It is ‘protect all women’ unless it comes to your favourite singer. It is ‘stop gender-based violence’ (GBV) until an international superstar, who has been proven to abuse multiple people, mostly women comes to South Africa.
American singer Chris Brown is set to come to SA for the “Breezy in South Africa” concerts in December. What had initially been one date, in which he would perform, due to humongous demand, a second date was added.
If you care about ending abuse against children, women and those of the LGBTQ+ community, put your money where your mouth is.
Social media users have claimed that the tickets were selling like hot cakes and were sold out in just two hours.
This enthusiasm towards the singer, despite his well documented continuous patterns of abuse are a slap in the face of the country’s attempt to curb GBV and raise awareness on the crisis.
To get a clear image of the situation, one can look at the advocacy group Women For Change’s social media. The organisation is being ridiculed for trying to stop Brown’s concert by launching a petition.
Here is Brown’s documented and alleged history of abuse:
2009 - Arrested for assaulting former girlfriend, fellow musician, Rihanna.
Brown punched, choked, and chewed a small bit of her skin off. He later turned himself in to police and pleaded guilty to one count of felony assault.
2013 - Brown allegedly attacked bi-sexual musician, Frank Ocean.
2013 - Brown was arrested on felony assault charges after hitting a man outside a motel. The singer and his security allegedly attacked a man after he attempted to photograph Brown with two ladies.
Brown’s indictment was reduced to a misdemeanour, and he voluntarily joined a rehabilitation facility while awaiting sentencing.
2017 - Brown was ordered by the court to stay 91.44 meters away from ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran and not contact her after she stated in court records that Brown had frequently threatened her. Tran also claimed the singer punched her in the stomach and pushed her down the stairs.
2017 - Police stated that Brown punched a photographer following an altercation regarding some photos.
2017 - Tran issued a five-year restraining order against the singer.
2018 - Brown was accused of co-conspiring, assisting, and abetting in a 2017 sexual assault of an anonymous woman that occurred during a party at his home.
2018 - Brown and other unnamed suspects were charged with sexual battery, gender violence, hate crimes, assault, interference with civil rights, deliberate infliction of emotional distress, and other offences.
2021 - A woman informed police officers that Brown slapped the back of her head so hard that her weave came off.
One can make the argument that people can change and be reformed, however with Brown, the writing is on the wall with his litany of abuse charges, even when many of the charges have been dropped.
Platforming an abuser in one of the world’s GBV hotspots is wild. The embrace of the abuser by South Africans is absurdly antithetical to ending GBV.
* Xolile Mtembu is a journalist at IOL.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media or IOL.
xolile.mtembu@iol.co.za