Opinion

Memo to Chris Brown: Stop bringing up that time you beat up Rihanna

Matthew Bedford Freelance Contributor
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Who complains more about their stupid, career-damaging moments: Kanye West or Chris Brown?

Kanye West might have a meltdown every week, but Chris Brown truly gets under my skin.

No one forgets that he savagely attacked Rihanna and left her bloody on the side of a highway back in 2009. The fact that Brown repeatedly raises the topic in his interviews reveals how insecure he still feels about it. Brown paid his debt to society for the criminal charges and has since issued some public heartfelt apologies. But a majority of the public seems to have not forgiven him — and his insistence on picking at old wounds hasn’t helped.

In a recent interview with Jet magazine, Brown tries to compare his criminal background to Sean “Jay Z” Carter: “No disrespect, because I’m a fan, but nobody brings up the fact that [Jay-Z] stabbed somebody and sold drugs. He gets a pass.”

He even tries to put himself in the same light as Trayvon Martin.

“I identify with Trayvon 100 percent as far as living in 2013 and still dealing with blatant racism,” Brown complained. “This generation is so used to racism that it’s normal. We don’t care. We aren’t on drugs or catching AIDS, but they still look at us as n*****s.”

First of all, Jay Z is not the same person he was 20 years ago. He was accused of a stabbing back in 1999. The difference? It was 14 years ago, he swore he would never get caught up in a similar situation and he hasn’t been in a lick of trouble since then. Chris Brown, on the other hand, brutally beat his defenseless girlfriend merely three years ago, earning himself a felony charge. Not quite comparable.

And Brown’s comparison between the public backlash he rightfully earned to the shooting death of the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is ridiculous. The backlash stemmed from the brutal beating and Brown’s unrepentant attitude and bizarre post-ordeal actions.

My advice to Chris Brown? Stop acting like the public owes you something. The fact that you are still making music, acting in movies and touring worldwide should be enough for you. No one will forget the 2009 “incident.” Stop dredging it up and just move on.

Matthew Bedford