Chris Brown: For real or the tears of a clown?
The controversy surrounding Chris Brown’s BET performance at the Sunday award show continues with reports the singer faked his tears during an emotional tribute to Michael Jackson.
Whether Brown was campaigning for public acceptance (after being charged in 2009 for assaulting then girlfriend Rihanna) or caught up in the moment, is unclear.
A pre-performance conversation with R&B singer Lloyd sheds doubt into Brown’s sincerity, but Lloyd explains on his website “I never told him to go on stage and cry. We spoke recently, and I told him as a friend that people hadn’t really seen him be vulnerable about his situation last year. I thought he was holding back and needed to let that emotion out. [Chris] crying at the BET Awards was real, I could feel it.
“I think he cried about a number of things. About the fact that he thought people would hate him forever because of one mistake. Feeling that love on stage was probably overwhelming. Plus [Jackson] being gone and him performing “Man In The Mirror.” that song is powerful, especially for his situation. It pushed him over the edge.”
Brown was sentenced to five years probation August 2009 and ordered to perform 180 days of community service and must attend domestic abuse counseling. That same year his album Graffiti peaked at number seven on Billboards Top 200 charts but was criticized as a disappointing follow-up to his successful second album, Exclusive.
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