On Sunday, R&B performing artist Chris Brown performed (twice) at the 54th Grammy Awards, and won a Grammy for Best R&B artist.
Remember way back something about him slapping around Rihanna?
It would seem that's all forgotten now, buried in the foggy past. Nothing anyhow that should prevent Chris Brown from being invited to perform in the most watched music awards ceremony in the world, right?
If you feel that way, it might be worth reading the recently released court documents detailing exactly what Chris Brown did to "Robyn F.", also known as Rihanna, three years ago:
Brown was driving a vehicle with Robyn F. as the front passenger on an unknown street in Los Angeles. Robyn F. picked up Brown's cellular phone and observed a three-page text message from a woman who Brown had a previous sexual relationship with.
A verbal argument ensued and Brown pulled the vehicle over on an unknown street, reached over Robyn F. with his right hand, opened the car door and attempted to force her out. Brown was unable to force Robyn F. out of the vehicle because she was wearing a seat belt. When he could not force her to exit, he took his right hand and shoved her head against he passenger window of the vehicle, causing an approximate one-inch raised circular contusion.
Robyn F. turned to face Brown and he punched her in the left eye with his right hand. He then drove away in the vehicle and continued to punch her in the face with his right hand while steering the vehicle with his left hand. The assault caused Robyn F.'s mouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the vehicle.
Brown looked at Robyn F. and stated, 'I'm going to beat the sh-- out of you when we get home! You wait and see!' "
The detective said "Robyn F." then used her cell phone to call her personal assistant Jennifer Rosales, who did not answer.
Robyn F. pretended to talk to her and stated, 'I'm on my way home. Make sure the police are there when I get there.'
After Robyn F. faked the call, Brown looked at her and stated, 'You just did the stupidest thing ever! Now I'm really going to kill you!'
Brown resumed punching Robyn F. and she interlocked her fingers behind her head and brought her elbows forward to protect her face. She then bent over at the waist, placing her elbows and face near her lap in [an] attempt to protect her face and head from the barrage of punches being levied upon her by Brown.
Brown continued to punch Robyn F. on her left arm and hand, causing her to suffer a contusion on her left triceps (sic) that was approximately two inches in diameter and numerous contusions on her left hand.
Robyn F. then attempted to send a text message to her other personal assistant, Melissa Ford. Brown snatched the cellular telephone out of her hand and threw it out of the window onto an unknown street.
Brown continued driving and Robyn F. observed his cellular telephone sitting in his lap. She picked up the cellular telephone with her left hand and before she could make a call he placed her in a head lock with his right hand and continued to drive the vehicle with his left hand.
Brown pulled Robyn F. close to him and bit her on her left ear. She was able to feel the vehicle swerving from right to left as Brown sped away. He stopped the vehicle in front of 333 North June Street and Robyn F. turned off the car, removed the key from the ignition and sat on it.
Brown did not know what she did with the key and began punching her in the face and arms. He then placed her in a head lock positioning the front of her throat between his bicep and forearm. Brown began applying pressure to Robyn F.'s left and right carotid arteries, causing her to be unable to breathe and she began to lose consciousness.
She reached up with her left hand and began attempting to gouge his eyes in an attempt to free herself. Brown bit her left ring and middle fingers and then released her. While Brown continued to punch her, she turned around and placed her back against the passenger door. She brought her knees to her chest, placed her feet against Brown's body and began pushing him away. Brown continued to punch her on the legs and feet, causing several contusions.
Robyn F. began screaming for help and Brown exited the vehicle and walked away. A resident in the neighborhood heard Robyn F.'s plea for help and called 911, causing a police response. An investigation was conducted and Robyn F. was issued a Domestic Violence Emergency Protective Order."
But don't worry, Chris Brown sent Rihanna a text message "nine days later" to apologize. He also managed to elude any jail time.
So is it time to forgive and forget?
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences seems to think so. In fact, according to them, in a vicious physical assault on a woman, they were the real victims:
I think people deserve a second chance, you know. If you’ll note, he has not been on the Grammys for the past few years, and it may have taken us a while to kind of get over the fact that we were the victim of what happened.
And so agree 51% of people who answered a poll posted on VH1 asking, should Chris Brown have been allowed to play at the Grammys? (others said they were disgusted by it (44%) or that someone with more talents should have performed instead (4.4%). There was a campaign of support abuzz on Twitter, sadly, with many a young woman declaring that Chris Brown is just so hot, he can beat them any day. In fact, by 2009, the Internet was reportedly "engaged in a very serious conversation about whether or not all of this was Rihanna’s fault."
What is the harm in glorifying a man who nearly beat a woman to death, and indeed, declared his intention to kill her?
For one thing, there is little evidence that Chris Brown learned anything at all from the short-lived embarassment:
Brown also had to enroll in a year-long domestic violence course. He completed it in December 2010. Two days later, he sent out homophobic tweets to Raz B of the group B2K. Raz B wrote back, prompting Brown to make a YouTube video with this lovely message: “When I see you my n**ga, I will smack you in the mouth, beat you, drag you down the street and treat you like a little b**ch.”
In March 2011, after a heartfelt-sounding taped apology to Rihanna, Brown turned around and called his assault on her a “mishap.” “At the end of the day,” he said, “if I walk around apologizing to everybody, I'm gonna look like a damn fool.” That same month, after Robin Roberts asked him questions about his abusive history on Good Morning America, Brown went into a rage, throwing a chair against a window and shattering it.
Rewarding him with a Grammy tells him nothing more is needed from him to atone for his sins. And rewarded he does feel. Brown tweeted the following following this year's Grammys:
HATE ALL U WANT BECUZ I GOT A GRAMMY Now! That’s the ultimate [-----] OFF!
Even more seriously, however, is the powerful message the decision to have Brown play at the Grammys sends about society's tolerance for misogyny. The Grammys reach an audience of millions. Think of the impact they might have if they opted to promote an end to domestic violence? If they flashed an abuse hotline number for just 10 seconds on the screen before performances? If they enlisted a celebrity to make a bold statement against rape? But instead, the Grammys used their significant resources and influence to give a platform to a man who perpetrated a particularly sadistic attack on a woman, a man who has done a poor job of acknowledging any wrongdoing. When that's what side the powerhouse institutions of popular culture are on, it's no wonder young women are public flagellating themselves on Twitter, in total oblivion to their idiocy. And it's no wonder Chris Brown feels no shame in his semi-literate gloating.
As one domestic violence expert notes of Brown's Grammy performance:
It doesn’t send the message that changing your behavior is important. What abusive men have to hear is that we’re going to judge you on what you do about your behavior, and to the degree you don’t change what you’re doing, we’ll hold you accountable.
At least some agree. As a more sane young woman noted, we're all behaving as if "some rich and powerful old white men in the music business have not just issued an enormous ‘f**k you’ to every woman who has been, is or will be on the receiving end of domestic violence."
Way to be progressive, Grammys. And for all the defenders of Chris Brown, you've helped raise a bigot's pedestal just a little higher.
Lauryn Oates is a Contributing Writer for The Propagandist.
