Fabolous, Trey Songz, the rapper Yung Berg and Chris Brown are just some of the rappers and singers who’ve been accused of domestic violence. They’re also trying to keep their fans and careers going amid the backlash.
But the question is, should they be forgiven?
Recently rapper Fabolous was accused of knocking out his girlfriend Emily B’s teeth. Then shortly after, some footage surfaced of the two arguing and Fab approaching her quite aggressively. Their situation is so new, neither party has publicly discussed the accusations.
As far as Brown, some might say that he hasn’t been fully forgiven for assaulting Rihanna in 2009 and shouldn’t be. Others, however, obviously believe the opposite, based on the singers remaining popularity and success.
So besides being forgiven, when does an entertainer deserve a second chance at his career when he’s accused or charged with domestic violence?
The Chicago rapper Famous Dex is still finding that out after he was seen beating his girlfriend on surveillance video in 2016. These days he’s trying to apologize and stopped by “The Breakfast Club” to do so.
But before they could talk about the incident, co-host Angela Yee said she had a problem with the rapper coming to the station. She also asked him what he’s learned since the video surfaced and so much backlash came.
“What I learned from that, I learned a lot,” said Dex. “Not just me putting my hands on a female, I just, me losing my mom, me being new to this music stuff, it was a lot of pressure on me, you know? So I just kinda blanked out right there. God is good. I’m glad everything kind of, you know, it went a different way. It didn’t go, like, far. I didn’t go to jail for it. She didn’t get hurt or nothing. She had my king, she had my son, and I just wanna be forgetting about it.”
But there’s a good chance that people won’t forget about the incident soon, because although the rapper’s career hasn’t been halted, it has been impacted. For example, he lost a major endorsement deal with Puma and missed a chance to grab one of XXL’s coveted freshman spots.
In fact, one of the decision makers at the magazine said the video is what got him kicked out of the running. Afterwards, Dex posted a tearful video about not being chosen, and in a separate clip he called the female editor who ousted him a “b-tch” and other disparaging remarks.
It’s not clear exactly when the assault took place, but the footage was leaked by singer-songwriter Tish Hyman, who expressed disgust because it happened in her building and she saw a young woman being beaten.
“Let this man Famous Dex stay at my place. He not only trashed and broke into my place, he beat this poor girl so badly,” she wrote. “Is this the new generation of great artists that young people are looking up to? And is this the type of person a great company like Puma chose to represent their brand?”
“So disappointing,” Hyman continued. “I hope this spreads through the Internet and shows these young people what Young Dexter is about. Thank you for hurting me, young man, but you truly hurt yourself.”
Again, it is true that the rapper’s career has been hurt like Hyman predicted but not as much as some may think. Because since the 2016 incident occurred, he’s been extremely visible in music realms and has a heavy internet presence among certain millennials.
In another part of “The Breakfast Club” interview, Dex said he was blackballed a little after the footage came out. He also continued to tell Yee that he wants forgiveness and is eager to move on.
“This my personal life,” he stated. “That wasn’t supposed to be out … That’s my personal business. People go through that in life. Listen, you don’t put your hands on no female at all. I have two daughters. I love them … I just want to be truly forgiven about that situation … I definitely want all the young men that look up to me to know, like, not to put your hands on a female at all, even if she right or you wrong or whatever. You will lose a lot.”
You can hear Dex talk about the incident and wanting forgiveness below at the 2:58 mark. We’ll also have to see how much Fabolous’ career is affected.
