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Something still hasn't quite clicked yet for Chris Brown's comeback.
Not that he isn't back. He's definitely back. In fact, he's smack in the middle of the Party Tour with 50 Cent, Fabolous and others. He was scheduled to host a party last night in Miami. He's working on his eighth studio album and over the past year he's collaborated with the likes of Fiddy, Zendaya, Usher and DJ Khaled.
But somewhere amid all the music and all the doting he's done on daughter Royalty since becoming a dad, there remains the guy who just punched a photographer at a nightclub in Tampa, Fla., after a Party Tour show. Police confirmed to E! __news that the paparazzo communicated his intent to press charges—and history would suggest that a lawsuit is next.
Not that this would excuse anything, but Brown is hardly the first celebrity to get angry and clock a photographer. If only it were the first time Brown had been accused of a violent act.
Time tends to play tricks on us when it comes to the famous, with headlines and the occasional official document all we really have to guide us, but it's starting to feel like a lifetime ago that the 2005 debut single "Run It!" climbed the charts and made 16-year-old Chris Brown a star.
"He's such a talented person and is held at such a high level in entertainment because of his ability to dance and his ability to sing...I wanted to be better," Zendaya explained to E!'s Ryan Seacrestat the 2016 Grammys about what prompted her collaboration with Brown on "Something New."
Which, again, would be a no-brainer question except for the fact that, in 2009, Brown beat up his then-girlfriend Rihanna and pleaded guilty to felony assault. After that eye-opening turn of events, public opinion of Brown splintered into jagged fragments of repulsion, dismay and sympathy, while still others never gave a damn about what he did—about what he admitted to doing—and have remained die-hard fans throughout.
You can't mention Brown on social media without getting a heated reaction from the factions with the strongest opinions—those who were done with him the instant they saw Rihanna's bruised face in leaked police photos and can't for the life of them figure out how he's still touring, and those who think his critics are full of crap and he's the most talented thing since sliced bread.
If you're like most people, you long ago stopped wondering why Chris Brown is still a thing and just accepted that he is. You don't seek him out, but you feel no need to complain if you hear his voice on the radio. And they say, if you're going to forgive, or at least overlook, it's not really useful to keep bringing up his biggest mistake, one he's publicly apologized for. Even Rihanna kept dating him. He's won almost two dozen industry awards since then, including a Grammy and the 2016 American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist, and sold millions of albums.
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And that's ultimately what would have happened. His sordid history would have faded into the background, if he had stopped making headlines for questionable—and at times downright bad—behavior.
Do you remember when you could listen to a Chris Brown song and not have to have a moral reckoning with yourself?
His self-titled 2005 debut album sold more than 3 million copies, he was in Stomp the Yard and This Christmas, he and Jordin Sparks had a hit single with "No Air," he and Rihanna were one of the cutest young couples around—and to top it all off, Billboard named him Artist of the Year at the end of 2008.
Then on Feb. 8, 2009, he was arrested after Rihanna needed medical treatment for facial injuries he had inflicted, and the following month he was charged with felony assault and making criminal threats. That June, he pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to five years' probation (the start of a tortuous odyssey of violations and revocations), community labor in lieu of six months in jail, and anger management counseling.
"I went from being on top of the world, No. 1 songs, being kind of like America's sweetheart to being Public Enemy No. 1," Brown's heard saying in the 2016 documentary Welcome to My Life: The Official Chris Brown Documentary. He continued, "I felt like a f--king monster."
"Everybody's gonna say he's a monster without looking at the source," Rihanna told Oprah Winfrey in 2012, explaining why she didn't ditch Brown when he became abusive. "And I was more concerned about him."
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Rihanna & Chris Brown: Relationship Rewind
While Brown became persona non grata on the radio for awhile, it didn't really take that long for his comeback to begin.
The song "Crawl" was a misinterpreted nonstarter in November 2009 (it wasn't about any of his relationships, Brown insisted), but in May 2010 he and Tygareleased the mix tape Fan of a Fan and "Deuces" gave Brown his first No. 1 single singe 2006. He earned support from a number of his peers (male and female) when he broke down in tears while performing "Man in the Mirror," part of a Michael Jackson tribute at the 2010 BET Awards, held roughly a year after he struck his plea deal.
"He was so vulnerable," Taraji P. Henson told MTV News afterward. "I love you, Chris!"
He also won the AOL Fandemonium Award that night, telling the audience, "I let y'all down before, but I won't do it again...I promise."
And then it was fairly full speed ahead, music-wise. F.A.M.E. debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in March 2011 (his first No. 1 album in the U.S.) and then won the Grammy for Best R&B Album in 2012—three short years after his arrest.
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Celebrity Comebacks
It took Mel Gibson 10 years to get another Oscar nomination (or even another invitation to the Oscars) after his 2006 DUI meltdown, and he had been an A-list star for decades beforehand, so Brown—a relative newcomer when his PR disaster occurred—was really on the fast track back to mainstream acceptance (with the people who were opening the doors for him, at least, if not everyone with an opinion on the matter).
But his auspicious comeback was soon a distant memory. In August 2013, he was slapped with another 1,000 hours of community service. That October he was charged with assaulting a man who had asked for a photo in Washington, D.C.; he pleaded down to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to time served in September 2014. He settled lawsuits filed by that guy and a member of Frank Ocean's entourage stemming from a fight in a parking lot outside an L.A. recording studio.
Also in March 2014 he was kicked out of a treatment center for violating the rules, and in turn jailed for not being in rehab, and that May served three weeks of a 131-day jail sentence for violating his 2009 probation with the 2013 D.C. arrest. (It all became very convoluted, what he was being cited for and when.) Court documents also revealed that experts at the treatment facility determined Brown was suffering from bipolar disorder and PTSD.
"Mr. Brown became aggressive and acted out physically due to his untreated mental health disorder, severe sleep deprivation, inappropriate self-medicating and untreated PTSD," a filing read.
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After a most tumultuous five years, Brown copped to still having issues and credited twice-weekly therapy with helping him to get a grip.
"I think it's all about the choices you make," he told MTV News in September 2014. "With me, I deal with a lot of anger issues from my past—not knowing how to express myself verbally and, at the same time, not knowing how to cope with my emotions and deal with them and understand what they are."
He learned the importance of expressing his emotions, he added, finally realizing "it's not supposed to stay there; you're not supposed to keep it inside because it'll bottle up and you'll become a monster."
At the time, former Baltimore Ravens star Ray Rice had recently been suspended from the NFL for knocking his then-fiancée (now wife) out in an elevator and Brown directed a message his way: "To Ray, or anybody else—because I'm not better than the next man—I can just say I've been down that road. I deal with situations and I've made my mistakes too, but it's all about how you push forward and how you control yourself."
Rihanna, meanwhile, was scheduled to perform on Thursday Night Football on a night the Ravens played and CBS canceled her appearance. (Rice's fiancée, like Rihanna did with Brown, had stood by him, even criticizing the Ravens and the NFL for his suspension.)
"It's not a subject to sweep under the rug, so I can't just dismiss it like it wasn't anything, or I don't take it seriously," Rihanna later told Vanity Fair. "But, for me, and anyone who's been a victim of domestic abuse, nobody wants to even remember it. Nobody even wants to admit it. So to talk about it and say it once, much less 200 times, is like...I have to be punished for it? It didn't sit well with me."
On the surface at least, Rihanna emerged from her entanglement with Brown unscathed and is now widely considered one of the most influential pop artists around—a chart-topping singer, untouchable when it comes to style, every guy's dream date and a general giver of zero f--ks.
Yet somehow it also became easy to forget that, when it comes to stories about Brown, "Rihanna" is more than just a word that indicated a really horrible thing occurred in 2009. There's a whole person who would prefer that that moment in time not trail her into perpetuity.
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But so long as Brown's temper keeps flaring up in the most public of settings, he's ensuring that his checkered past will continue to weigh him down and grow heavier along the way, like Jacob Marley's chains.
At the same time, not every charge has born fruit, and it's fairly obvious that not every accusation thrown his way has been an accurate representation of events. And yes, he probably looks like an easy mark to those seeking a quick payday.
Yet getting nasty on Twitter, getting sued by his manager for alleged assault and battery, having an ex take out a restraining order against him, all in the course of one year, on top of everything else—it adds up.
And Brown can't just cry "provocation!" when he does do something violent, as he's said to have done in Florida. It's obvious that the artist who was getting help for his problems in 2014 still needs that help in 2017—and he may need help forever, as so many people with chronic issues do.
Club Aja, the scene of the altercation, said in a statement, "Dear patrons: Incidents like the ones caused by Chris Brown and his team are very sad to see. As everyone witnessed he showed up to the club at around 1:30 am. After only a few minutes of being there, Chris Brown himself and his team assaulted our club photographer and proceeded to walk out of the venue.
"AJA Channelside and our employees apologize for the inconvenience. Assault charges were pressed and we are dealing with the proper authorities accordingly. We appreciate your constant support!"
Before the incident, the club had no problem with Brown until there was a problem. Just how like most people, by now, no longer have an active problem with him until he inevitably causes one. And the club's statement could almost be addressed from Chris Brown to his loyal fans:
Incidents like these are indeed very sad to see. Authorities are now involved. Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your constant support.
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