Tweets about Chris Brown fuel discussion of the perception of domestic violence

The Takeaway

Just days after winning a Grammy for Best R&B Album on Sunday, Chris Brown is once again the subject of criticism over his relationship to domestic violence.

Though Brown has been without incident since his 2009 arrest for assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna, controversy continues to follow the singer. Following his victory at the Grammys, members of “Team Breezy” took to Twitter in support of Brown.

“Call me crazy butttttttt I would let chris brown beat me up anyyyyday,” tweeted user @brittanypaige__.

As a pop star, Chris Brown is subject to different treatment than the average person. Jacquelyn Campbell, professor in the School of Nursing at Johns Hopkins University, said that, and Brown’s good looks, may be cause for the questionable tweets.

“I think, unfortunately, we sometimes think attractive men, and attractive women, can’t be guilty of doing bad things,” Brown said. “Once we decide it’s a wonderful person, we want to like them, be one of their fans.”

The tweet wasn’t just the sentiment of one user.

“lolol Chris brown can beat me any day,” wrote @iFooYa.

Campbell also said it’s difficult to educate young women on domestic abuse because of their sources of information. Those tweets, for example, reached a lot of young women.

“It’s just hard to get past the notion that hitting is a sign of love. And it’s something we try very hard to work (on) with young girls, but unfortunately they get a lot of their messages from each other, from what’s on the street versus what educators are trying to tell them,” Campbell said.

Chris Brown, who was recently trending on Twitter, has tried to move past the 2009 incident. But Tuesday night he posted a tweet that makes vague reference to the controversy.

“IM BACK SO WATCH MY BaCK as I walk away from all this negativity #teambreezygrammy,” Brown tweeted, the last in a string of tweets challenging his critics. He eventually deleted the entire string. 

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