UPDATED 4/3/18 2:50 p.m. ET: While Chris Brown previously said he had an Interscope deal for his own CBE label, a rep for Interscope told Complex the label doesn't and never had a deal in place with CBE or Brown.
See below for original story published on 4/2/18.
Care2 is an online petition site that boasts over 45 million socially-conscious users, with non-profit, mission-based and individual advocates for change starting new petitions around the clock. When we saw photos of Chris Brown with his hands around a woman’s neck while partying in Miami during the Ultra Music Festival last week, we weren’t expecting Care2 to pounce — but it did. As of right now, a petition to urge Interscope Records to drop the singer from its label has over 15,000 supporters — with the total goal of 16,000 supporters sure to be reached any minute now.
The petition specifically targets Interscope Records CEO, John Janick, and demands the famous record label drop Chris Brown's label, CBE, from under the Interscope umbrella. Even though the woman in the aforementioned photos did seem distressed in some images, others showed her laughing. Chris Brown himself posted a response to the media hubbub on his IG a few days ago, following the release of these pics — stating that there was nothing nefarious going on.
The Care2 petition, however, isn’t messing around, stating firmly that “Chris Brown was just caught in another physical abuse controversy,” and that “The pictures clearly show him choking her while another woman attempted to intervene.” Before we continue, it’s important to note that nobody in the world who wasn’t present during that incident can tell whether this was physical abuse or not. For all we know, the two people involved are lifelong friends and do this every weekend — the point is, you can’t publicly convict someone without all of the necessary data. On the other hand, of course, Brown is one of the most famous physical abusers of 21st-century entertainment — which explains the fervor for justice found in this petition.
“He jokes about the situation and claims he was just ‘playing.’ He also said he has, ‘no need to defend himself’ and even thanks the media for publicity,” the petition reads. “His denial of the situation is really disturbing.” Meanwhile, sources close to. Brown’s ex — and infamous victim of his physical assault — Rihanna, chimed in about the photos. One source reportedly close to Rihanna told Hollywood Life that it sends the wrong message and dredged up bad memories for RiRi. “Rihanna just had all the bad memories dredged up by that horrible Snapchat ad,” the source claimed. “The last thing she needs is for people to be talking about Chris Brown being violent with women again. It’s upsetting to her because inevitably it drags her back into something she really just wants to forget.”
“It seems pretty clear Chris was just goofing around, but he’s not getting a pass from Rihanna on this,” the source explained. “It’s just a bad look — period. After everything they went through, she’s disappointed that he’d even play around like that. It’s just more proof to her that she made the right choice by moving on.” To be frank, I think most of us stand by that choice, and really hope Brown wasn’t seriously hurting anyone — again. Care2 has previously advocated for the ousting of ‘bad actors’ in the music industry, starting the #FreeKesha movement and asking Sony to drop Dr. Luke, and working on the #MuteRKelly campaign to urge that same label to drop him. Stay tuned, as this might not be the last we’ll hear about their latest efforts to banish Chris Brown.
