Oops! I’m Sorry!

Chris Brown’s belated apology.

When I was at primary school I remember a particular teacher would often repeat the old adage “If you’ve got nothing good to say, don’t say anything at all.” Smart advice. Perhaps someone should have passed the message on to Chris Brown, who recently released an apology for the now infamous incident between himself and then girlfriend Rihanna.

In the two minute video, Brown, who pled guilty to the charge of felony assault in June, apologized to his fans and promised he was taking steps to ensure that his behavior will not be repeated. All the right words, but something is missing.
Perhaps, it’s because I’m slightly cynical or because it seems as though he’s reading from a prompter, or simply because it took six months to conjure up a two minute statement, or maybe because a few days prior he was photographed wearing a $300,000 necklace with the word “Oops!” hanging from the chain.

Brown mentions that his lawyers advised him not speak about the “incident” as he calls it, until all the legalities had been settled. Maybe its the skeptic in me but I couldn’t help but agree with my boss when he said this was simply an attempt to win back support from sponsors,investors and more importantly the devastated teenage girls who are rapidly looking for another star to fill his spot.

Rewind to last month when Brown surfaced with another video of himself, a lot less apologetic, proclaiming that he wasn’t a monster, while addressing the “haters”. Oh and let’s not forget his classy plug for a new album to be released– right about now actually. Hmmmm, coincidence much?

Like I said before I’m a tad cynical, but let’s be honest for those that read the very detailed police report it seems as though this was not the first time such an “incident” occurred, and who knows what would have happened if events hadn’t unfolded under the spotlight.

Brown himself was raised in a home where domestic violence took place, in a 2007 interview with Tyra Banks he sounded as though his childhood experiences affected him greatly. “I treat them [women]differently,” he said. “I know I don’t want them to go through..or put a woman through what that person put my Mom through.”

Sadly it could be a case of the cycle of abuse repeating itself, studies have shown that children who witness violence are more likely to be violent when they grow up than those who have not (The National Clearinghouse on Family Violence). It’s also very easy to forget that Brown is only 20 years old. I am by no means justifying his actions, although he is a young man, he is still a man, still aware of his actions and the difference between right and wrong.

Although I’m not entirely convinced by his public plea, I hope that for his own sake he really is seeking some kind of help for his issues, to better himself and the teens who once idolized him. Instead of releasing videos via youtube perhaps he should take some more time off from the spotlight in order to battle his demons and if possible at a much later time attempt to salvage his reputation.

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