Kelly Rowland had a message of support for Chris Brown after his win at the 2022 American Music Awards prompted boos from the crowd. Rowland, who presented the award for Favorite Male R&B Artist during Sunday’s award ceremony, named the “Forever” artist the winner in the category – which also included Brent Faiyaz, GIVĒON, Lucky Daye and The Weeknd – prompting jeers from the crowd.
Brown has had a long history of legal issues, including multiple arrests for assault and accusations of rape, all of which he has denied. Hearing the AMAs audience’s strong reaction to the controversial artist’s win, Rowland decided to shut it down. “Chris Brown is not here tonight, so I’m accepting this award on his behalf,” the Destiny’s Child alum began before quieting the booing. “Excuse me, chill out.”
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She continued, “But I want to tell Chris, thank you so much for making great R&B music, and I want to tell him thank you for being an incredible performer. I’ll take this award, bring it to you. I love you. Congratulations, and congratulations to all the nominees in this category.” Rowland has yet to comment publicly on her
Brown’s AMAs win comes on the heels of the singer’s claims that the award ceremony canceled his performance last minute, although it remains unclear if Brown was ever actually scheduled to perform at the show. The “Go Crazy” artist took to Instagram to post a video from a rehearsal to show fans what he had planned for Sunday’s show if he had been given the chance to perform.
“U SERIOUS?” Brown captioned the clip, adding a facepalm emoji. “WOULDVE been the ama performance but they cancelled me for reasons unknown. [shrug emoji]” He has since edited the caption to exclude reference to the AMAs. Brown appeared to be paying tribute to the late Michael Jackson in his performance, dancing to his hit song “Thriller.” The tribute was also set to include other hits, including “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Wanna Be Starting Something.”
Brown has found himself in trouble with the law a number of times – pleading guilty to one count of felony assault after attacking Rihanna in 2009. In 2020, Brown was sued for allegedly drugging and raping a woman, and in 2021, he was accused of hitting a woman in an investigation that was later dropped due to “insufficient evidence.”
