not remember, Brown later said in a statement, “Of course I remember what happened. Several times during the interview, my mother said that I came to her right afterwards and told her everything.” Brown said despite this, “[that night] was and still is a blur”. Earlier in the Larry King Live interview, he said that it is “tough” for him to look at the famous photograph released of Rihanna’s battered face, which may be the one image to haunt and define him forever, and that he still loves her. “I’m pretty sure we can always be friends,” said Brown, “and I don’t know about our relationship, but I just know definitely that we ended as friends.” In addition, he stated he does not feel that his career is over.
[Text from Wikipedia]