As Prospect guest blogger Jamilah King notes below, earlier this week, when asked about his abuse of former girlfriend Rihanna, rapper Chris Brown stormed off the set of ABC's Good Morning America and threw a chair through a studio window, shattering glass onto Times Square.
The New York Post reports today that Good Morning America has invited Brown back. "I sure hope that he takes us up on it, because we'd love to have another chat with him," the Post quotes Robin Roberts, the GMA host whose interview "set Brown off."
Reality check -- is Chris Brown getting more famous from his abusive tirades? And is the media his accomplice?
Reports suggest Brown knew that Roberts was going to ask him about his relationship with Rihanna on air, suggesting that in all likelihood the outburst was a publicity stunt.
Was it a "publicity stunt" when the relatively lesser-known Brown beat Rihanna in the first place? Or just f*cked up anti-woman violence? Shouldn't we be concerned that the more violent Chris Brown gets, the more coverage he gets in the media? It's no coincidence the album he's out promoting is called F.A.M.E. That's what he wants. And that's what we're giving him. I guess, this blog post included...
I was profoundly disturbed to read yesterday's New York Post in which reports of the Brown incident referred twice to the fact that Brown had "slapped around" Rihanna. Slapped around?
It's the same story playing out with Charlie Sheen, who all of the sudden is more famous than ever for not only drunken and drugged tirades but, specifically, violence against women. What, this is entertainment? This is funny? This just makes them more alluring "bad boys"?
Chris Brown has spoken about the terror he experienced as a little boy listening as his stepfather beat his mother. But when we give abusers like Brown and Sheen obscene media attention while downplaying their atrocities, we just create role models for the little abusers of the future who will perpetuate violence against women.
