Kelly Rowland was quick to check the AMA crowd about Chris Brown after boos exuded from audience members who were in attendance at the American Music Awards following the announcement that Brown had won an award.
During the live award show that premiered on ABC, Rowland entered the stage to present the nominees and winner for Favorite Male R&B Artist. The artists in the category included Giveon, Lucky Daye, Brent Faiyaz, The Weeknd and Chris Brown.
Once Rowland revealed that Brown had won the category, murmurs, groans and even boos were heard from the crowd. The displeased audience reacted so loudly that Rowland found herself telling the crowd to “chill out.”
“Now Chris Brown is not here tonight so I’m accepting this award on his behalf. Excuse me. Chill out,” Rowland said before thanking the “Under the Influence” singer for his contribution to R&B.
She continued, “Chris, thank you so much for making great R&B music, and I wanna tell him thank you for being an incredible performer. I’ll take this award, bring it to you. I love you, congratulations. And congratulations to all the nominees in this category.”
It wasn’t long before Rowland’s speech made its rounds on Twitter where people shared mixed emotions.
“Kelly Rowland said you ain’t gonna cut me off Chris Brown needs his flowers”
“Kelly Rowland defending Chris Brown, an abuser and discriminatory a– hat against dark-skinned black women. Embarrassing for her.”
“The think pieces about Chris Brown will forever be funny, simply because none of these angry keyboard smashes will affect him or kelly rowland in real life.”
Brown, 33, was scheduled to perform at the AMAs with a Michael Jackson tribute lined up, however his performance was abruptly canceled by AMA head honchos for reasons unknown.
Brown uploaded an Instagram post showing fans what he had in store for the award show with the caption, ‘U SERIOUS’ attached to it.
Many people rallied in Brown’s defense, waiting for a direct answer from the AMAs as to why his set was no longer moving forward. While Puck News claimed it was, “no fault to Chris Brown,” speculations surrounding Brown’s violent past arose as a reason for the cancellation.
The last time fans saw Brown perform at an awards show was in 2017 at the BET Awards.
