After learning that his memorial performance at the 2022 American Music Awards had been canceled, Chris Brown took to social media.
He informed his millions of fans that he had been canceled and had no idea why.
Fans will finally understand why the “With You” singer’s performance was abruptly halted by Disney/ABC moments before the event began now that a complete behind-the-scenes story has surfaced.
Chris, named “Favorite Male R&B Artist” at this year’s AMAs, attended several award ceremonies despite pleading guilty to assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009.
Matthew Belloni, founder of Puck Media said:
“[it] would have been the first time in the #MeToo era, since the BET Awards in 2017, that a televised show had invited him to perform.”
Producers also wanted to give the 33-year-old musician a chance to perform live after he felt “shadow-banned” from Hollywood.
According to the writer’s website, he approached the executives about the performance’s optics, given that Michael Jackson’s song “Beat It” will be included in Chris’ medley performance.
He further wrote:
“The upshot: Disney wasn’t opposed to Brown performing, it was just the pairing of this artist with this material that would be potentially radioactive and thus a nonstarter.”
He said that the “Call Me Every Day” singer was only concerned with executing his rehearsed performance and not changing gears at the last minute, sharing a video from their rehearsals a day before he was scheduled to perform.
Chris said in his post:
“WOULD’VE been the ama performance but they canceled me for reasons unknown.”
According to a spokesman for Dick Clark Productions, live shows are always changing and Chris was not solely to blame.
They told Matthew that the awards ceremony element didn’t come together because they couldn’t agree on the performance – and that it wasn’t Chris Brown’s fault.
Meanwhile, Kelly Rowland accepted Chris’ award after winning one at the AMAs on Sunday, although he boycotted the event.
The former Destiny’s Child singer chastised the booing crowd for being upset about Chris’ victory, while Kelly praised him, eliciting mixed reactions on social media.
When asked why she stood up for Chris, Kelly said that everyone deserves a second chance and that people should be humble.