The international community has had a hard time forgiving R&B superstar Chris Brown for assaulting their golden goddess Rihanna nearly four years ago. Last week, Brown cancelled dates of his tour in Europe when women’s groups protested it.
Unlike Charlie Sheen; former Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, who beat Pamela Anderson as she held their infant baby; and a host of other serial women beaters, the public has not allowed Brown to move forward beyond that unfortunate incident. In fact, Sheen became a bigger star right after he held a knife to his wife’s neck, beat her and threatened to kill her. That also happened about three years ago.
Today, in South Africa, two popular local DJs have boycotted the R&B superstar, refusing to interview him, the Daily Voice reports.
Prior to Brown’s show in Cape Town on Wednesday night, Amon Mokoena and Thato Mataboge, who host a weekly show on Metro FM, flatly refused to interview the R&B bad boy who was found guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Rihanna, in 2009.
“We don’t want to be associated with Chris Brown. We are busy pushing a positive message about 16 Days Against Women and Child Abuse and here we are being forced to entertain this concert. We all know what he did,” Mataboge explained in an email. “It does not sit well with any of us.
“As a father to my daughter and as husbands to our wives who have never lifted even a finger to any female, it’s compromising what we stand for as a show and individuals.”
Brown had already completed the Joburg and Durban legs of his South African “Carpe Diem” tour, and is set to perform two shows at Cape Town’s Grand Arena on Wednesday and on Thursday night, when the deejays mounted their protest.
A spokesperson for the SABC Kaizer Kganyago deemed Mokoena and Mataboge’s views inconsequential to the prearranged deal made between Metro FM and concert promoter Canoc Productions.
“The interview never happened because the promoter never brought the performer, but they would have had to [conduct the interview] because this was a business agreement we had made,” he says. “We are not the sponsors of the show and we are not hypocrites.
“Chris Brown would be the best person to talk about the 16 Days campaign.
“Why are we against him — confessing and coming out to — admit he was wrong? [Local actor] Patrick Shai did the same thing and yet he is on our television screens,” he added.
Brown is not alone in feeling the wrath of powerful people for a public act. Here are other blacklisted celebrities
